Johnny Cash’s Hit Live Record ‘At San Quentin’ Was Released Today in 1969

Johnny Cash

Country singer/songwriter Johnny Cash poses for a mugshot in October 1965 in El Paso, Texas. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

By Will Levith

Forty-seven years ago today, country artist Johnny Cash released At San Quentin, an album he recorded live at the same-named California state prison in February 1969. The album—certified gold by August ’69 and triple platinum by ’03—features the Grammy-winning song “A Boy Named Sue,” as well as alternate takes of popular numbers “Folsom Prison Blues” and “I Walk the Line.” (The latter two were recorded for Cash’s ’68 live album, At Folsom Prison, another major success.) In honor of the milestone, watch this rare footage of Cash and his band doing “A Boy Named Sue” live in Denmark.

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