Criminal Justice
Folsom Prison Cancels Johnny Cash Tribute Concert
Posted Jan 9, 2008, 03:00 pm CDT
By Martha Neil
A 40-year anniversary tribute to the Jan. 13, 1968 concert that made both Johnny Cash and Folsom State Prison in California famous has been canceled.
The event was to have taken place Sunday in the same prison cafeteria as his 2 million-selling Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison live album, and featured music made famous by the deceased country singer and one of his original backup musicians, reports the Los Angeles Times. However, it was axed because of the difficulty of organizing it in a world that is far more technologically and legally complex than 1968, according to a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Sacramento.
Meanwhile, the promoter of the tribute, who says his father at one point served as Cash's manager, reportedly blamed the prison for putting up unnecessary roadblocks. Each side also blamed the other for continually changing ground rules about the event.
The original 1968 concert was performed before an enthusiastic crowd of inmates, and their current counterparts, along with Cash fans, are losing out on what likely would have been another big treat, according to Joe Avila. He is the executive director of Prison Fellowship Ministries, which helped underwrite the event.
"The whole Johnny Cash story is one of redemption," he says. "Johnny was wild at heart, just like these men. But just like him, they can change. They can walk the line."
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