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Ella Maxine Brown was born in
Sampti, Louisiana on April 27, 1932. She sang with her
brother, Jim Edward Brown and her sister, Bonnie Brown. They
were known as The Browns.
Jim Edward Brown was born in
Sparkman, Arkansas on April 1, 1934. Bonnie was also born in
Sparkman on July 31, 1937.
They faithfully listened to
the Grand Ole Opry and were influenced enough to want a
professional career. In 1953, they began singing as a duo and
landed a job singing on the Barnyard Hayride on KLRA Little
Rock, Arkansas. It wasn’t long before the powers at KWKH in
Shreveport, Louisiana decided to add them to the Louisiana
Hayride.
In 1954, Fabor Robinson signed
the two Browns to record for his record company, which he
called Fabor. One of those first tracks became a Top Ten
country hit. It was an original song, “Looking Back To See”
(Jim Reeves actually played rhythm guitar on the recording).
In 1955, Bonnie was added to
the duo, forming a trio. They became a featured attraction on
the new Ozark Jubilee, in Springfield, Missouri, joining Red
Foley, Porter Wagoner and Chet Atkins. While working out of
the Ozark Jubilee, the Browns registered their first hit as a
trio, “Here Today And Gone Tomorrow.”
In 1956, the Browns moved to
RCA Victor Records, with the help of Jim Reeves, and they
immediately saw one of their first recordings go to number two
in the country. It was the Louvin’s great song, “I Take The
Chance.” They followed this up the next year with “I Heard The
Bluebirds Sing. In 1959, they enjoyed their biggest hit and a
million-selling recording of “The Three Bell.”
I did a tour that included the
Browns in 1956, and I really enjoyed getting to know these
three wonderful people. And what great harmony they produced.
From 1959 to 1967, the Brown
continued to be productive with twelve more hit songs,
including “Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair),” “The Old
Lamplighter,” “Then I’ll Stop Loving You” and “I’d Just Be
Fool Enough.”
In
the early 1960s, they appeared on all major television shows
and toured Europe and Japan extensively. Somewhere along the
line they open their own nightclub in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
In 1963, the Browns became
headliners at the Grand Ole Opry, where Jim Ed continues to
work as a soloist today. In 1967, Maxine and Bonnie wanted to
spend more time with their families and so the group was
disbanded. Maxine did a solo recording for Chart Records in
1968, which became a minor hit. It was “Sugar Cane Country.”
The Browns did come together in 1996 to put out a gospel set
called “The Family Bible.”
Dusty Owens
TCM Radio News
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