THE STATLER BROTHERS

The 'Statler Brothers' are an American country music vocal group founded in 1955 in Staunton, Virginia.
Despite the band's name just two of its four members are brothers, and none of them are named 'Statler'. The band in fact named themselves after a brand of facial tissue (they have joked that they could have turned out to be the Kleenex Brothers). Don Reid sings lead and is the younger brother of Harold Reid, who sings bass. The other members are baritone, Phil Balsley and tenor, Jimmy Fortune, who replaced original Statler Lew DeWitt in the early 1980s due to the latter's ill health.
Since forming, the Statler Brothers have released over 40 albums. They received Grammy Awards in 1966 and 1973. Two of their best-known songs are "Flowers on the Wall", their first big hit, and the socially-conscious "Bed of Rose's". During the 1990s, they hosted ''The Statler Brothers Show'', a weekly variety show on the cable television channel The Nashville Network. Throughout their career, much of their appeal was related to their considerable ability for comedy and parody that they frequently interspersed into their musical act; they were frequently nominated for awards for their comedy as well as their singing. They recorded two comedy albums as "Lester Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys," and one-half of one side of the album "Country Music Then and Now" was also devoted to satirizing small-town radio stations' Saturday morning shows.
The Statlers are now semi-retired, having completed a farewell tour in 2002. Harold, Phil, and Don continue to reside in their hometown of Staunton, Virginia. Jimmy has relocated to Nashville, where he is pursuing a solo career. He has released two albums as a soloist. The Statlers continue to be the most awarded act in the history of country music.
Don has authored or co-authored three books since the Statlers' retirement in 2002. They are ''Heroes and Outlaws of the Bible'', ''Sunday Morning Memories'', and ''You'll Know It's Christmas When...'' He and Harold co-wrote a history of the Statler Brothers, published in 2006.

Contents

Discography

In Popular Culture

External links

Discography

★ ''Flowers on the Wall'', 1966, Columbia Studios

★ ''The Statler Brothers Sing the Big Hits'', 1967 Columbia

★ ''How Great Thou Art'', 1969, Columbia

★ ''Bed of Rose's'', 1970, Mercury Records

★ ''Pictures of Moments to Remember'', 1971 Mercury

★ ''Innerview'', 1972, Mercury

★ ''Country Music Then and Now'', 1972, Mercury

★ ''Country Symphonies in E Major'', 1973, Mercury

★ ''Carry Me Back'', 1973, Mercury

★ ''Thank You World'', 1973, Mercury

★ ''Sons of the Motherland'', 1974, Mercury

★ ''Alive at the Johnny Mack Brown High School'', 1974, Mercury

★ ''The Best of the Statler Brothers'' (Triple Platnum), 1975, Mercury

★ '' (Gold), 1975, Mercury

★ '' (Gold), 1975

★ ''Harold, Lew, Phil, and Don'', 1976, Mercury

★ ''The Country America Loves'', 1977, Mercury

★ ''Short Stories'', 1977, Mercury

★ ''Entertainers On and Off the Road'', 1978 Mercury

★ ''Christmas Card'' (Platnum album), 1978, Mercury

★ ''The Originals'' (Gold), 1979, Mercury

★ ''The Best of Statler Brothers Rides Again'' (Gold), 1979, Mercury

★ ''Tenth Anniversary (Gold), 1980, Mercury

★ ''Years Ago'', 1981, Mercury

★ ''The Legend Goes On'', 1982, Mercury

★ ''Today (Gold), 1983, Mercury

★ ''Atlanta Blue(Gold), 1983, Mercury

★ ''Pardners in Rhyme, 1984, Mercury

★ ''Christmas Present, 1985, Mercury

★ ''Four for the Show, 1986, Mercury

★ ''Radio Gospel Favorites (Gold), 1986, Mercury

★ ''Maple Street Memories, 1987, Mercury

★ ''The Statler Brothers' Greatest Hits Volume III, 1988, Mercury

★ ''Live and Sold Out, 1989 Mercury

★ ''Music, Memories, and You, 1990, Mercury

★ ''All American Country, 1991, Mercury

★ ''Words and Music, 1992, Mercury

★ ''Gospel Favorites, (Gold) 1992, Mercury

★ ''Home'' (Gold), 1993, Mercury

★ ''A 30th Anniversary Celebration'' (box set compilation), 1994, Mercury

★ ''The Statler Brothers Sing the Classics'', 1995, Mercury

★ ''Pulp Fiction, 1995 (Contributor)

★ ''Showtime, 2001, Mercury

★ ''Amen'', 2003, Mercury

★ ''Farewell Concert'', 2003, Mercury

In Popular Culture

- The Statler Brothers appear in the 1966 country-western movie ''That Tennessee Beat.''
- The Statler Brothers also make a brief appearance singing the song ''Do You Know You Are My Sunshine?'' in the movie ''Smokey and the Bandit II. '' The song ''Charlotte's Web'', from their 1980 album entitled ''10th Anniversary'', also appears on the soundtrack.
- ''Flowers on the Wall'' was used prominently in the film ''Pulp Fiction'' and appears on ''Pulp Fiction (soundtrack).''
- ''In The Beginning'' from their 1975 gospel album ''Holy Bible - Old Testament'' appears on the soundtrack to the film ''SE7EN.''
- ''Bed of Rose's'' was featured on the soundtrack to the videogame on fictional country music station K-ROSE, along with "New York City".
- Author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. mentioned the Statler Brothers as one of his favorite country music singers in the semi-autobiographical ''Palm Sunday''. He likens their songs to "American poetry" and even suggests "Class of '57" might make a good replacement for the National Anthem.

External links

★ Official Website

★ at CMT