What Good Do You Think You Do?

Opened in 1852 on 432 acres of prime real estate in Marin County, California, tourists often mistake San Quentin for a resort complex, from a distance.

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San Quentin is the oldest penitentiary in the state and second in popular recognition to Alcatraz, which is a few miles to the north.

On an annual operating budget of $120 million, San Quentin houses nearly 6,000 inmates and the state's only gas chanber, with over 500 men on death row.

Originally, a prison ship was anchored just off-shore of where the prison now stands, however it quickly became overcrowded during the lawlessness of the time. The prisoners were hence put to work building their new residence.

Johnny Cash recorded San Quentin in a 1969 concert performed at the prison. The concert was released as an album, "At San Quentin." At the time, Johnny Cash was selling around 250,000 albums per month of the "At San Quentin" and "At Folsom Prison" albums. During this period, he was even outselling the Beatles.

San Quentin was a particularly hated house of detention for inmates. Men were sent to prison for their crimes to serve their time or to await their execution. It was a hard life with little hope for improving one's situation.

Cash wrote San Quentin for the inmates of San Quentin, thus the lyrics hold much disdain for the institution. Evidence that prison reform was in great need can be heard in the prisoners' reactions to passages in the song such as "Do you think I'll be different when you're through?" and "The whole world will regret you did no good."