The Statler Brothers (sometimes referred to in country music circles as simply The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group. The quartet was founded in 1955 and began their career backing Johnny Cash.
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Originally performing gospel music at local churches, the group billed themselves as The Four Star Quartet, and later The Kingsmen.
In 1963, when the song “Louie, Louie” by the garage rock band also called The Kingsmen became famous, the group elected to bill themselves as The Statler Brothers. Despite the name, only two members of the group (Don and Harold Reid) are actual brothers and none have the surname of Statler.
The band, in fact, named themselves after a brand of facial tissue they had noticed in a hotel room (they joked that they could have turned out to be the Kleenex Brothers).
Don Reid sang lead; Harold Reid, Don’s older brother, sang bass; Phil Balsley sang baritone; and Lew DeWitt sang tenor and was the guitarist of the Statlers before being replaced by Jimmy Fortune in 1983 due to DeWitt’s ill health.
DeWitt died on August 15, 1990, of heart and kidney disease, stemming from complications of Crohn’s disease.
The band’s style was closely linked to their gospel roots. “We took gospel harmonies,” said Harold Reid, “and put them over in country music.”
The group remained closely tied to their gospel roots, with a majority of their records containing at least one gospel song. They produced several albums containing only gospel music and recorded a tribute song to the Blackwood Brothers, who influenced their music. The Statler Brothers also wrote a tribute song to Johnny Cash, who discovered them. The song was called “We Got Paid by Cash”, and it reminisces about their time with Cash.
Very early on in the group’s history, before the group named themselves “The Statler Brothers,” Joe McDorman was their original lead singer.
The Statler Brothers started their career at a performance at Lyndhurst Methodist Church near their hometown of Staunton.
In 1964, they started to become Johnny Cash’s backing vocal for an 8 1⁄2-year run as his opening act.
This period of their career was memorialized in their song “We Got Paid by Cash”. They were featured regularly on Cash’s hit show The Johnny Cash Show on ABC. The show ran from 1969-1971. Due to their expanding career the Statlers left Cash’s entourage around the mid 1970s to pursue their own careers. They left Cash on good terms.
Two of their best-known songs are “Flowers on the Wall”, their first major hit that was composed and written by Lew DeWitt, and the socially conscious “Bed of Rose’s”. In the 1980s, the Statlers were a mainstay on The Nashville Network (TNN), where their videos were shown regularly. Also on TNN, between 1991 and 1998, they hosted their own show, The Statler Brothers Show, a weekly variety show which was the channel’s top-rated program for its entire run.
Their songs have been featured on several film soundtracks. These range from “Charlotte’s Web” in Smokey and the Bandit II, to “Flowers on the Wall” in the crime dramedy Pulp Fiction.
Throughout their career, much of their appeal was related to their incorporation of comedy and parody into their musical act, thanks in large part to the humorous talent of group member Harold Reid; they were frequently nominated for awards for their comedy as well as their singing. They recorded two comedy albums as Lester “Roadhog” Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys, and one-half of one side of the album Country Music Then and Now was devoted to satirizing small-town radio stations’ Saturday morning shows.
They earned the number one spot on the Billboard chart four times: for “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine?” in 1978; “Elizabeth” in 1984; and in 1985, “My Only Love” and “Too Much on My Heart”.
Since forming, the Statler Brothers have released over 40 albums.
The Statler Brothers purchased and renovated their former elementary school in Staunton, and occupied the complex for several years.
The complex consisted of offices for the group, a small museum and auditorium, as well as an adjacent building which served as office space for unrelated businesses. A garage was built to store the two tour buses that the group had used for many years. The group has since sold the building which has been converted back into a school.[citation needed]
In 1970, the group began performing at an annual Independence Day festival in Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton. The event, known as “Happy Birthday USA”, lasted for 25 years and included many country music figures including Mel Tillis, Charley Pride and many others. The event drew as many as 100,000 fans each year. The group also honored their hometown with the song “Staunton, Virginia” on their 1973 album Do You Love Me Tonight.
Retirement
The group disbanded and retired after completing a farewell tour on October 26, 2002. Balsley and the Reid brothers continue to reside in Staunton, while Fortune relocated to Nashville, where he is continuing his music career as a solo artist. He has released three albums as a soloist. The Statlers continue to be one of the most awarded acts in the history of country music.
Since the Statlers’ retirement in 2002, Don Reid has pursued a second career as an author. He authored or co-authored three books: Heroes and Outlaws of the Bible, Sunday Morning Memories, and You’ll Know It’s Christmas When…. He and brother Harold co-wrote a history of the Statler Brothers titled Random Memories released in February 2008.
Grandstaff/Wilson Fairchild
Wil and Langdon Reid, the sons of Harold and Don respectively, formed a duo in the 1990s, originally performing under the name Grandstaff. In 2007, Grandstaff recorded “The Statler Brothers Song”, a tribute song to the Statler Brothers.
In an interview on Nashville’s WSM (AM) on March 25, 2010, Wil Reid said that they decided to change their name to Wilson Fairchild after many people got the name “Grandstaff” wrong during introductions. The name comes from “Wilson”, Wil’s middle name, and “Fairchild”, Langdon’s middle name.
FRENCH VERSION
Les Statler Brothers sont un groupe de musique country américain qui s’est formé en 1955 dans la ville de Staunton en Virginie.
Originellement chanteurs de gospel dans les églises de leur état, les membres du groupe se sont ensuite attribué le surnom de « Four Stars » (Quatre étoiles) puis de Kingsmen.
Mais étant donné que le groupe The Kingsmen portait déjà ce nom, le groupe prit finalement le nom de Statler Brothers.
Le groupe avoua par la suite avoir pris ce nom en référence à une marque de mouchoirs. En plaisantant, ils expliquèrent même qu’ils auraient tout aussi bien pu s’appeler les Kleenex Brothers.
Le groupe se compose bel et bien de deux frères, Don Reid (soliste) et Harold Reid (basse).
Les deux autres membres sont le baryton Phil Balsley et le tenor Jimmy Fortune, qui a remplacé Lew DeWitt, l’un des fondateurs du groupe, lorsqu’il prit sa retraite, en 1982, afin de soigner la Maladie de Crohn, dont il souffrait depuis son adolescence, et dont les complications provoquèrent son décès en 1990.
Le style musical du groupe est resté tout au long de sa carrière très proche de ses racines de gospel. Ainsi, Harold Reid expliqua que le groupe utilisa « les mélodies du gospel pour les transposer dans la musique country ».
Ainsi, la plupart des albums proposent des titres issus du gospel. Certains albums reposaient même intégralement sur du gospel.
Les chansons des Statler Brothers sont apparues dans de nombreuses bandes originales de films ou de jeux vidéo. Ainsi, la chanson Flowers on the wall apparaît dans Pulp Fiction de Quentin Tarantino, et les chansons Bed of Roses et New York City apparaissent dans le jeu vidéo Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, sur la station K-Rose.
La carrière du groupe a duré 47 ans, depuis 1955 jusqu’en 2002, où Don Reid, Harold Reid et Phil Balsley ont annoncé leur retraite au cours d’une tournée d’adieu. Jimmy Fortune (en) continue depuis sa carrière en solo.
La carrière du groupe a débuté dans la Lynhurst Methodist Church située dans leur ville d’origine, Staunton.
En 1963 débuta une série de huit années de premières parties dans les concerts de Johnny Cash. Cette première partie de carrière fut immortalisée dans leur chanson We were paid by cash (littéralement Nous étions payés cash).
Deux de leurs chansons les plus célèbres sont Flowers on the wall, leur premier gros titre, et Bed of Roses qui firent tous deux l’objet d’un album portant le même nom.
Dans les années 1980, les Statlers comptèrent parmi les groupes les plus importants de la chaîne câblée The Nashville Network où leurs vidéos étaient régulièrement diffusées. Entre 1991 et 1998, ils animèrent même leur propre émission, le The Statler Brothers Show, diffusé quotidiennement sur le TTN.
Le programme devint dès lors l’émission la plus regardée de l’émission durant toute la durée de sa diffusion.
Tout au long de leur carrière, leur succès reposa tant sur leurs talents musicaux que sur leur talent pour la comédie et la parodie qu’ils mettaient en œuvres lorsqu’ils chantaient.
Ils étaient ainsi souvent nominés pour des récompenses de comédiens, autant que de chanteurs. Deux de leurs albums, Lester Moran et Cadillac Cowboys se voulaient fondamentalement comiques, et la moitié de l’album Country Music Then and Now était consacré à une satire des émissions dominicales sur les petites radios locales.
Le groupe a atteint à quatre reprises la tête du Classement du Billboard avec leurs chansons Do You Know You Are My Sunshine? en 1978, Elizabeth en 1982, My Only Love en 1984, et Too Much on My Heart en 1985. Au cours de leur carrière, les Statler Brothers ont sorti plus de 40 albums.
La carrière des Statler Brothers a été auréolée de trois Grammy Award : ceux de Best New Country and Western Artist, de Best New Country Music Artist et de Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance en 1965.
Le 29 octobre 2007, cinq années après sa dernière tournée, le groupe a été officiellement intronisé au Gospel Music Hall of Fame de Nashville dans le Tennessee. Le 12 février 2008, l’entrée du groupe dans le Country Music Hall of Fame a été officiellement annoncée.
SOURCES WIKIPEDIA
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