| The Browns | |
|---|---|
Bonnie and Jim Ed (top) with Maxine in the late 1950s |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Sparkman, Arkansas, United States |
| Genres | country, folk, gospel |
| Years active | 1955–1967 |
| Labels | RCA Victor |
| Past members | |
| Jim Ed Brown Maxine Brown Bonnie Brown |
|
The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie Brown, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic of the Nashville sound, though their music also combined elements of folk and pop. They disbanded in 1967.
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James Edward, older sister Maxine, and younger sister Bonnie Brown sang individually in Pine Bluff, Arkansas until 1954, when Maxine and Jim Ed signed a record contract as a singing duo. They earned national recognition and a guest spot on Ernest Tubb's radio show for their humorous song "Looking Back to See", which hit the top ten and stayed on the charts through the summer of 1954.[1]
They were joined in 1955 by then-recent high school graduate, 18-year-old Bonnie, and began performing on Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, Louisiana. By the end of 1955, the trio was appearing on KWTO-AM in Springfield, Missouri, and had another top ten hit with "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow", which got a boost by their appearances on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee, which Maxine Brown called "our real breakthrough."[2] Jim Ed and Maxine had first appeared on the show as a duo in 1955. Producer Si Siman signed them with RCA Victor in 1956, and soon they had two major hits, "I Take the Chance" (a cover of a Louvin Brothers composition that showed the Browns' close harmony) and "I Heard the Bluebirds Sing". When Jim Ed was drafted in 1957, the group continued to record while he was on leave, and sister Norma filled in for him on tours,[3] as did Billy Walker.[4]
In 1959, The Browns scored their biggest hit when their folk-pop single "The Three Bells"[5] reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop and country charts. The song also peaked at No. 10 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues listing. Based on a song called "Les trois cloches", it was originally a hit in France for Édith Piaf. The recording sold over one million copies, and was nominated for both Record of the Year and the Best Group or Vocal Performance in the Grammy award categories in 1959.
The Browns appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and Dick Clark's American Bandstand, and followed up with "Scarlet Ribbons" and "The Old Lamplighter", recordings that also did well on both the pop and country charts. With an international following, they toured Europe extensively and saw further moderate success on the country music charts. In 1963, they joined the Grand Ole Opry; in 1967, the trio disbanded as the popularity of folk music faded.
In 2006, the Browns reunited to perform "The Old Lamplighter" and "The Three Bells" for the PBS special, Country Pop Legends.
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Jim Edward, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown | RCA Victor | |
| 1959 | Sweet Sounds by the Browns | ||
| 1960 | Town & Country | ||
| The Browns Sing Their Hits | |||
| 1961 | Our Favorite Folk Songs | ||
| The Little Brown Church Hymnal | |||
| 1963 | Grand Ole Opry Favorites | ||
| 1964 | This Young Land | ||
| Three Shades of Brown | |||
| 1965 | I Heard the Bluebirds Sing | ||
| When Love Is Gone | 18 | ||
| 1966 | Alone with You | ||
| Our Kind of Country | 25 | ||
| The Best of The Browns | |||
| 1967 | The Old Country Church | ||
| Browns Sing the Big Ones from Country | |||
| 1968 | A Harvest of Country Songs | Camden | |
| 1969 | Sugar Cane Country | Chart | |
| 1984 | Rockin' Rollin' Browns | Bear Family | |
| 1985 | 20 of the Best | RCA | |
| 1986 | Looking Back to See | Bear Family | |
| 1993 | The Three Bells | ||
| 1996 | Family Bible | Rock Bottom | |
| 2008 | The Complete Hits | Collector's Choice |
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | |||
| 1954 | "Looking Back To See" | 8 | Jim Edward, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown | |
| "Why Am I Falling" | single only | |||
| 1955 | "Draggin' Main Street" | Jim Edward, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown | ||
| "Do Memories Haunt You" | singles only | |||
| "Here Today And Gone Tomorrow" | 7 | |||
| 1956 | "I'll Take The Chance" | 2 | ||
| "Just As Long As You Love Me" | 11 | |||
| "Man With A Plan" | ||||
| 1957 | "Money" | 15 | ||
| "Getting Used To Being Lonely" | ||||
| "I Heard The Bluebirds Sing" | 4 | Jim Edward, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown | ||
| "True Love Goes For Beyond" | singles only | |||
| 1958 | "Crazy Dreams" | |||
| "Would You Care" | 13 | |||
| 1959 | "Beyond The Shadow" | 11 | ||
| "The Three Bells" | 1 | 1 | Sweet Sounds by the Browns | |
| "Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" | 7 | 13 | Town & Country | |
| 1960 | "The Old Lamplighter" | 20 | 5 | |
| "Teen-Ex" | 47 | |||
| "Lonely Little Robin" | 105 | The Browns Sing Their Hits | ||
| "Whiffenpoof Song" | 112 | |||
| "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On" | 23 | 56 | I Heard the Bluebirds Sing | |
| "Blue Christmas" | 97 | singles only | ||
| 1961 | "Ground Hog" | 97 | ||
| "My Baby's Gone" | I Heard the Bluebirds Sing | |||
| "Alpha And Omega" | ||||
| 1962 | "Buttons And Bows" | 104 | ||
| "The Old Master Painter" | 118 | singles only | ||
| 1963 | "Twelfth Rose Watching" | |||
| 1964 | "Oh No!" | 42 | I Heard the Bluebirds Sing | |
| "Then I'll Stop Loving You" | 12 | The Best of The Browns | ||
| "Everybody's Darlin', Plus Mine" | 40 | 135 | singles only | |
| 1965 | "I Feel Like Cryin'" | |||
| "You Can't Grow Peaches From A Cherry Tree"A | 120 | The Best of The Browns | ||
| 1966 | "Meadowgreen" | 46 | single only | |
| "I'd Just Be Fool Enough" | 16 | Our Kind of Country | ||
| "Coming Back To You" | 19 | singles only | ||
| 1967 | "I Hear It Now" | 54 | ||
| 1968 | "Big Daddy" | 52 | ||
| "I Will Bring You Water" | 64 | |||