10 Musicians Who Committed Real Crimes, Did Real Time - And Had Real Impact

As we mentioned, despite numerous run-ins with the law, famous songs like Folsom Prison Blues and San Quentin - and iconic concerts in those very institutions - Johnny Cash never actually did any hard time. His work certainly resonated with inmates across the United States, however, as he seemed to emphasize with their struggle. The atmosphere on the live albums he recorded at Folsom and San Quentin is electric and his understanding, compassion – and rebellious demeanour – likely inspired many of the convicts in attendance.

One such case was that of Merle Haggard. He would go on to become a country singer almost as well-known as Cash himself, but in 1959 the 20 year old Haggard was serving time in San Quentin prison outside San Francisco having been jailed for robbery in 1957 after a youth full of petty crime. Haggard was in the audience at one of Cash’s earliest prison concerts, and found the experience transformative – even though Cash wasn’t at his best. As he recounted later to Rolling Stone magazine:

"I was in a 1958 audience New Year’s Day at San Quentin. He lost his voice that day. It was just a whisper. But his charismatic manners sold him to the convicts. They really liked him, and I did, too, and I was prepared not to like him for some reason. When he didn’t have a voice and he was able to bring the people around, I understood the power of Johnny Cash. It was overwhelming."

That night caused Haggard to re-think his life, commit himself to music and stop getting in trouble when he left jail. He and Cash even became friends later, with Cash giving him another leg up via an appearance on his TV show in 1969.