JANUARY 13 | TODAY IN ROCK HISTORY: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash Records At Folsom Prison — January 13, 1968
On January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash walked into California’s Folsom State Prison and performed two shows for roughly 2,000 inmates. Cash had wanted to record a prison concert for years, and producer Bob Johnston finally helped make it happen. The performances came at a pivotal moment in Cash’s career, as his struggles with drugs and declining commercial success had left him searching for a new direction.
The best recordings became At Folsom Prison, released later that year. Songs including “Folsom Prison Blues”, “Cocaine Blues”, and “25 Minutes to Go” captured an intensity that could never have been recreated in a studio. The album became a major commercial success and helped revive Cash’s career. One especially remarkable moment was “Greystone Chapel”, written by Folsom inmate Glen Sherley and performed by Cash during the concert. More than a live album, At Folsom Prison became a defining statement from the Man in Black and one of the most celebrated concert recordings in American music.
Eric Clapton’s Extraordinary Comeback
On January 13, 1973, after roughly 18 months away from performing while battling heroin addiction, Eric Clapton returned to the stage at London’s Rainbow Theatre. For one of rock’s most celebrated guitarists, it was a significant and uncertain moment. Clapton had largely withdrawn from public life as his addiction worsened, leaving his career in serious jeopardy.
The two-show event was organized by Pete Townshend, who had become deeply concerned about Clapton and wanted to help his friend return to music. Townshend assembled an extraordinary group of musicians for the concerts, including Steve Winwood, Ronnie Wood, and Jim Capaldi. The lineup gave Clapton a powerful musical safety net as he stepped back onto a stage for the first time in well over a year.
Clapton performed material from his solo career along with songs associated with Cream and Derek and the Dominos. The concerts were more than a simple comeback, however. Townshend and the other musicians were attempting to give Clapton a reason to reconnect with the creative world he had been forced to abandon while dealing with addiction.
The performances were recorded and released later in 1973 as Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert. The album documented a musician beginning to find his way back after one of the darkest periods of his life. Clapton’s recovery would remain a difficult process, but the Rainbow concerts marked an important turning point and the beginning of his return to the stage.
Lynyrd Skynyrd Reunites After the Plane Crash
On January 13, 1979, just over a year after the tragic plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines, the surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited onstage in Nashville. The appearance took place during the Volunteer Jam, the annual concert organized by Charlie Daniels, and marked the first performance by the surviving members together since the October 1977 crash.
The reunion carried enormous emotional weight. Lynyrd Skynyrd had been one of Southern rock’s defining bands, but the crash had seemingly brought its story to an abrupt end. Guitarist Gary Rossington, drummer Artimus Pyle, bassist Leon Wilkeson, guitarist Allen Collins, and other surviving members had been left to deal with the loss of their bandmates while also confronting the question of whether the music could continue without Van Zant.
Rather than immediately attempting to revive Lynyrd Skynyrd, the musicians largely pursued other projects. The Volunteer Jam reunion therefore wasn’t a new beginning so much as a moment of remembrance and closure. Hearing the surviving members play together again demonstrated that the chemistry that had made Lynyrd Skynyrd so powerful had not completely disappeared, even after the devastating loss of three members.
The performance also foreshadowed the band’s eventual return. In 1987, surviving members reunited more formally for a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute tour with Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother, Johnny Van Zant, taking over lead vocals. But the 1979 Volunteer Jam appearance remains an important and often overlooked chapter in the band’s history—a night when Lynyrd Skynyrd’s surviving musicians stood onstage together again and confronted the impossible task of playing their music without the people they had lost.
Three Weird JANUARY 13 Rock Factoids
The Twist Somehow Hit No. 1 Twice
On January 13, 1962, Chubby Checker‘s “The Twist” returned to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, more than a year after it had first topped the chart. It became the first—and for decades, the only—song to reach No. 1 in two separate, non-consecutive chart runs. A dance craze that had already taken over America somehow came roaring back for a second round.
Bruce Springsteen Got His Break Because Boz Scaggs Got Sick
On January 13, 1970, Steel Mill, featuring a young Bruce Springsteen, played The Matrix in San Francisco after scheduled headliner Boz Scaggs canceled at the last minute because of illness. A local critic had shown up expecting to review Scaggs, but instead saw Springsteen’s band and wrote a glowing review of Steel Mill for the San Francisco Examiner. One canceled gig accidentally gave an unknown New Jersey musician some valuable West Coast attention.
The Beatles Took a Caribbean Vacation
On January 13, 1966, Ringo Starr and John Lennon left England for a vacation in Trinidad. At the time, The Beatles were already global superstars, but the trip offered a glimpse of how strange ordinary life had become for the world’s most famous band. While Beatlemania continued raging at home, two members simply disappeared to the Caribbean for some downtime.
Closing Thoughts
January 13 has produced some remarkably unexpected moments in rock history, from a legendary comeback to a career-changing cancellation and a pair of Beatles escaping Beatlemania for the Caribbean. These stories may not always receive the attention given to the biggest albums and concerts, but they reveal the strange turns, coincidences, and unexpected opportunities that are often hiding behind rock history’s familiar headlines.
From the stage of London’s Rainbow Theatre to Nashville’s Volunteer Jam and the unlikely paths that brought artists into the spotlight, January 13 reminds us that rock history isn’t always made according to plan. Sometimes it happens because an artist gets another chance, a concert takes an unexpected turn, or circumstances simply fall into place at exactly the right moment.
