GRAMMY-winning Mexican regional band Los Tigres Del Norte are one of the most recognized names in Spanish-language music, and now the icons are paying tribute to one of the greatest names in English-language music: the late Johnny Cash.
The norteño band, made up of brothers and their cousin, decided to perform at Folsom Prison, the same place Johnny Cash performed on Jan. 13,1968, 50 years ago. They decided to perform there for the same reason Cash once did: they didn't want folks in prison to be forgotten.
<iframe width="620" height="349" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e0_-6k2cCDo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“We didn’t do this to promote ourselves,” vocalist/accordion player Jorge told Billboard."This was intended to help the community,” he adds in soft, pensive Spanish, “to be part of the forgotten community that’s in there."
Los Tigres, who got Johnny Cash's son John Carter Cash's blessing to do the performance, have also released a live album of their performance, Los Tigres Del Norte At Folsom Prison, featuring a Spanish-language cover of "Folsom Prison Blues" called "La Prisión De Folsom," which John's wife, Ana Cristina Cash, helped translate.
Ana Cristina, a fan of Los Tigres, told Billboard that her father-in-law "would have been proud that such a historic moment was repeated by this group, bringing his song to a brand-new audience."
Johnny Cash released his own album recorded at Folsom, Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison, which gained much acclaim and won a GRAMMY for Best Album Notes in 1969.
"The band has a real connection across time to Johnny Cash,” documentary co-producer and former president of Universal Music Group Zach Horowitz said. "His themes are similar to their themes: songs for outsiders and misfits, for people who make tragic mistakes that haunt them for the rest of their lives."
The documentary can now be streamed on Netflix.
Behind The Board: Michael Denton On Working With E-40, Making Music 3-D & Keeping Creativity Tactile