Weekly Music History-From Johnny Cash to The Rolling Stones-Music History on Foot.

Summary

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Takin' A Walk – Music History with Buzz Knight

Weekly Music History: From Johnny Cash to The Rolling Stones

Air Date: January 12, 2026
Host: Buzz Knight
Guest: Harry Jacobs (rock fan, media personality, industry insider)
Theme: Highlights from music history during the week of January 13th — memorable moments, unusual stories, and pop culture intersections.

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Episode Overview

Buzz Knight welcomes Harry Jacobs to the “Music History Desk” for a lively conversation centering on music milestones and turning points that occurred during the second week of January throughout history. This episode features reflections on genre-bending artists like Johnny Cash, high-stakes moments for Eric Clapton, censorship brush-ups with The Rolling Stones, bizarre Beatles inspiration, and even an infamous Boston disaster. The discussion seamlessly blends music lore, nostalgia, and insider commentary.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968)

[00:42 – 03:15]

• Landmark Album: Johnny Cash’s legendary “At Folsom Prison” live album was recorded and released this week in 1968. The significance lies in Cash performing for an audience of inmates as a former felon himself — a move that was deeply provocative and emblematic of his rebel authenticity.

• Influence on Rock: Harry points out that Cash, “not necessarily a rock guy,” heavily influenced rock musicians including Bruce Springsteen: “Bruce Springsteen will often talk about that Johnny Cash influence...” [00:44]

• Cultural Context: Buzz and Harry reflect on how “unlikely” such a performance would be in the modern era and how Cash bridged country and Americana with rock ethos.

• Notable Quote:
  “Johnny Cash, a former felon, by the way, play at the prison. That was a big deal at that time.”
  – Harry Jacobs [01:05]

• Memorable Image: Harry describes the iconic photo of Cash giving the finger at Folsom, as a symbol of the era’s spirit:
  “He looks really angry…to me that describes the times, right, that we were in at that time.” [02:51]

• Related Anecdote: Buzz recalls interviewing Jelly Roll, who had deep respect for Cash’s “badass” authenticity and recommended the “Tricky Dick Johnny Cash” documentary. [01:38–02:25]

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2. Eric Clapton & The Rainbow Concert (1973)

[03:15 – 06:26]

• Eric Clapton’s Crisis: January 1973 marked Pete Townshend of The Who organizing the Rainbow Concert in London to “support Eric Clapton,” who was at the height of heroin addiction and professional withdrawal.

• The Event: The concert was an all-star jam with Steve Winwood and others, not a sequence of solo sets. The group reflects on how such events were less polished and orchestrated compared to modern tributes. [05:03–05:21]

• Critical Reception: Buzz recalls the record of the Rainbow Concert being “received fairly tepidly” despite the lineup’s star power. [04:12]

• Production Changes: Discussion on how live event production and direction have evolved since then, comparing it to improvements in broadcast sports. [05:39]

• Notable Quote:
  “Clapton was arguably a disaster. He was struggling with the situation with Patty Harrison, George Harrison's wife at the time, being…in love with his best friend's wife. It created all kinds of angst and added to the drug use...”
  – Harry Jacobs [06:03]

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3. The Rolling Stones on Ed Sullivan (1967)

[06:37 – 07:47]

• Censorship Moment: The Rolling Stones were compelled by Ed Sullivan to change the lyrics of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” to “Let’s Spend Some Time Together” due to the suggestive original line. [06:37]

• Ed Sullivan’s Role: Imagining the awkward negotiation between Sullivan and the Stones, Buzz muses, “I could only wish that we could have been a fly on the wall…” [07:00]

• Notable Quote:
  “This was tame compared to anything else.”
  – Harry Jacobs, referencing the Stones’ notorious reputation [07:44]

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4. Paul McCartney's Tokyo Arrest (1980)

[08:00 – 08:53]

• Weed Arrest: January 16, 1980, Paul McCartney was arrested for marijuana possession in Tokyo while touring with Wings, resulting in deportation and nine days in Japanese jail.

• Changing Times: Reflection on the shift in attitudes toward marijuana:
  “It is kind of mind blowing thinking about how far we've come.”
  – Harry Jacobs [08:53]

• Notable Quote:
  “Imagine that bag of weed…he gets nine days in Tokyo in jail.”
  – Harry Jacobs [08:20]

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5. Beatles' "A Day in the Life" – Inspiration from the News (1967)

[08:53 – 09:32]

• Lyric Origins: January 17, 1967 — The Daily Mail reports “4,000 potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire" and the demise of the Guinness heir, both of which inspired lyrics for “A Day in the Life.”

• Research Find: Harry discovered this story while prepping for the week and brought it to Buzz's attention.

• Songwriting Genius:
  “What was so awesome…Lennon and McCartney…scanning every possible source for some inspiration and finding that in the Daily Mail.”
  – Buzz Knight [09:32]

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6. Johnny Rotten Fired from the Sex Pistols (1978)

[09:52 – 10:31]

• Punk Irony: On this week in 1978, Johnny Rotten was fired from the Sex Pistols for not being “weird enough” — a move that effectively ended the band.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “They said he wasn't weird enough.”
    – Harry Jacobs [10:07]
  • “Isn't that the definition of punk anyway, getting kicked out of a band?”
    – Buzz Knight [10:09–10:22]

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7. Boston’s Great Molasses Flood (1919)

[10:31 – 11:13]

• Strange History: January 15, 1919, the Great Molasses Flood in Boston killed 21 people and injured 150 when a massive molasses tank burst.

• Local Lore: Buzz, from Massachusetts, finds it remarkable that the tragic event isn’t common knowledge, even among locals. [10:56]

• Notable Quotes:

  • “Death by molasses. Kind of slow and painful.”
    – Harry Jacobs [11:09]

  • “And traffic was terrible at that moment. And to this day it's still hellacious in Boston.”
    – Buzz Knight [11:13]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Show:
  “One of my favorite pictures of Johnny is that, that picture where he's given the finger to the camera…to me that…describes the times.”
  – Harry Jacobs [02:51]

• On The Rainbow Concert:
  “This was the jam session…pre…what they're doing now as an example for the Rock and Roll hall of Fame.”
  – Harry Jacobs [05:03]

• On the Stones’ Ed Sullivan Lyric Change:
  “This was tame compared to anything else.”
  – Harry Jacobs [07:44]

• On Change in Marijuana Laws:
  “It is kind of mind blowing thinking about how far we've come.”
  – Harry Jacobs [08:53]

• On Johnny Rotten’s Firing:
  “They said he wasn't weird enough.”
  – Harry Jacobs [10:07]

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Timestamps to Key Segments

• Johnny Cash & Folsom Prison Album: [00:42 – 03:15]
• Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert & Struggles: [03:15 – 06:26]
• Rolling Stones on Ed Sullivan – Censorship: [06:37 – 07:47]
• Paul McCartney’s Tokyo Arrest: [08:00 – 08:53]
• Beatles' “A Day in the Life” Lyric Origins: [08:53 – 09:32]
• Johnny Rotten Fired from Sex Pistols: [09:52 – 10:31]
• Boston’s Molasses Flood: [10:31 – 11:13]

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Tone & Flow

• Conversational, witty, and peppered with inside music lore.
• Full of humorous asides, personal reminiscences, and appreciation for music history’s quirks.
• Both hosts bring decades of music fandom and industry backdrop, giving color to each story.

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This episode of Takin' A Walk is a parade of classic music headlines, underlying how moments from decades ago continue to shape the story and culture of popular music — with more than a few laughs and surprises along the way.

Transcript

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[B]

I'm Buzz Knight, the host of the Taking a Walk podcast. The podcast where we take a look at music history, we talk to musicians and insiders, and on this episode, we take a look at music history for the week of January 13th. And I'm joined at the Music History Desk by my dear friend, rock fan, media personality, former programmer and radio, and also just somebody who knows the biz and the music inside out. The one and only Harry Jacobs. Welcome to the Music History Desk, Harry.

[C]

Pleasure to, to be here to, to join you. You know, historically, the beginning of January is when a lot of things aren't going on. But we've managed to find some things that have happened this week and I'm, I'm excited to talk to you about him. Johnny Cash would be the first one. Not necessarily a rock guy, but, you know, a lot of rock guys took influence from Johnny Cash. Bruce Springsteen will, will often talk about that, that Johnny Cash influence. And, and obviously he changed and, and spent a lot of time doing country and, and western sounding music as he's, you know, grown in his career. But Johnny Cash's at Folsom Prison came out this week in 1968, probably something that wouldn't happen today. Think about it. They, they took a room full of prisoners and let Johnny Cash, a former felon, by the way, play at the prison. That was a, a big deal at that time.

[B]

Yeah. And I got to talk to Jelly Roll way back about a lot of different things, including, you know, his view of Johnny Cash. And I'll never forget it, he was like, he leaned right in, in terms of what a badass Johnny Cash was. And obviously Jelly Roll has served time as well behind bars. So he had a great respect for Johnny's authenticity. He even recommended to me, in case you haven't seen it, the documentary, the Tricky Dick Johnny Cash documentary. Have you ever checked that one out?

[C]

You told me after you did the interview with Jelly Roll, you told me about it and, and it's kind of buried on my list. I need to, I need to get in there and, and, and take a look at that.

[B]

It's really well done. So Johnny. And then of course, what Johnny would ultimately end up doing with Bob Dylan was certainly incredible as well. And that TV show that Johnny had was sort of this amazing, you know, combining country and sort of rock Americana together. So an iconic period in music history when Johnny was at the FSOM prison.

[C]

Yeah. One of my favorite pictures of Johnny is that, that picture where he's given the finger to the camera, he looks really angry and he's just, you know, to me that it describes the. The times, right. That we were in at that time. Think about where we were in 68. That was. That picture was taken at around that may. Probably earlier, but, you know, still it. It's an iconic photo, Johnny.

[B]

Oh, no doubt, no doubt. Yeah.

[C]

In. In 1973, this is the. The time that Pete Townsend organized the Rainbow Concert essentially to support Eric Clapton. Now there were a whole bunch of people that. That played obviously Townsend and Clapton played, but Steve Wynwood and a bunch of others, we learned through the documentary, through the. Through the 12 bars Life through 12 bars. I believe that that that was a time that Eric Clapton in 73 was really at the height of his drug use, was really struggling, had kind of disappeared at. At times. I remember seeing there was a period of time before 461 Ocean Boulevard. I guess that was the album at that time with. With Mainline Florida on it, among other things. But. But this was an interesting time for Clapton and to have Pete Townsend and get our gather others to. To rally around him was important.

[B]

Yeah. And I think we knew there were problems back then. It was certainly reported, I think in, you know, like Rolling Stone or Crawdaddy Magazine or something like that. So there was word out there that there were problems with. With Eric, frankly, there were problems with all of the musicians at that point. It felt like so many of them sadly, you know, struggled. And then I remember when ultimately the. The Rainbow concert was released, I think it was received fairly tepidly because for acts that were so great in concert, it wasn't their, you know, most memorable performances. So that's how I started to remember the way the concert, when it came out was released and the way it was received. I could be wrong.

[C]

This was not a concert, if my memory serves me correctly, where, you know, each group did their own little set. This was the. This was the jam session, you know, pre. You know, what they're doing now as an example for the Rock and Roll hall of Fame.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Birthday concert or some sort of celebration of a band.

[B]

That's right. It was not orchestrated and staged to the degree that things are now by that guy Joel Gallon, who does all the. Did all the stuff for, you know, the. The Rock and Roll hall of Fame. He staged things and he's brilliant at that. Yeah, that. I think that's a good point there for sure.

[C]

Yeah, that's an. It's an interesting thing when you think about it. You know, be interesting to go back now and watch it, knowing how things have evolved from a production, you know, standpoint. Yes. Listen, it's like watching a football game from 1975 versus watching one now to see what technology and, and just kind of where people have gone in terms of organization of these things.

[B]

Yeah. And the eye that some director puts to it.

[C]

Sure. Yeah. But at any rate, that, that, that happened. Clapton was arguably a disaster. He was struggling with the situation with Patty Harrison, George Harrison's wife at the time, being, you know, in love with his best friend's wife. It created all kinds of angst and added to the drug use, fueled all of that.

[B]

And as they say, the rest, the rest history. The rest is history. Right.

[C]

Yeah. I'm sure we'll get to. To Layla and Derek and the Dominoes at some point down the road with, with this week as well.

[B]

No doubt.

[C]

In, in 1967, the stones appeared on Ed Sullivan and Ed Sullivan had a request when they said we were going to play let's Spend the Night Together. Ed Sullivan had them change the lyrics to let's Spend Some Time together. Because in 1967 you couldn't talk about two people that weren't married, I guess, spending time under the sheets.

[B]

Yeah, I, I could only wish that we could have been a fly on the wall to Mr. Sullivan having the conversation probably with, you know, Mick and Keith or the whole band or something. I don't think he, maybe he started going through their management, you know, mediary, but, you know, he's had to speak to the band about it in some form. I would love to see how that played out. Well, we know how it played out, you know.

[C]

Yeah. I was just going to ask, did you ever see anyone, any interviews with anyone? Jagger or Richards? Have they. Have you seen them talk, speak to that particular incident?

[B]

I have not. But, you know, there's so many incidents with the Stones. That's why we love them. You're right.

[C]

This was tame compared to anything else.

[B]

That's right.

[C]

You think about it, 67. This was the beginning, you know, of time for, for them, in a sense.

[B]

Oh, yeah, for sure. But yeah, Ed, Ed Sullivan churned them all out, know.

[C]

So let me give you, Let me give you two other things to think about. Think about where we are now with, you know, with marijuana usage in our country and dispensaries and, you know, how mainstream it is. This is the time January 16, 1980, when Paul McCartney was arrested in Tokyo and he, he, he and Wings were due to, to be there as part of their tour in, in Japan and he was deported. They held him for nine days. Imagine that bag of weed he gets nine days in, in, in Tokyo in jail.

[B]

It is funny thinking about it now, but that caused a lot of misery for, for Paul at that time and certainly I'm sure cost him a, a few bucks along the way for that, for that delay. And yeah, it is kind of mind blowing thinking about how far we've come.

[C]

Yeah. And here's another one, 1967. Another Beatles related thing, but this is one I had no clue about. 1967, January 17, the Daily Mail newspaper, they printed an article saying there were 4,000 potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire and the death of Guinness heir Terror Brown in a, in a car crash. And these articles inspired the lyrics for which Beatles song us.

[B]

I did not, I did not know that. No, I knew that a day in the life. I'm sorry.

[C]

Yeah, I had. I. When I, when I saw, when I was doing research for the week, I saw that, I thought, there's one that's going, going into this group. That's a great story.

[B]

But what was so awesome on how, you know, the, the songwriting genius of, of Lennon and McCartney, you know, scanning every possible source for some inspiration and finding, finding that in the Daily Mail, I think that's, you know, just adds to the brilliance of their, their songwriting.

[C]

Johnny Rotten in 1978, was thrown out of the Sex Pistols, unceremoniously dismissed, leading to the band's breakup. You know why they kicked him out?

[B]

Probably something about his hairdo. No, I don't know.

[C]

They said he wasn't weird enough.

[B]

Oh my God, that's still weird to me. That's hysterical. Yeah, well, as I was thinking about him getting kicked out of the band, I'm thinking, well, isn't that the definition of punk anyway? Getting kicked out of a band?

[C]

Yeah. How bad do you have to be to get kicked out of a. What kind of an ass do you have to be to get kicked out of a punk band?

[B]

It's apparently, you know, bad enough.

[C]

And one pop culture or one historic event that happened this week to, to wrap us up. January 15, 1919, was the date of the great molasses flood in Boston. Something I don't think I was taught growing up in the suburbs of Boston. But 21 people actually died in that and 150 were injured. Pretty crazy, Pretty crazy story.

[B]

I gotta think that that was not the Back Bay of Boston that occurred. That had to be somewhere in the, you know, the, the true city of Boston, you know, near the, the harbor or whatever where that occurred.

[C]

You know, 21 people die, death by molasses. Kind of slow and painful.

[B]

It's a tragedy for sure. And traffic was terrible at that moment. And to this day it's still hellacious in Boston. That's right.

[C]

There you go. There's the week.

[B]

It's a wrap. Harry Jacobs, thanks for being on Taking a walk for this week in music and pop culture and molasses history for the week of January 13th. And thanks for checking out the Take It Walk podcast. You can listen to it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[A]

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[A]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.