FOLSOM, Calif.—In 1968, “the man in black” made music history when he recorded a live performance for inmates at Folsom State Prison. Fifty years later, five men in black—the band Los Tigres del Norte—commemorated that Johnny Cash concert with one of their own, in Spanish.
Much has changed in the world since the late Mr. Cash pulled out his guitar in the Folsom cafeteria and began singing for cheering inmates. As it was back then, life in American prisons remains so bleak that—like Mr. Cash—Mexican norteño group Los Tigres...