On January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash opened his concert at Folsom maximum security prison in California with “Folsom Prison Blues” in front of two thousand murderers, rapists and robbers. The energy of Johnny Cash and his band, with Carl Perkins of Blue suede shoes on guitar, and inmates clapping along to lyrics like “I shot a man in Reno/Just watch him die” in Reno/Just to watch him die) can be seen from the beginning of the disc, which is not affected by the fact that the cries of the prisoners were recorded after the concert, in the studio. Released in May 1968, the disc was received by music critics with the highest qualifications, and it gave a new start to Johnny Cash’s career, going gold in August 1968, having by then sold more than 500,000 copies. There were songs about arrest, prison, cocaine, a photo of my mother, scattered clothes and chains, the gallows, songs in which you can find each of the prisoners.

However, this was not the first concert of Johnny Cash in a penitentiary, this one took place on January 1, 1959 in San Quentin, the oldest prison in California, also a maximum security. Among the prisoners was Merle Haggard, arrested in 1957, aged just 18, for attempted robbery. Years later, after becoming a country music legend, Merle Haggard testified that that concert inspired him to get serious and focus on music. According to him: “He had the right attitude. He chewed gum, looked arrogant and gave the guards the middle finger – he did everything the prisoners wanted to do. He was a scumbag from the South who was there because he loved us. When he left, everyone in the place became a Johnny Cash fan.”

Soon after, Haggard joined a prison country music band and began to focus on music, dismissing the thoughts of escape that had plagued him up to that point. He was paroled in 1960 after two years in prison. Later, in 1972, Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, received an unconditional pardon. After his death at the age of 79 in 2016, he was hailed as an “outlaw hero” and a country music legend.

Nicolas Cesar Negulescu hasn’t heard of Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash, which isn’t surprising considering he’s in his early 20s. In 2018, he was arrested for attempted murder, and was on trial for some time. In the end, he received 4 years and 10 months in prison, spending almost two years in the Craiova pre-trial detention center.

I spoke with him on October 13, 2023 at the Verde Stop Arena in Bucharest, where the Mircea Dinescu Art Foundation organized a concert featuring seven prisoners from Craiova Prison, three professional musicians and Andrei Dinescu. with his band PC HAREM. The concert was part of the RO-CULTURE program, which took place in Craiova and Bucharest from May 2022 to April 2024, with the support of EEA (European Economic Area) grants, representing the contribution of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway to reducing economic and social inequality in the European economic zone and strengthening bilateral relations with 15 beneficiary states in Eastern and Southern Europe and the Baltic States.

“I have been in pre-trial detention center since May 2022, but in 2018 I served another six months. I shouldn’t have been in jail, it wasn’t such a serious act that I should have to pay that much. It was necessary in a different way,” says the guy with whom I talk before the concert. “I will appear before the mid-term parole board in April and I could be released. Here everything depends on your behavior, on your activities… I was a good boy, I behave well, I follow the rules, I do my own business, I have a goal – to go home soon, I have a family that is waiting for me , I don’t want to waste my life in prison, I made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean I have to do it again. It’s an education of the mind, a lesson for me because of what I’m going through…”

I can’t control myself and jokingly tell him that there are only four policemen for every seven prisoners, so three could easily escape if everyone ran in a different direction, but it’s not worth it with only six months left. possible parole. He also laughs heartily and repeats that he wants nothing more than to get home as soon as possible and that he has no intention of making any more mistakes.

I ask him if he plans to pursue music after his release. “Honestly…that would blow my mind. I want to see how it all comes together… I like tinkering. I don’t really have a voice.” I learned that there are weekly classes starting with the Shamanism project, and that several rehearsals took place in the run-up to the concert. “I prefer techno, club music, but I also like maneles, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. There’s also that show on Taraf with Lucian Elgi that I’m still watching,” he says in response to my statement that I don’t listen to manes, but I appreciate the beat. It’s almost time for the concert to start, so we have to stop talking.

Seven percussionists sitting on chairs in the arc of a circle begin to synchronize, and I think of the vans from Brenesti that Fenix ​​played with in 1974, although here the drums are of the Egyptian type, the darbuka, the rhythm is oriental. Then came Dumitru Boaka and Pulpan Nicolae on keyboards, Yonut Avram on vocals and sometimes Andrei Dinescu on violin. I think the energetic sound is not far from the Arabic-sounding parties on pleasure boats that depart in the evening from Emignon, Istanbul, but after a few rhythmic songs, the lead singer breaks the rhythm with a syrupy love song: “Your look is killing me / Nobody like you / But no one is like me/You are the happiness of life/You are like the morning dew…” in the plaintive style of Florin Salam. – Read more on Contributors.ro