‘Ring of Fire’
I make no secret of my love of old-time country music, and Johnny Cash is among my favorite artists. I am also partial to June Carter Cash, who married Johnny on March 1, 1968. While that was a momentous day for the couple, she had already given him a precious gift: the song “Ring of Fire.”
Today’s reason to smile is a little background on the iconic song on what would have been June’s 95th birthday.
She co-wrote the love song in 1962. Her sister Anita was the first to record it. But it was Johnny, and those mariachi-style trumpets, that made it one of the most well-known songs in American country music. She drew on her growing feelings for Johnny as they were falling in love as inspiration for the lyrics.
This version of the song was recorded at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville around the time Johnny and June were married. That’s June and her pink-clad family singing background vocals.
A member of the Carter Family, known as the first family of country music, June was an accomplished musician, singer, and songwriter long before she met Johnny. The five-time Grammy winner was also an actress, author, and humanitarian.
June and Johnny’s love burned for more than 35 years. They died just four months apart in 2003.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
Back in August 1970 Johnny Cash came to my small northwest Georgia town to do a fundraiser for a new field house for the high school. A few years earlier he had been arrested for DUI there and the sheriff had given him a talking to about how he was ruining his life and career and needed to straighten up. Supposedly that was a turning point for Cash. Anyway, it was a huge event on the football field that night. Cash sang Ring of Fire, Blue Suede Shoes, A Boy Named Sue, and lots of others I can't remember right now. June Carter Cash was a big hit. She talked about wanting to bring her baby boy to show him where his daddy spent the night in jail, then bragged about her long evening dress and flopped it. When someone in the crowd wolf whistled she said "Sex Maniac!" It was a good long show and lots of fun.
And much of his career was shrouded in darkness and haunted by demons. Her love eased his hurt but could not cure it. Toward the end of his life he recorded a cover of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails. It begins “I hurt myself today to see if I still feel.” Such is the man that June loved; and such is the love that sustained them both. -Dwight Lee Wolter.