"Austin Prison"
Single by Johnny Cash
from the album Everybody Loves a Nut
A-side"Everybody Loves a Nut"
"Austin Prison"
ReleasedMay 1966 (1966-05)
Genrecountry
LabelColumbia 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]

Lyrical analysis

[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]

Track listing

7" single (Columbia 4-43673, 1966)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Everybody Loves a Nut"Jack Clement2:04
2."Austin Prison"Johnny Cash2:06

References

  1. ↑ "Johnny Cash - Everybody Loves A Nut (1966, Terre Haute Pressing, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1966. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  2. ↑ Johnny Cash (2004). Johnny Cash, the Songs. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 9781560256298. 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.
  3. ↑ Peter Lewry (2001). I've Been Everywhere: A Johnny Cash Chronicle. Helter Skelter. pp. 49–50. ISBN 978-1-900924-22-1.
    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.
  4. 1 2 C. Eric Banister (1 August 2014). Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black. Backbeat. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-1-61713-609-2.
  5. ↑ Steve Turner (1 November 2005). The man called Cash: the life, love, and faith of an American legend. Thomas Nelson Inc. ISBN 978-0-8499-0815-6. ... and started recording a lighthearted album that appeared to be a deliberate diversion from all the morbidity around him. In the first ...
  6. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (23 May 1970). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 1–. ISSN 0006-2510. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
    Standard Catalog of American Records, 1950-1975. Krause Publications. 2000. ISBN 978-0-87341-934-5.
    Tim Neely (31 August 2006). Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records: 1950-1975. Krause Publications. ISBN 9780896893078.
    The Johnny Cash Record Catalog. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1994. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-313-29506-5.
  7. ↑ George Albert (1984-01-01). The Cash Box Country Singles Charts, 1958-1982. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1685-5.
  8. ↑ John M. Alexander (16 April 2018). The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash. University of Arkansas Press. pp. 167–. ISBN 978-1-61075-628-0.
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