On This Day in 1963, Johnny Cash Stepped into the Studio to Record One of His Biggest Hits

On this day (March 25) in 1963, Johnny Cash stepped into the Columbia studio in Nashville, Tennessee, to record a song written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore called “Ring of Fire.” It would go on to be one of his biggest hits and signature songs.

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The inspiration behind this song is debated. Kilgore once said Carter got the song’s title and concept from a letter a friend wrote her. The friend was going through a divorce and compared love to a “burning ring of fire.” In the song, the fire relates to growing passion, but in the letter, Carter’s friend was comparing the destructive power of fire to that of a failed relationship. On the other hand, some say that she found inspiration in a book of Elizabethan poetry owned by her uncle, A.P. Carter.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1998: Johnny Cash Proved Country Radio Wrong, Winning Best Country Album at the Grammys]

Cash’s first wife, Vivian Liberto, claimed that Carter didn’t have a hand in writing the song. Instead, she claimed that Cash penned the song with Kilgore and Curly Lewis. She recalled Cash telling her he was giving Carter his share of the writing credit for the song because she needed the money in her autobiography.

Anita Carter was the first to record “Ring of Fire.” She included it on her 1962 album Folk Songs Old and New. She released it as a single, but it failed to chart. After hearing her version of the song, Cash claimed he had a dream in which he sang it backed with mariachi horns. As a result, when he went into the studio to record it, he enlisted Bill McElhiney to play trumpet on the song.

Johnny Cash Finds a Hit with “Ring of Fire”

Cash released “Ring of Fire” as a single from the 1963 compilation album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. It became his sixth overall No. 1 single and his first of the ’60s. The song stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks, becoming one of the biggest hits of Cash’s career.

Since its release, “Ring of Fire” has been named the greatest country song of all time by multiple publications. IN 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

More than 60 years after its initial release, it remains a favorite among fans of Cash and country music.

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