{"id":1712,"date":"2014-10-21T10:26:40","date_gmt":"2014-10-21T15:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?page_id=1712"},"modified":"2014-11-11T15:44:20","modified_gmt":"2014-11-11T21:44:20","slug":"ring-of-fire-the-best-of-johnny-cash","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/music\/ring-of-fire-the-best-of-johnny-cash\/","title":{"rendered":"Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash (1963)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by: Mark Anderson. 21 Oct 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n

Johnny Cash was without a doubt one of one of the most influential country music artists of the 20th\u00a0century. Cash\u2019s album\u00a0Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash\u00a0<\/em>was a massive hit, debuting #1 when Billboard debuted their Country Album Chart for the first time. The album does not only include Country music though, it also includes songs with the\u00a0rock n roll and blues sounds<\/a>\u00a0that Cash was known for.\u00a0Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash\u00a0<\/em>is the product of years of talent and creativity brought together by Johnny Cash.<\/p>\n

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Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash\u00a0<\/em>was released in 1963, during the beginning of Cash\u2019s downward spiral. The album was a collection of tracks from 1959-1963, during his first years on the Columbia label. By this point in his life, he was a national superstar and the life that ensued that kind of fame often involved drug use to take some of the pressure off. \u201cWith an unrelenting tour schedule, Cash was on the road 300 nights a year\u201d (Cash).<\/p>\n

He had been abusing drugs for quite some time and was not seeking to quit. But, this addiction did not have much of an effect on his career where he showed he could still keep focus. He continued to perform show after show, tour after tour, without much backlash from drug use. Cash\u2019s showed that his \u201cassociation with Columbia was defined by a commitment and focus unparalleled in the rest of his long career\u201d (Streissguth, 96).<\/p>\n

This immense focus by Cash came with his desire to dig up the Country\u2019s thick and tangled roots through his music. In this album, \u201che assembled a body of work that reflected his passion for interpreting in song American history and legends as well as the reality of rural folk, blue-collar workers, prison convicts, and American Indians\u201d (Streissguth, 96). Unfortunately, this time of focus only seemed to last until a few years, where Cash\u2019s drug use and association with the wrong people got the better of him.<\/p>\n

Johnny Cash used his music to communicate to his fans of the struggles that he has gone through, and the current journey he is on in life. Cash\u2019s soon-to-be wife (at the time), June Carter Cash, wrote the song \u201cRing of Fire.\u201d When performing, Cash says he \u201cfell into a burning ring of fire,\u201d which I strongly believe is a metaphor of how he started using drugs and quickly became addicted (and stuck in his own \u201cburning ring of fire\u201d). \u201cBut the schedule and the pressures that faced him took a toll on his personal life\u201d (Cash).<\/p>\n

\"\"Unfortunately, his personal and family life are the areas where his efforts fell short. He was stuck in a dilemma between his drug addiction, and the hope of keeping his wife and children a part of his life. He lived the life of a musical superstar, which made the goal of keeping and maintaining his family back home satisfied difficult.<\/p>\n

One of the underlying themes in\u00a0Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash<\/em>\u00a0involves redemption, and pulling yourself out any negative situation you are in. Cash was a very strong supporter of redeeming yourself and making things right, and this showed his caring side to his fans.<\/p>\n

I believe he found his \u201credemption\u201d in religion. Cash discovered Christianity after he had hit rock bottom, following a drug related suicide attempt. Cash expresses his deep religious faith to his audience in his songs: “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord<\/em>” and \u201cPeace in the Valley<\/em>.\u201d After all the ups and downs he had endured, religion was one of the missing pieces to the puzzle of his life. After he became a Christian, his life started to turn around for the better, and many of his other problems seemed to be a distant memory. Through his music and newfound faith, Cash was an effective communicator in the perspective he had on life.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash,\u00a0<\/em>Cash lets us into his own thoughts. While on tour, Cash is facing a few issues back home, many of which he has been neglecting altogether. \u201cThough initially Vivian (his wife) quietly tolerated Cash\u2019s drug use, her courage to speak grew with her desperation. What else could she do, even if her pleading sent Cash storming from the house? She wanted a husband and father in her home\u201d (Streissguth, 98). Cash\u2019s wife saw much trouble with his absent, reckless lifestyle and wanted him to tone it down for the sake of their family.<\/p>\n

Vivian was growing increasingly frustrated with his absence in her and their family\u2019s life. While she was hurting due to Cash\u2019s absence and lack of care, he was spending most of his time getting high and performing on the road. But, eventually she felt that enough was enough, and she took action. \u201cIn 1966 Vivian finally filed for divorce. Cash returned to Memphis, where his life continued to spiral out of control\u201d (Cash). Cash was obviously troubled when the situation unfolded, and needed a way to express how he was feeling. He decided that his music was an appropriate way to tell the story of what he was going through with his family and unpredictable life. Furthermore, the story Cash tells through this album and the contexts used are very important in understanding it.<\/p>\n

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Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash\u00a0<\/em>is a very influential album and it portrays Cash\u2019s perspectives, thoughts, and feelings. Being aware of Cash\u2019s life during this time period can help us dig deeper into the album, and help understand the motives behind it. He was going through very much and he was a master at transforming those things into amazing music that possessed meaning. Cash\u2019s immense perseverance and talent will always be remembered in his music. Overall, Cash in his album\u00a0Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny<\/em>\u00a0communicates his thoughts and feelings in a way that many of his fans have come to know and love.<\/p>\n

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Track list:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. “Ring of Fire<\/a>” (June Carter Cash<\/a>,\u00a0Merle Kilgore<\/a>) \u2013 2:38<\/li>\n
  2. “I’d Still Be There”<\/a> (Cash,\u00a0Johnny Horton<\/a>) \u2013 2:34<\/li>\n
  3. “What Do I Care” (Cash) \u2013 2:07<\/li>\n
  4. “I Still Miss Someone<\/a>” (Johnny Cash, Roy Cash) \u2013 2:35<\/li>\n
  5. “Forty Shades of Green” (Cash) \u2013 2:54<\/li>\n
  6. “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord” (Traditional) with\u00a0The Carter Family<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 3:56<\/li>\n
  7. “The Rebel – Johnny Yuma” (Richard Markowitz, Andrew Fenady) \u2013 1:52<\/li>\n
  8. “Bonanza” (Jay Livingston<\/a>,\u00a0Ray Evans<\/a>) \u2013 2:20<\/li>\n
  9. “The Big Battle” (Cash) \u2013 4:03<\/li>\n
  10. “Remember the Alamo<\/a>” (Jane Bowers) \u2013 2:50<\/li>\n
  11. “Tennessee Flat Top Box<\/a>” (Cash) \u2013 3:00<\/li>\n
  12. “Peace In The Valley<\/a>” (Thomas A. Dorsey<\/a>) with The Carter Family \u2013 2:47<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Works cited:<\/p>\n

    “Johnny Cash Biography.”\u00a0Www.biography.com<\/em>. A&E Television Network, n.d. Web<\/p>\n

    Streissguth, Michael. “Johnny Cash: The Biography.” N.p., 2007. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Written by: Mark Anderson. 21 Oct 2014. Johnny Cash was without a doubt one of one of the most influential country music artists of the 20th\u00a0century. Cash\u2019s album\u00a0Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash\u00a0was a massive hit, debuting #1 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"parent":18,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1712","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1712"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2456,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1712\/revisions\/2456"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}