External links
- "Austin Prison" on the Johnny Cash official website
| "Austin Prison" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Johnny Cash | |
| from the album Everybody Loves a Nut | |
| A-side | "Everybody Loves a Nut" "Austin Prison" |
| Released | May 1966 |
| Genre | country |
| Label | Columbia 4-43673 |
| Songwriter(s) | Johnny Cash |
| Producer(s) | Don Law and Frank Jones [1] |
| Audio | |
| "Austin Prison" on YouTube | |
"Austin Prison" is a song written by Johnny Cash [2] and originally recorded by him on Columbia Records for his 1966 novelty album Everybody Loves a Nut .
It was first released in May 1966 [3] as the flip side to the second single (Columbia 4-43673, "Everybody Loves a Nut" / "Austin Prison") from the yet-to-be-released album. [4] [5] [6] [7]
[The song] tells the story of a prisoner who is helped to escape by his jailer. "Now all I want between me and there are a lot of friendly people," he says, "and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles." Cash wrote the song, and he must have felt a very personal connection with it, given that it was recorded soon after his release from jail in Texas.
— C. Eric Banister. Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black [4]
[In the song,] the outlaw narrator is imprisoned for murdering a woman he may not have killed. He's found guilty and sentenced to die, but in a rare happenstance the jailer helps him escape. There certainly is a sense of ambiguity since we don't know for sure if he did or did not kill anyone. But we know that he got away.
— John M. Alexander. The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash [8]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Everybody Loves a Nut" | Jack Clement | 2:04 |
| 2. | "Austin Prison" | Johnny Cash | 2:06 |
"Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog" is a song written by Jack Clement and originally recorded by Johnny Cash on Columbia Records for his novelty album Everybody Loves a Nut released in 1966. The song was notably performed by Cash at Folsom Prison on January 13, 1968, and appears on his live album At Folsom Prison released later that year.
"Port of Lonely Hearts" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash.
"Bonanza" is the musical theme for the NBC western television series Bonanza starring Lorne Greene. It was written for the series by Jay Livingston and Raymond Evans.
"The Sons of Katie Elder" is the theme song for the 1965 Paramount western of the same name starring John Wayne. It was written by Ernie Sheldon (words) and Elmer Bernstein (music).
"Everybody Loves a Nut" is a song written by Jack Clement and originally recorded by Johnny Cash on Columbia Records for his 1966 novelty album Everybody Loves a Nut.
"Boa Constrictor" is a song written by Shel Silverstein and originally featured on his 1962 album Inside Folk Songs.
"Mister Garfield" is a traditional song sometimes credited to Ramblin' Jack Elliott.
"Happy to Be with You" is a song co-written by Johnny Cash with June Carter and Merle Kilgore.
"You Beat All I Ever Saw" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash.
"The Wind Changes" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash.
"Red Velvet" is a song written by Ian Tyson and recorded by Johnny Cash. While the Cash version is the best known, it was first recorded by Ian & Sylvia Tyson in 1965 on their album Early Morning Rain.
"Girl in Saskatoon" is a song co-written by Johnny Cash with Johnny Horton and originally recorded by Cash for Columbia.
"Bad News" is a song written by and originally released by John D. Loudermilk, whose version reached #23 on the U.S. Billboard country chart in 1963.
"Rosanna's Going Wild" is a song written by June, Helen and Anita Carter for Johnny Cash.
"See Ruby Fall" is a song co-written by Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. The title is a play on the phrase "See Ruby Falls", which is painted on some Southern barn roofs to direct potential tourists to a well-known waterfall in Chattanooga.
"Singing in Viet Nam Talking Blues" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash.
"Papa Was a Good Man" is a song written by songwriter Hal Bynum.
"I Will Rock and Roll with You" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash for his 1978 album Gone Girl.
Cash wrote two songs for the album, one of them being "I Will Rock and Roll with You," a rockedup retelling of his Memphis origins, featuring one of the best lead-guitar breaks to appear on a Johnny Cash tune since Carl Perkins left the group in 1973.
There are two songs written by Cash on his album, Gone Girl: "It Comes and Goes" and "I Will Rock and Roll with You." Both seem to look back at his Memphis roots while examining his life with June.
"Gone Girl" is a song written by Jack Clement and originally recorded by Johnny Cash, giving its title to Cash's album Gone Girl that appeared in December 1978.
"I Would Like to See You Again" is a song written by Charlie Craig and Larry Atwood.
This song was followed by "Everybody Loves a Nut," also written by Clement, which has Cash proclaim that the world likes people a little off center and slightly weird.
May
"Everybody Loves A Nut"/"Austin Prison" (Columbia 4-43673) released. This is the second single to be lifted from the forthcoming Everybody Loves A Nut album and it will spend nine weeks on the charts in July and August, reaching a high of #17.
... and started recording a lighthearted album that appeared to be a deliberate diversion from all the morbidity around him. In the first ...
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