Johnny Cash had a soft spot in his heart for the downtrodden and forgotten. As a result, he often went to prisons to perform for inmates. Over the years, he recorded a series of albums behind the walls of some of the most notorious prisons in the world. For instance, in February 1969, he took his music behind the storied walls of California’s San Quentin State Prison.
At San Quentin was the second album in Cash’s series of live albums from behind prison walls. He treated the prisoners there to a collection of hits including “I Walk the Line” and “Folsom Prison Blues.” The Man in Black also played a new song for them that day. It was a humorous Shel Silverstein-penned number called “A Boy Named Sue.” Watch him deliver his first performance of the song below.
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[RELATED: Behind The Song: “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash]
Johnny Cash Had a Hit with “A Boy Named Sue”
Johnny Cash recorded “A Boy Named Sue” for the first time during his San Quentin concert. Then, on July 2 of that year, he released it as the sole single from the live album with “San Quentin” as the B-side. The song went to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and the Easy Listening chart. Additionally, it spent three weeks at the No. 2 spot on the all-genre Hot 100, giving Cash his biggest crossover hit.
While Shel Silverstein wrote “A Boy Named Sue,” June Carter is responsible for Cash recording it. According to Songfacts, June heard Silverstein play it during a “guitar pull.” It was a small get-together where someone would play and sing a song they had written before passing off the guitar to the next person. Upon hearing the song, she knew it would be perfect for Cash.
Then, as they were preparing for the concert at San Quentin, Carter suggested that he take the song with him and perform it for the captive audience. Watch the video above closely and you’ll see him reading the lyrics from a sheet on the music stand in front of him.
Featured Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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