—~_- Johnny Cash’s love for the Carter Family developed twhen he was a boy in Oklahoma, RI oaking sp all the country and folk music he could manage to hear. In the early ’0s he fecorded several songs wntten by June Carter, one of the three daughters of Mother May- belle ofthe original A. P. Carter Family group. These included “The Matador,” co-written f ‘bith Johnny, and “Ring of Fire,” which she co-authored with Merle Kilgore. Around that Oo lime when Gash became addicted to pep pills and tranquilizers, t was Mother Maybelle and her girs who helped him “walk the line” again. Finally, in 1968, the “ring of fire” gnocloped June and Johnny and they were married. This song, now a real country classe, FIRE has been recorded by top stars in the pop, country, soul and folk fields, including Tom Jones, Ray Charles, Burl Toes, and, of course, both Johnny and June. By: Merle Kilgore and June Carter Bright country tempo mg = And it ae F fi -ery When| hearts like ours5 by wild de - 3 for you like a we ww eet ae we ow ow z T went | down, down,t The Ring Of = oF fi repeat and fade|