In 1963, as Ring of Fire topped the charts, Johnny Cash met a talented group of young singers at the Roanoke Fair in Virginia. Impressed by their harmonies, he invited The Statler Brothers to join his tour with just a handshake. This collaboration lasted over a decade and inspired their song We Got Paid by Cash.
Originally called The Kingsmen, the group changed their name after the success of Louie Louie by another band. During a hotel stay, members Don and Harold Reid, Phil Balsley, and Lew DeWitt noticed a box of Statler tissues—thus becoming The Statler Brothers. Reflecting on the name, Don joked, “We could have been The Kleenex Brothers.”
country charts, earned them two Grammys, and even outshone The Beatles and The Supremes. The song found renewed fame in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994), helping the soundtrack sell over a million copies.
