20 Country Albums Every Rock Fan Should Listen To

When Johnny Cash was first starting to make waves in the country scene, it seemed like he was destined to just be a singles artist. At a time when albums weren't anything more than a bunch of songs, Cash knew that the money was in the songs on the jukebox rather than making a pure artistic statement. Though his time on top of the world may have dwindled by the late '60s, Cash packed up his guitar and went into Folsom Prison to make history.

Standing as one of the greatest live albums of all time, Live at Folsom Prison shows Cash practically hitting the reset button on his entire career, with some of the darkest songs that he has ever written. While Cash was always known to be a bit on the morose side of country music, tracks like Cocaine Blues and 25 Minutes to Go feel so much more natural in this setting. The whole thing comes to a head on Folsom Prison Blues, with the crowd roaring when Cash talks about shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die.

At a time when Johnny Cash couldn't really get arrested in the country music world anymore, this album established him as not only the greatest country artist, but also one of the greatest musical outlaws that the world had ever seen. Whereas some rock stars might think they are tough, you ain't seen nothin' until you've given this a listen.