Johnny Cash - Live at San Quentin Online Quiz | Music

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In which U.S. State is San Quentin State Prison located?

Answer: California

San Quentin State Prison opened in 1852, and is the oldest working prison in California. It was built by convicts, who until its completion slept on a prison ship anchored nearby. Although there is a Christian saint called Quentin, San Quentin State Prison was actually named after a native American Indian called Qintin.
In 1969, Johnny Cash's 'San Quentin' album was voted Album of the Year by the Country Music association.

2. During his introduction to the show, Johnny Cash mentioned the U.S. State where the show was taking place. What did he have to say about it?

Answer: The place is so crazy, you just gotta get somethin' to eat.

Following his usual "It's good to be with you" opening words, Johnny Cash said "June said she knew there'd be some people from the south here tonight, because some of you guys get out here in California. The place is so crazy you just gotta get somethin' to eat". I'm glad to see y'all again".

3. Which of these performers did NOT appear with Johnny Cash, live at San Quentin State Prison?

Answer: Everly Brothers

Marshall Grant played bass guitar in Johnny Cash's backing group, and also doubled as road manager and stage manager. The Statler Brothers were a Country/Gospel group, only two of whom were actually brothers. They made over forty albums in their own right, as well as appearing live with Johnny Cash at both San Quentin and Folsom prisons. Carl Perkins played electric guitar in Cash's backing group, but was also a songwriter and recording artist in his own right.

He wrote and recorded 'Blue Suede Shoes', a hit which was later recorded and made famous by Elvis Presley.

4. In the ballad 'San Quentin', Johnny Cash sang about how he thought it might feel to be a prisoner there. According to the song lyrics, since what year had he been incarcerated at San Quentin?

Answer: 1963

In his introduction to the song, Johnny Cash said "I tried to put myself in your place, and I believe this is the way I'd feel about San Quentin".
The first verse of 'San Quentin' goes:
"San Quentin, you've been livin' hell to me
You've hosted me since nineteen sixty three
I've seen 'em come and go and I've seen them die
And long ago I stopped askin' why".
The ballad ends "San Quentin, you've been livin' hell to me".

5. Apart from San Quentin, Johnny Cash appeared and recorded live performances at several prisons. At which of these prisons did he NOT make a live recording?

Answer: Pentonville Prison, England

He recorded the 'San Quentin' album live in 1969, and the 'Folsom Prison' album just over a year earlier in January, 1968. His first live prison recording though, was in 1972 at Osteraker Prison in Sweden.
As with the two U.S. prison recordings, the Osteraker Prison album, 'Pa Osteraker', includes several prison related songs, such as 'Prisoner's Song', 'Orleans Parish Prison', and 'City Jail'.

6. Johnny Cash sang about the time he was arrested in Starkville, Mississippi. What did he claim the Starkville police officer had called him at the time of his arrest?

Answer: wild flower child

Johnny Cash claimed that he'd been arrested for picking flowers, though the Starkville police said it was for being drunk. He spent a night in jail, and was fined thirty-six dollars. He told the San Quentin inmates that he'd wrote the song to get back at the guy who still had his money, and said "no tellin' what they'd do if you pulled an apple or something". The second verse of 'Starkville City Jail' contains the wild flower child line:
"I was whistlin', pickin' flowers, swayin' in the southern breeze.
I found myself surrounded; one policeman said: "That's him.
Come along, wild flower child. Don't you know that it's two a.m".

7. Johnny Cash's wife performed with him, live at San Quentin State Prison.

Answer: True

Johnny had married his second wife, June Carter Cash, about a year earlier in 1968. June had been touring and performing with Johnny for years, and was credited with helping him to give up his debilitating drug addiction. At one stage during the live San Quentin recording, Johnny Cash was heard to say "I'd like to ask my wife June Carter to come up".

They then sang 'Darlin' Companion' together.

8. Guitar player Luther Perkins was a member of Johnny Cash's backing group, The Tennessee Three, for years, but didn't perform at San Quentin. Why was this?

Answer: He'd died seven months earlier.

Luther Perkins had performed with Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison in 1968, but later that year had died in a house fire. His place in The Tennessee Three was taken by guitarist Bob Wootton, who went on to perform with Johnny Cash at San Quentin in 1969. During the live San Quentin recording, one of the inmates was heard to call out "Where's Luther Johnny". Johnny Cash replied "Luther Perkins passed away seven months ago after being with us for thirteen years. How about one big cheer for Luther Perkins".

9. In the ballad 'Wanted Man', which he performed at San Quentin, Johnny Cash sang of several U.S. states. Which of these states was not mentioned in the ballad?

Answer: Nebraska

The lyrics of 'Wanted Man' were written by Bob Dylan, and the states mentioned were California, Ohio, Mississippi, Colorado, and Georgia. Various U.S. cities were also mentioned as being where the singer was a 'Wanted Man', including Buffalo, Kansas City, Cheyenne, Albuquerque, Syracuse, Tallahassee, and Baton Rouge.

In one verse he sang that he "went to sleep in Shreveport, woke up in Abilene, wonderin' why the hell I'm wanted at some town half way between".

10. In 'Wanted Man', as well as naming various U.S. states and cities where he's wanted, Johnny Cash also sang of several women who were after him. Which of these was NOT one of these ladies?

Answer: Maggie McGraw

The verse in 'Wanted Man' which includes the ladies goes:
"Wanted man by Lucy Watson,
Wanted man by Jeannie Brown
Wanted man by Nellie Johnson,
Wanted man in this next town".

11. In the duet 'Darlin' Companion', Johnny Cash sang "Oh, a little saucy mare like you should have a steed". How did his female co-singer reply to this?

Answer: "Oh, a little bridlin' down from you is what I need".

Johnny Cash sang this duet with his wife, June Carter Cash, to whom he'd been married for just a year. 'Darlin' Companion' expressed the genuine love which the couple felt for each other. Johnny and June won Grammy awards for their duets of 'Jackson' in 1967 , and 'If I Were a Carpenter' in 1970.

12. After singing the ballad 'San Quentin', Johnny Cash was asked by the inmates to sing it again, but refused.

Answer: False

After singing 'San Quentin' the first time, Johnny Cash asked if one of the guards would bring him a glass of water. While it was coming, the prisoners could be heard shouting "one more time". Johnny repeated "one more time", and then said "Here it is a again". He also sang 'Boy named Sue' twice, but 'San Quentin' was the only song which he sang an immediate encore.

13. According to the lyrics of 'Wreck of the Old 97", how did the train driver die?

Answer: He was scalded to death by steam.

'Wreck of the Old 97' was based on a true event. In September 1903, U.S. Mail train no. 97 derailed at high speed on a wooden trestle bridge and crashed, killing driver Joseph Broady and ten others. The original version of the song, which has been recorded by various artists, had two other verses before the verse at which Johnny Cash began. Verses three and four of the Johnny Cash version of the song described the tragedy:
"And then a telegram come from Washington station,
This is how it read:
"Oh that brave engineer that run ol' 97,
"Is lyin' in old Danville dead.

'Cos he was going down a grade making 90 miles an hour,
The whistle broke into a scream.
He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle,
Scalded to death by the steam".

14. Just before singing "Starkville City Jail' at San Quentin, Johnny Cash asked if someone could pass him his kit from backstage. What did he say was contained in it?

Answer: "all my dope"

He called out "Hey, in my kit back there where I got all my dope, all my things. Hey, that briefcase that's got all the songs I stole in it". Obviously he was joking, but during his earlier career he had been addicted to barbiturate and amphetimine drugs, and had once received a suspended prison sentence for drug possession.

His wife, June Carter Cash, had played a major role in helping him to break his drug addiction.

15. In 'A Boy Named Sue', what reason had his father given for naming him Sue?

Answer: It was to make him get tough or die.

The first verse tells how his daddy left home when he was only three, and before he'd left he'd named his child Sue. As the child grew up, the name caused a lot of problems and got him into many fights, so he vowed to seek out his father and kill him. Eventually he saw him in a Gatlinburg saloon, and told him "My name is Sue! How do you do! Now you're gonna die!". They fought furiously, kicking, punching and biting, and using, chairs and knives. His father tried to draw his gun, but was beaten to the draw, and then told him that he'd named him Sue to help him get tough or die. He then said:
"But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you Sue".
After this, the two were reconciled, but Sue went on to say "If I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him Bill or George! Anything but Sue".

16. Which of these songs, performed by Johnny Cash at San Quentin State Prison, became the basis of a movie title recording the early years of the singing partnership of Johnny Cash and his future wife?

Answer: I Walk the Line

The movie 'Walk the Line' was released in 2005, and starred Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter. The song version of 'I walk the Line' was originally recorded by Cash in 1956, and was dedicated to his first wife, Vivian Liberto. In 1964, he also recorded an album of the same title.

17. During the live performance at San Quentin State Prison, Johnny Cash mentioned that the show was being recorded for television. For which country did he say it was being recorded?

Answer: England

The show was recorded by Granada Television for broadcast in the UK. In 2006 an updated version of 'Johnny Cash at San Quentin', called the Legacy Edition was released. This edition comprised two CDs and a DVD of the 1969 Granada recording, including interviews with some of the prison guards and inmates of San Quentin.

18. Johnny Cash sang one of his greatest hits, 'Ring of Fire', at San Quentin State Prison. What was the basic theme of this classic song?

Answer: Love

The song begins with the words "Love is a burnin' thing", and this theme continues throughout. 'Ring of Fire' was co-written by two of the Carter sisters, Anita and June, and was recorded in 1962 by Anita Carter but never became a hit for her. 'Ring of Fire' is widely recognised as Johnny Cash's greatest ever hit, and cover versions have been recorded by many well known singers.

19. During his live performance at San Quentin State Prison, Johnny Cash sang a number of ballads with a religious theme. One of these was 'He Turned the Water into Wine', which described the first recorded miracle performed by Jesus. Which of the following miracles performed by Jesus was also mentioned in the ballad?

Answer: All of these

Other songs with a religious theme, which Johnny Cash sang at San Quentin, included 'Peace in the Valley', and 'Old Account was settled Long Ago'. The water into wine miracle, performed by Jesus at a marriage in Cana, is recorded in John 2, verses 1 - 11.

The healing of the leper is recorded in Mark 1, verses 40 - 45. There are several recordings of Jesus feeding a multitude of people with just a few loaves and fishes. These can be found in Matthew 14, verses 14 - 21, Mark 6, verses 36 - 44, Luke 9, verses 12 - 17, and John 6, verses 5 - 13.

20. Which of these songs did NOT feature in the closing medley of songs performed by Johnny Cash, and his backing team of singers and musicians, at their live performance at San Quentin State Prison?

Answer: San Quentin

Johnny Cash had already sung 'San Quentin' twice during the performance, so may have thought that singing it again might not be the best way to finish the show! In addition to the three songs mentioned, 'The Rebel - Johnny Yuma' also featured in the closing medley.

Source: Author picqero

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ralzzz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Johnny Cash - Live at San Quentin Quiz

In 1969, Johnny Cash appeared before a live audience of inmates at San Quentin State Prison. The show was performed live, and recorded for record release and television. This quiz is about the venue, performers, songs, and dialogue.

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