Johnny Cash "Folsom" Applause Faked

Dec. 17, 2008 — A 40th-anniversary edition of Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison was released this week, featuring a full slate of performances from both shows that the Man In Black delivered during that historic event. But it turns out that the crowd reaction heard on the single, "Folsom Prison Blues," is a bit phony.

After Johnny sings "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die," the prisoners on the single go berserk. But Michael Streissguth, a writer and researcher who authored the 2004 book Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece, discovered while listening to the original recordings that, in fact, there was no crowd response to that particular line.

The noise, to be sure, is real, but it was taken from another part of the day’s proceedings and overdubbed on top of the song’s murder confession to enhance the concept of singing in front of inmates.

"It floored me," Michael told Cox News Service. "I had bought into the drama and authenticity of that moment along with everyone else. I didn't even know if Sony was going to allow me to leave the studio with the information."

Nevertheless, the album — which includes appearances by June Carter Cash, the Statler Brothers and Carl Perkins — remains a standard in how to work a crowd.

"You can feel the electricity and the excitement in that room," Travis Tritt said. "For me, that album is a Live Performance 101 class. The crowd reaction was amazing. Johnny Cash was speaking their language on that cafeteria stage. Even the real bad guys in that hall were with him."

The anniversary Folsom release, in which the overdubbed reaction to "I shot a man in Reno" is still present, features three discs, including a 90-minute documentary DVD.