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Jim Ed Brown was born in
Sparkman, Arkansas, April 1, 1934. Early in life, choosing
music over forestry, Jim and his two sisters, Maxine and
Bonnie formed “The Browns” and ventured down that musical
pathway seeking stardom. Jim’s family were avid country music
fans and listened to the Grand Ole Opry every Saturday night.
This stimulated a strong interest in the youngsters and they
practiced imitating their idols. While still in high school,
Jim and Maxine were good enough to entertain publicly.
By 1952, Jim Ed and Maxine
were singing on the radio, and became a regular at the
“Barnyard Frolics” show on KLRA in Little Rock. In 1954, Fabor
Robinson inked the brother and sister act to a recording
contract on Fabor Records. One of the songs became a national
hit, a novelty song called “Looking Back To See.” This led to
a guest appearance on the popular national TV show, “The
Ernest Tubb Show.”
Sister Bonnie joined the group in 1955, and as “The Browns,”
enjoyed a Top Ten hit, “Here Today And Gone Tomorrow.” This
led to another national television guest appearance, Red
Foley’s “Ozark Jubilee.” Also, they began touring with Elvis
Presley’s road show.
With
the help of Jim Reeves, The Browns began recording for RCA
Victor and released their first album out of which came two
hits: “I Take A Chance” and “I Heard The Bluebirds Sing.”
However, the excitement of these developments didn’t last too
long. The next year Jim Ed was drafted into military service.
With Jim gone, another sister, Norma, took his place to keep
the group’s name in front of the public. After Jim’s return
in 1959, The Browns scored with another Top Ten hit, “The
Three Bells,” only this time their song went to the coveted
number one spot!
The
success of “The Three Bells” resulted in two very important
guest appearances, one with the Ed Sullivan Show and the other
with Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Show. In 1959, The
Browns were nominated for a Grammy Award for the Best Record
of the Year, “The Three Bells,” and for the Best Group or
Vocal Performance of the Year, but unfortunately were beaten
out by Bobby Darin’s “Mack The Knife,” and by the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir’s rendition of “The Battle Hymn of the
Republic.”
In
1963, The Browns became members of the Grand Ole Opry, but
left in 1966 when Maxine and Bonnie each married and voiced a
desire to go back to Arkansas and “raise a family.” The group
broke up in 1967 and Jim Ed Brown continued as a solo act.
Chet
Atkins of RCA continued believing in Jim Ed Brown which
resulted in hits by the soloist with “I’m Just A Country Boy,”
“I Heard From A Memory Last Night” and “Pop A Top.” The latter
reached number 3 on the country charts in 1967. From 1976 to
1981, he had several successful duet recordings with Helen
Cornelius, including “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.”
Jim Ed Brown continued on the Opry and also
hosted Nashville’s “You Can Be A Star” show on radio and TV.
He continues to do personal appearances even to this day.
In all, Jim Ed Brown has recorded 45 albums, 21
of them with Maxine and Bonnie as “The Browns,” 6 with Helen
Cornelius and 18 as a solo artist. He served up 38 solo hits
on RCA Victor. The Browns have been inducted into the
Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame, and without a doubt Jim Ed
Brown someday will make it to the prestigious Country Music
Hall of Fame.
I feel honored to have been a part of their
life for one week in 1956 when my band, the Rodeo Boys, Lazy
Jim Day, and Donna Darlene were added to the Browns’ show and
we appeared in 4 or 5 cities together. They were great,
wonderful people then, and still are. I saw Jim Ed a couple
of years ago and renewed our acquaintance.
Happy birthday, Jim!
Dusty Owens
TCM Radio New
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