Jul 1, 2000 12:00 PM, Barbara Schultz

Nineteen sixty-eight was a time of rebellion and rebirth for the United States, and it was one of several such periods in the life and career of Johnny Cash. That year, Cash married his soul mate, June Carter, who had helped him leave behind the drug abuse that had endangered his career in the middle part of that decade. It was also the year Cash recorded his most popular album, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. The first few seconds of this live album still stand among the most electrifying in the history of concert recording. Cash begins with his trademark greeting, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash," the inmates cheer, and Cash begins playing, and then singing "Folsom Prison Blues."

It's the way everything came together that makes this version of "Folsom Prison Blues" so thrilling, and made it the smash hit it was in '68. Cash's strong songwriting was matched by the brilliant playing and timing of his longtime cohorts, the Tennessee Three (guitarist Luther Perkins, bassist Marshall Grant and drummer W.S. Holland), and the sizzling energy of the inmate audience, as they fittingly cheered, howled or mourned at every line. The live recording, which had been Cash's idea, breathed new life into this 12-year-old song.

"Folsom Prison Blues" was actually one of Cash's first compositions. While in the Air Force in the early '50s, during the Korean War, he bought his first guitar and began writing songs. In 1955, after his stint in the military, he landed his first recording contract at Sam Phillips' Sun Records. Cash had hoped to be signed as a gospel artist, but Phillips-one of the true architects of rock 'n' roll and rockabilly-was looking for something more commercial. So, Cash suggested some of his own songs; his first single for Sun was "Cry Cry Cry"/"Hey Porter," which entered the country charts at Number 14.

The studio recording of "Folsom Prison Blues" was the follow-up single, and it first reached the country Top Five in 1956-just one of the many hits Cash scored with Sun. He became the first of Phillips' stable to record a full-length album in 1957: Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar included two Number One songs, "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" and "Guess Things Happen That Way." However, Cash still yearned to record a gospel album, and Phillips still didn't want one from him, so Cash left Sun and began his long relationship with Columbia Records.

Meanwhile, the prison circuit was already becoming a regular part of Cash's touring schedule. "The prison albums were natural ideas," Cash wrote in his 1997 autobiography, Cash. "By 1968, I'd been doing prison concerts for more than a decade, ever since 'Folsom Prison Blues' got the attention of the inmates at the Huntsville, Texas, prison in 1957. They'd been putting on a rodeo every year, and that year the prison officials decided to let them have an entertainer, too; they asked for me.

"As soon as we kicked off, though," Cash continues, "a huge thunderstorm let loose-I mean a big one, a real toad strangler-and that cramped our style considerably. Luther's amplifier shorted out, and Marshall's bass came apart in the rain. I kept going, though, with just my guitar, and the prisoners loved that. Word got around on the prison grapevine that I was okay, and the next thing I knew I got a letter from San Quentin, asking me to perform at their annual New Year's show on January 1, 1958. I went ahead and did that and did it again for several years in a row, taking June with me the last couple of years. I didn't know until years later when he told me so, that Merle Haggard had been in the front row for three of those concerts."

Cash says that he had a strong sense early on that if he ever made a live album, prison would be the ideal location. "Those shows were always really hot," he writes. "The inmates were excited and enthusiastic, and that got me going...I didn't get anywhere when I approached [Columbia producer/A&R representative] Don Law with the idea, though; he just didn't like it. Then when Bob Johnston [producer of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison and other Cash recordings] took over my production, I mentioned it to him, and he loved it...I called a preacher friend of mine back in California, the Reverend Floyd Gressett, who went into Folsom to preach once a month and knew the officials there, and we set it up."

There weren't a lot of records kept regarding the technical aspects of this recording, but we can see in Jim Marshall's excellent photos, such as the one above, that mostly Shure SM56 microphones were used. (The now-discontinued SM56 was essentially an SM57 on a swivel-mount.) We can also see the Shure SH55 and University vocal horn that were patched together for the P.A. Marshall's memories of the day at Folsom also corroborate Cash's beliefs about the atmosphere in the prison hall: "I think if John would have said, 'Follow me out of here-we're goin',' they would have followed him; blacks and white alike. The electricity at Folsom was amazing. You can hear it on the record."

Marshall also says that, unlike the later San Quentin recordings, the Folsom show was "much more spontaneous. It was like 'Let's go do a concert, and we'll happen to record it.'"

Bob Irwin, founder of another great reissue label, Sundazed Music, has produced more than 350 releases for Sony Music Legacy. He recently produced the remastered version of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, so he has worked with the masters Columbia's engineers vaulted more than three decades ago. "The show was originally recorded to half-inch, 4-track," he says. "The engineers would run both an A and B machine, overlapping, with minimal processing-no EQ going to tape. They would, however, put each channel through what was most likely a bank of LA-2As, which is why Johnny's vocal has that crunchy, slightly distorted quality. I certainly don't mean that to be disparaging, though; that sound has become an intregal part of this recording. It was also leakage central, which is also fine, because that too has always played an important part in the imaging and texture of the record."

Irwin says Columbia didn't keep a record of what the date was recorded to, but it was "probably nothing fancy back then. Most likely it was a small truck sent out by Columbia Records. As a rule, Columbia recorded many remotes-more than I've ever seen at any other major label. There are enough wonderful vintage live recordings available that it has afforded Sony/Legacy the opportunity to create the whole "Live From the Vaults" series. From Clive Davis' time at the label, and actually for a few years before that, this company made it a rule to be doing remote recordings, which is now an absolutely wonderful resource to draw from."

After the gig, the A and B versions of the concert were taken back to the studio and compared, and the original multitrack for the album was created. "They would actually cut the preferred takes out of either the A or the B reel," Irwin says, "unless there was something that was captured on the B machine that was missed on the A machine. In this case, the entire B set of reels was untouched, and that's what we worked from, because the original show was there in the original sequence. The flow and pacing of the show were second to none."

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison went Gold the year it was released, and "Folsom Prison Blues" re-entered the country charts-a dozen years after the Top Five success of the studio version-and went to Number One. The song was also a crossover hit for Cash, going to Number 32 on the pop charts and, for a time, earning Cash a mainstream following. "I've always thought it ironic that it was a prison concert," he observes in Cash, "with me and the convicts getting along just as fellow rebels, outsiders and miscreants should. That pumped up my marketability to the point where ABC thought I was respectable enough to have a weekly network TV show."

This was, of course, just one of the many peaks in Cash's long and productive career. Like many of the great country and rock 'n' roll artists he came up with, he's been lost and found a dizzying number of times by the American public. To his credit, however, what he remembers about Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison has nothing to do with chart success and everything to do with what he tried to bring into the lives of some forgotten men. In the liner notes to this year's remastered Folsom Prison CD, Cash writes:

"There are scenes as sharp in my memory as if it were last night. The look on Glen Sherley's face as I announced his song, the reaction from the cons when I introduced myself, and the faces. The pain and hopelessness of a soul beaten down, of failure, of failure to stay free of the system, of failure to be able to ignore today's pain.

"But there are swelling balloons of joy to burst in a couple of hours for sure when they have to go back to their cells. But, for now, let it blow! We are in the timeless now. There is no calendar inside the cafeteria today, January 13, 1968."

Vigilantes of Love: Audible Sigh (Compass) "Failure, she's your new found friend/You let her sleep on the floor/And when you rise to check out, she follows to the door." So begins the Vigilantes of Love's new CD, a viscerally exciting journey through the psychic landscape inside the mind of singer/songwriter/guitarist Bill Mallonee-miles of open highway under ominous clouds, and stops along the way in the lands of self-doubt, heartbreak, despair, disillusionment and other dark way stations. Then why is this album so exhilarating? Because Mallonee and his bandmates (drummer Kevin Hauer and bassist Jacob Bradley) and various talented musical friends (including guitarists Kenny Huston and Buddy Miller and singers Julie Miller and Emmylou Harris) play Mallonee's stirring, sometimes anthemic, countrified rock tunes with such conviction, it's impossible not to get caught up in his pathos. Musically, Mallonee is mining territory that's been blazed by others-Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Bruce Cockburn and various y'alternative groups spring to mind-but Mallonee's lyric vision is both original and compelling, and his rough-hewn arrangements perfectly match the sentiments of his songs. There's melody galore and soaring harmonies, but also true grit that obviously comes from lessons learned the hard way. We're only halfway through 2000, but so far this is my favorite CD of the year.

Producers: Buddy Miller, and Bill Mallonee. Engineers: Chuck Linder, and Miller. Mix engineers: J.R. McNeely and Miller. Tracking studios: Dogtown and Midtown Tone and Volume (both in Nashville). Mixing studios: Dogtown and Sound Kitchen (Nashville). -Blair Jackson

Belle & Sebastian: Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant (Matador) Belle & Sebastian may seem a tad too academic for some ears. At times, singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch's combo comes off like the hothouse by-product of a schoolboy enthralled by the Smiths' catalog and Merseybeat. But it's fitting: After all, the band's first album, Tigermilk, was the result of Murdoch's music business school course. Since then, B&S have been getting straight A's on their musical term papers, and their fourth album, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, is no exception. Adventuring into a variety of musical styles, the almost-too-sweet arrangements retain the previous records' off-kilter, tumescent loveliness, tracked as they all have been by engineer Tony Doogan at CaVa Studios in Glasgow. Tubular bells ring in "Beyond the Sunrise" with a sound reminiscent of Lee Hazlewood's cracked psychedelia. "The Model" takes a swing down a Left Banke brand of chamber pop. "I Fought in a War" swells with strings and twangy Rickenbacker, conjuring the menacing, romantic drama of an Ennio Morricone score. "Don't Leave the Light on, Baby" marries Wurlitzer-steeped R&B bedroom balladry with characteristically transgressive, witty lyrics. These apt pupils are clever enough to know that artful, humorous lyrics such as those on "Nice Day for a Sulk" and "There's Too Much Love" make the sugar pop slide down easier.

Produced by Belle & Sebastian and Tony Doogan. Engineer: Doogan with Willie Deans and Ian Grier. Studio: CaVa Studios (Glasgow, Scotland). -Kimberly Chun

A Perfect Circle: Mer de Noms (Virgin) APC offers a glimpse at the hard rock scene that might have been and should have been. Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan and guitar/production prodigy Billy Howerdel (who spent the better part of the '90s behind-the-scenes with NIN, Tool and Smashing Pumpkins) present an updated take on a genre many had considered lost to baggy jeans and down-tuned 7-string guitars. Howerdel, here present as both a producer and a songwriter, thankfully eschews the omnipresent trap of self-indulgence; his focus is on songwriting and keeping enough sonic landscape open for Keenan's bone-chilling vocal arrangements. APC bring melody and thematic substance back into view while showcasing a clear understanding of the musical options afforded by technology. On the first listen, many might dismiss Mer de Noms as Tool-lite, but subsequent spins will reveal an entirely different and unique beast that effectively raises the bar in a genre that desperately needs it.

Producer: Billy Howerdel. Mixing: Howerdel and Alan Moulder. Mastering: Eddy Schreyer/Oasis (Flint Hill, VA). -Robert Hanson

Various Artists: OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music: 1948-1980 (Ellipsis Arts)

The Ellipsis Arts label has given us many fine compilations of unusual music through the years, including CDs of music created on unique musical instruments. Their latest, a three-CD set of electronic music pioneers, continues this fine tradition of nicely packaged, splendidly annotated works that have academic as well as aesthetic intentions. With more than three-and-a-half hours of beeping, bleating, whirring, swooshing, rumbling, onomatopoeia-defying electronic compositions spanning more than three decades, there's an awful lot to digest here, and in most cases this is not easy listening, to say the least. But there is a surprising coherence to the set; perhaps experimentalism in itself is a unifying factor. Difficult cacophony sits side by side with compositions of astonishing grace and beauty. Many of the best-known names from the electronic music world are represented here-early practitioners such as Olivier Messiaen, John Cage, Edgar Varese, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Raymond Scott and Milton Babbitt; '60s explorers such as Steve Reich, Pauline Oliveros, Morton Subotnick, Terry Riley and La Monte Young; and contemporary composers such as John Chowning, Brian Eno, Jon Hassell and Klaus Schulze. The accompanying 100-page booklet offers a cogent history of the different streams of electronic composition and comments about each work from the composer him/herself. I don't pretend to like or understand a fair amount of what's on here, but I do appreciate the encyclopedic scope of the project; it makes a great starting point to investigate some fascinating terrain.

Compilation producers: Thomas Ziegler, Jason Gross. Executive producer: Jeffrey Charno. Premastering: Darren Neudorf. Mastering: Toddio/Chateu Shag (Vancouver). -Blair Jackson

Built to Spill: Live (Warner Bros.) Cobbled together from the splintered remains of the Boise, Idaho, band Tree People, Built to Spill is an unlikely live fave. Bearded vocalist/guitarist Doug Martsch resembles a burly mountain man, not a Backstreet Boy, and in concert, these guys' guys don't come with any strings or bungee chords attached. They're workmen who continue to toil in the much-maligned garage of grunge. So it's not shocking to hear a straight-ahead cover of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" on BTS' latest, Live. Their powerful, rhythmic rock aspires to some of the ragged glory of Neil Young, and Martsch's plaintive, wail sounds just like the grunge godfather's. The band also give a shout out to other Northwestern indie bands such as Love as Laughter and the Halo Benders. Covers by those groups are coupled with recent performances of BTS songs such as "The Plan" and "Broken Chairs," which boasts a "solo"-a furious, spiraling burst of noise-by Martsch, Delusions guitarist Jim Roth and Caustic Resin guitarist Brett Netson that would also do Young proud. Produced by longtime collaborator Phil Ek, Live is as good an introduction as any to this band, who have made a virtue out of building solid castles of straightforward guitar rock, ornamented with unexpected emotion and a sweeping melodicism.

Producer: Phil Ek. Engineers: Steve Lettie, Frank Papitto, Stuart Hallerman and Bob Ferbrache. Audio assistant: Frankie Fulleda. Recorded live at Irving Plaza (NYC), The Showbox (Seattle) and Bluebird Theater (Denver). Mastering: Ek and Greg Calbi/Sterling Sound (NYC). -Kimberly Chun

Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo (World Circuit) The CD-buying public seems to have an insatiable appetite for anything connected even tangentially to the original Buena Vista Social Club album or Wim Wenders' popular documentary of the same name. What's remarkable is that every "solo" album that has followed in the past couple of years has been worthy on its own merits. The latest, by the expressive alto singer Omara Portuondo, once again takes us back to the Cuba of a bygone era. Portuondo was a popular singer and dancer in the pre-Castro '50s, when nightclubs dotted the streets of Havana and tourists happily sipped rum drinks and danced the night away under warm, tropical skies. This CD captures some of that feeling-there are swelling string arrangements, creamy horn and reed parts and gently flowing Latin rhythms. It's a largely relaxed affair from beginning to end; a little night music for (and about) lovers. Portuondo's voice wraps around the lyrics like a warm caress, and she easily moves from the emotion of one song to the next. Many of the tunes are old big band-flavored numbers, but there's also a lovely Spanish version of the Gershwins' "The Man I Love." Other BVSC alumni helping out include singer Ibrahim Ferrer, pianist Ruben Gonzalez and guitarists Compay Segundo and Eliades Ochoa.

Producers: Nick Gold and Jerry Boys. Tracking and mixing engineers: Boys and Simon Burwell. Studios: EGREM (Havana; tracking), Livingston (London; mixing). Mastering: Tom Leader and Boys. -Blair Jackson