Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash's 'boom-chicka-boom' rhythm was famously stark, but his songwriting and phrasing carried deep blues feeling. His Sun Records environment in Memphis (where country, blues, gospel, and rockabilly all rubbed shoulders) was the crucible that shaped his sound. 'Folsom Prison Blues' borrows from both blues structure and Gordon Jenkins's 'Crescent City Blues,' and his recurring themes of incarceration, fatalism, and trains mark him as a direct thematic heir to the pre-war blues and folk tradition.