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Block D, Alcatraz housed the worst inmates. Some of its illustrrious residents included Al Capone, George "Machine Gun Kelly" Barnes and The Birdman, Robert Stroud. When the wind blew in the right direction, the inmates of Alcatraz could hear the 'sound of freedom' from nearby San Francisco bay, especially so during the 'party season' over the Christmas and New Year periods.

Cells 9 - 14 were known as 'The Hole'. The worst of which was nicknamed "The Oriental". 9 by 5 feet with about 7 feet of headroom in complete darkness with nothing but a hole in the floor, where inmates could be housed for up to 19 days at a time.

Jim Quillen, an inmate of Alcatraz for 10 years, used to pass his time in The Oriental by tearing a button off his shirt, throwing it in the air and then trying to find it on the floor in the pitch black.

Alcatraz was closed in 1963. Official records are not kept or published on the total number of inmates currently held in 'supermax' solitary confinement. Estimates range from a minimum of 25,000 up to 100,000 or more.

lyrics

They tell me freedom, waits for me,
They say don't try to look son, it lays way across the sea,
But I know that it's there, 'cos I can hear it on the breeze,
They say that freedom waits for me,

They tell me son, don't you worry about a thing,
That line you're thinking crossing leads straight to Sparky up in Sing,
Well you should know that I know that you've been pulling at my strings,
So don't tell me not to worry about a thing,

'Cos I'm a solitary man, I don't expect you'd understand,
And I won't look behind me when I go,
'Cos I'm a solitary man, but now my life is in your hands,
But that life's been made of thorns son you should know,

And I won't be leaving here my love until my time is due,
See me and Mr Stroud been making plans of what to do,
We were gonna build a little pet store off the PR-22,
So I won't leave here before my time is due,

They used to tell me freedom, was waiting just for me,
Go ahead son and become anyone you want to be,
But I must be honest, this life ain't all that they promised,
And now I long for chasing buttons in cell block D

credits

from Notes From The Pacific Coast, released October 7, 2017
Written and recorded by Ray Zimmerman
Lyrics by Ray Zimmerman

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