When Johnny Cash and June Carter invited The Statler Brothers to visit their new home overlooking Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee, Johnny Cash had one special request.
Before any other song was sung in the house, Johnny Cash wanted four familiar voices to fill the rooms with a beloved gospel hymn: “How Great Thou Art.”
There were no concert tickets, television cameras, or thousands of fans waiting to applaud. Just Johnny Cash, June Carter, and four musicians whose friendship had grown through years of traveling and performing together.
For Don Reid, Harold Reid, Phil Balsley, and Lew DeWitt, it would become one of those memories that stayed with them long after the evening ended.
A Friendship That Began Before the Fame
The relationship between Johnny Cash and The Statler Brothers began in 1964, when Johnny Cash gave the young Virginia quartet an opportunity to join the Johnny Cash roadshow.
At the time, The Statler Brothers were still working toward the national recognition that would eventually make the group one of country music’s most celebrated vocal acts.
Johnny Cash recognized something special in their harmonies and gave the quartet a place on a stage that already attracted audiences across America.
Over the following eight and a half years, The Statler Brothers traveled with Johnny Cash, performed on television, and learned what life in the country music business demanded.
The group eventually built a remarkable career of its own, beginning with the success of “Flowers on the Wall.” But the years alongside Johnny Cash remained an important chapter in the group’s history.
That relationship extended beyond the concert stage. The Statler Brothers came to know June Carter and the musicians surrounding Johnny Cash, sharing experiences that would later find their way into songs and personal recollections.
The Song Johnny Cash Chose for His Home
Johnny Cash and June Carter married in March 1968 and made their home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, beside Old Hickory Lake.
According to Don Reid’s recollection in The Music of The Statler Brothers: An Anthology, Johnny Cash and June Carter invited the quartet to see their new home.
Johnny Cash wanted the house to be welcomed with music, and the chosen song was “How Great Thou Art.”
It was a fitting choice for the six friends.
Gospel music had been central to The Statler Brothers long before their country hits. Sacred songs were part of the group’s musical identity, and Johnny Cash also maintained a lifelong connection to gospel music.
For both artists, “How Great Thou Art” was more than a familiar hymn. It belonged to a musical tradition that had shaped their lives and careers.
Don Reid remembered that the six of them stood together in a circle at twilight and sang.
There was no elaborate arrangement to describe, no public performance to review, and no chart position to celebrate.
What Don Reid remembered was the experience of singing that familiar hymn with Johnny Cash and June Carter in their home.
The Performance Don Reid Never Forgot
Years later, Don Reid included the gathering in the memories preserved in The Music of The Statler Brothers: An Anthology.
Don Reid recalled that the six friends sang “How Great Thou Art” in a way that felt unlike any performance before or afterward.
The recollection ended with a simple expression that captured the evening:
“Tears and good memories.”
Those few words carry particular meaning when considering how many times The Statler Brothers performed gospel songs throughout their career.
The group recorded an album titled How Great Thou Art in 1969 and continued including the hymn in later recordings and performances. It even appeared on the group’s farewell concert album.
Yet Don Reid’s recollection of the gathering at Johnny Cash’s home was not about a famous recording. It was about the people who had gathered to sing.
A Memory That Outlived the House
Johnny Cash and June Carter continued living at their Hendersonville property for decades. June Carter died in May 2003, followed by Johnny Cash in September of the same year.
In April 2007, the famous lakeside house was destroyed by fire.
By then, The Statler Brothers had already retired from touring, closing a career that included Grammy Awards, country music classics, and induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
But the memory of that evening beside Old Hickory Lake survived through Don Reid’s account.
Johnny Cash had helped The Statler Brothers find their place in country music. Years later, when Johnny Cash wanted a hymn to welcome a new chapter of life with June Carter, the four familiar voices were there.
For an artist who had performed before enormous crowds, Johnny Cash chose something wonderfully simple for that occasion: six friends standing together at twilight, singing “How Great Thou Art.”
And for Don Reid, it remained a performance worth remembering.