Ring of Fire (song)
"Ring of Fire" | ||||
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Single by Johnny Cash | ||||
from the album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash | ||||
B-side | "I'd Still Be There" | |||
Released | April 19, 1963 | |||
Recorded | March 25, 1963 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:38 | |||
Label | Columbia Nashville | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Don Law | |||
Johnny Cash singles chronology | ||||
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"Ring of Fire" | ||||
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Eric Burdon & the Animals singles chronology | ||||
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"Ring of Fire" | ||||
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Sony Music Entertainment | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Keith Stegall | |||
Alan Jackson singles chronology | ||||
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"Ring of Fire (1988 version)" | ||||
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Single by Johnny Cash | ||||
from the album Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series | ||||
A-side | "Get Rhythm" | |||
Released | September 19, 1988 | |||
Recorded | October 1987 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:44 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Johnny Cash | |||
Johnny Cash singles chronology | ||||
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"Ring of Fire" is a song made popular by Johnny Cash when it appeared on his 1963 album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. Written by Cash's eventual second wife, June Carter Cash, and Merle Kilgore, it was originally recorded as "(Love's) Ring of Fire" by June's sister, Anita Carter, on her 1963 album Folk Songs Old and New.
Cash's version became one of the biggest hits of his career, staying at No. 1 on the country chart for seven weeks. It was certified gold by the
In 1999, the 1963 recording of the song by Johnny Cash on the Columbia Records label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[3]
Conception
Some sources claim that Carter had seen the phrase "Love is like a burning ring of fire" underlined in an
The song was originally recorded by June's sister, Anita Carter, on her Mercury Records album Folk Songs Old and New (1963) as "(Love's) Ring of Fire". Mercury released Anita's version as a single and it was a featured "pick hit" in Billboard magazine. After hearing Anita's version, Cash claimed he had a dream where he heard the song accompanied by "Mexican horns". The mariachi horn sound had recently been popularized on American radio with 1962 hit song "The Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert. Cash said, "[...] I'll give you about five or six more months, and if you don't hit with it, I'm gonna record it the way I feel it."[7] Cash noted that adding trumpets was a change to his basic sound.[8]
When the song failed to become a major hit for Anita, Cash recorded it his own way, adding the mariachi-style horns from his dream. This sound was later used in the song "
In 2004, Merle Kilgore, who shared writing credit for the song with June Carter, proposed licensing the song for a hemorrhoid cream commercial. When performing the song live, Kilgore would often "mock dedicate" the song to the "makers of Preparation H".[10] However, June's heirs were not of a like mind, and they refused to allow the song to be licensed for the ad.
Cash's first wife, Vivian, states, "One day in early 1963, while gardening in the yard, Johnny told me about a song he had just written with Merle Kilgore and Curly while out fishing on Lake Casitas. 'I'm gonna give June half credit on a song I just wrote,' Johnny said. 'It's called "Ring of Fire."' 'Why?' I asked, wiping dirt from my hands. The mere mention of her name annoyed me. I was sick of hearing about her. 'She needs the money,' he said, avoiding my stare. 'And I feel sorry for her.'" She also says, "To this day, it confounds me to hear the elaborate details June told of writing that song for Johnny. She didn't write that song any more than I did. The truth is, Johnny wrote that song, while pilled up and drunk, about a certain private female body part. All those years of her claiming she wrote it herself, and she probably never knew what the song was really about."[11]
Chart performance
Johnny Cash version
Chart (1963–68) | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles[12] | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[13] | 17 |
German Singles Chart | 27 |
Swiss Singles Chart | 77 |
Eric Burdon and the Animals version
Chart (1969) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Single Chart[14] | 10 |
Dutch Charts[14] | 4 |
German Singles Chart[14] | 24 |
South Africa (Springbok)[15] | 6 |
UK Singles Chart[14] | 35 |
Sandy Kelly & Johnny Cash version
Chart (1990) | Peak position |
---|---|
Ireland (IRMA)[16] | 21 |
Social Distortion version
Chart (1990) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[17] | 25 |
Alan Jackson version
Chart (2010) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[18] | 45 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[20] Mastertone |
Gold | 500,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Legacy
Numerous
Cash's version of "Ring of Fire" was never released as a single in the UK. However, in 1993 and 1994, it gained significant radio airplay in the UK after it was used in a popular television commercial for
Wall of Voodoo's cover version was featured in the 1981
Since 2004, the
References
- Nielsen Business Media. Yahoo! Music. Archived from the originalon October 5, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
- ^ "100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 1, 2014.
- ^ https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#r
- ^ "Obituary: Anita Carter". The poem was "Love's Ring Of Fire by Bob Johnston, according to Johnny Cash by Stephen Miller. The (London) Independent. August 4, 1999. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ISBN 9780711996267– via Google Books.
- ^ "Ring of Fire". RollingStone.com. December 9, 2004. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ISBN 9781568586076.
- ^ Johnny Cash interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
- ^ "Cash family blocks haemorrhoid ad". BBC.com. February 18, 2004. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ "Cash Family Draws Line Around 'Ring of Fire'". Fox News. March 25, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ISBN 978-1-4165-3862-2.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 75.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 111.
- ^ a b c d e The Animals chart entries, Tsort.info.
- ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved November 22, 2020.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Ring of Fire". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
- ^ "Social Distortion Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
- ^ "Alan Jackson Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "British single certifications – Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ "American ringtone certifications – Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
- ^ Paulson, Dave; Leimkuehler, Matthew (August 19, 2021). "Country Music Hall of Fame 2021 inductees include Ray Charles, The Judds". The Tennessean.
- ^ Paula J. Bishop and Jada E. Watson, Whose Country Music? (2022), p. 169.
- ^ Alan Jackson USA chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
- ^ Vice, Jeff (August 26, 1991). "LOVE WAS ON THE LAM AT RAM SLAM SHOW". Deseret News.
- ^ "Swim Herschel Swim - Ring O Fire". YouTube. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
- ^ "Spotify". Spotify.
- ^ "Why do Liverpool fans sing 'Ring of Fire'? Champions League chant explained | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
- ^ ""Nightdreams": Filmmaker Rinse Dream's visionary and surreal first foray into the world of X-rated adult films". Nightflight.com.
- ^ "Ring of Fire". October 10, 2018.
External links
- Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire on YouTube
- Eric Burdon & the Animals – Ring of Fire on YouTube
- Sandy Kelly & Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire on YouTube