| Track by Track Review
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Billy Tidwell And The Chivells - Folsom Prison Blues
This song is a trademark number for Johnny Cash. This rendition is all class. |
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Webb Pierce – In The Jailhouse Now
There is a real downhome vibe to this track. |
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Rod Morris – Alabama Jailhouse
More of a rockabilly vibe is on the menu here. |
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Bill Carter – Shot Four Times And Dying
Country and rockabilly merge on this tune. |
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Ronnie Hawkins – The Ballad Of Caryl Chessman
This is more of a folk song. It’s classy. |
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Jim Carter - Jailer, Jailer
Energetic old school rock and roll is on the menu here. The vocals on this are low register and so cool. |
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The Pierce Brothers – Death Row
Another rockabilly tune, this is on the mellower end of that equation. |
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Gary Williams – Walla Walla State Prison
I love the surf styled guitar. This is a classy tune. |
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The Johnny Burnette Trio - Midnight Train
This acoustic guitar based tune has more of a country folk rock vibe. |
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Helen Grayco – Lilly's Lament (Cell 29)
The super-deep backing vocal just singing “29” is a cool touch. The female vocals are not only great, but also provide some variety. This whole song is just so classy. It has a great bluesy, jazzy kind of vibe to it. This is definitely one of my favorites here. |
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Jaycee Hill – Crash Out
This rockabilly jam has a real vocally dominated arrangement to it. |
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Sonny Burgess And The Pacers –Prisoner's Song (alt. 2)
I previously reviewed the “alt 1” version of this on another album. Here is what I said about it, “There is a real Dixieland jazz turned rock and roll vibe here. This is a fun romp that is among the best here.” The focus on rock and roll is pretty definite here, but that Dixieland presence still remains. |
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Troy Crane And The Three Texans – Huntsville Prison Blues
A classic country vibe is in place on this live recording. It’s nothing Earth-shattering, but it works well. The low vocals are a great touch, and I love the guitar fills on the track. |
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Skeets McDonald – Fort Worth Jail
The guitar picking on this is the best part for me. Beyond that, it’s a pretty basic country leaning tune. It does also have some cool piano work. |
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Curley Money – Chain Gang Charlie
An old-time rock and roller, this is classy stuff, but not really a standout. |
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Jimmie Skinner –One Dead Man Ago
More country based and stripped back, this has some great guitar fills. |
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Stonewall Jackson – Run
More of an acoustic country romp, this is solid stuff. |
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Bobby Sykes– The Guard On The North Wall
More of a vintage pop sound is on the agenda on this track. It has some hints of country, but is more mainstream than that. The backing vocals really add to that. |
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Bobby Darin – Jailer Bring Me Water
There is a gospel meets rock and roll groove to this track. |
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Reb Allen – Folsom Prison Blues
Here we get a different version of the track that opened the set. The other one was closer to the Johnny Cash rendition. This one feels more pop meets rock and roll in style. |
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Johnny Starr – Lewisburg Prison
This number feels a little like Johnny Cash. It’s alright, but not one of the standouts by any means. |
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Ron And Joe And The Crew – Riot In Cell Block No. 9
I dig the old-time rock and roll sound on this tune. The guitar has a classic sound, and the whole tune works so well. |
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Jimmy Young – Chain Gang
Rock and roll, jazz and more merge on this tune. |
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Johnny Rebb And His Rebels – Hey Sherriff
A playful 50s rock and roll thing is on the menu here. This is a fun one. |
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Bill Carter With The Cooper Brothers – Jailer Man
Country and folk seem to be merged on this piece. It has some Elvis like rock roll, too. |
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Jimmy Minor – Death Row
This slow dirge feels a lot like Johnny Cash. |
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Bill Monroe And His Bluegrass Boys – Prisoner's Song
There s a real down-home bluegrass vibe to this cut. It’s not really my kind of thing, but it does have some good energy and brings some variety. |
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Bill Flagg – Doin' My Time
This is more of a bluegrass meets country and folk sort of piece. It has good energy, but it’s not really a big winner for me. |
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Marty Robbins – The Hanging Tree
Bouncy, country leaning contemporary pop music is on the menu here. This is entertaining, but pretty vanilla. |
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George Champion – My Hanging Day
This groove has a lot of Johnny Cash type sound in the mix. |
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Bennie Hess – Walking That Last Mile
From the spoken introduction to the stripped back musical arrangement and vocals, this feels really downhome and amateurish. It also feels pained. I suppose folk music is the best description in terms of genre. If there is a song here I don’t like, this is it. That said, it certainly fits the theme.
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