"At Folsom Prison" received rave reviews. Al Aronowitz of "Life" stated Cash sang the songs like "someone who has grown up believing he is one of the people that these songs are about." For "The Village Voice", Ann Fisher wrote that "every cut is special in its own way" and Richard Goldstein noted the album was "filled with the kind of emotionalism you seldom find in rock." Fredrick E. Danker of "Sing Out!" praised "At Folsom Prison" as "an album structured an aural experience for us".