Statler Brothers

By Joan Tupponce

October 1st, 2009

Country music star Whisperin’ Bill Anderson laughs as he recalls the night in 1964 when he met the Statler Brothers in Canton, Ohio, as they were preparing to audition for the legendary Johnny Cash.

“Johnny put them on stage for a few minutes and they tore the crowd apart,” Anderson recalls. “Johnny hired them on

the spot.”

Even though they were new to the country music stage, the Statler Brothers weren’t novices when it came to performing. The four Shenandoah Valley natives had been entertaining crowds in their hometown of Staunton, Va., since the group made its first public appearance in 1955 as the Four Star Quartet. Phil Balsley, Lew DeWitt and Joe McDorman, along with 15-year-old Harold Reid, formed the harmonizing foursome during their high school years. When McDorman left the group six years later, Harold’s younger brother, Don Reid, stepped into his spot.

“I got interested in singing by watching what Harold was doing. I remember wanting to sing when I was 9 years old,” Don recalls. “When an opening came along, I rushed into it.”

Even though the group retired in 2002, the Statler Brothers remain legends in

the music industry. During their recording career, the group had more than 550 hits, including their Top 10 smash, “Bed of Rose’s,” and their first hit, “Flowers on the Wall.”

Their many accomplishments include three Grammy awards and multiple Group of the Year awards from the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, American Music Awards and the Music City News/The Nashville Network. From 1991 to 1997, they hosted a top-rated Nashville Network variety show. In 2007, they were inducted into The Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame and in 2008 into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Early on, the group changed its name from the Four Star Quartet to the Kingsmen before settling on the Statler Brothers, a name they came up with after noticing a box of Statler tissues in a room where they were rehearsing. That story and others are recounted by Harold and Don Reid, the only real brothers in the group, in their book, “The Statler Brothers: Random Memories.”

Over the years, the group’s music reflected different musical genres. The most prominent was Southern gospel. “We listened to groups like the Blackwood Brothers and the Statesmen,” Don says. “We patterned ourselves after them.” Other influences included everyone from Johnny Cash to crooner Dean Martin. “We were influenced by a lot of different fields until we found our own style,” says Don, who believes that singers are a combination of all their inspirations. “You pick up things from each.”

After their successful Ohio audition, the Statler Brothers spent eight years touring and singing with Cash, who signed them to Columbia Records and featured them on his ABC television series, “The Johnny Cash Show.”

They discovered that touring with Cash, who was known to occasionally disappear before a scheduled performance, could be as frustrating as it was electrifying. Cash’s internal struggles were as much a part of his image as his signature long black coat, which was designed by Harold, who had also designed all of the on-stage suits and clothing for the Statler Brothers.

One of Harold’s favorite clothing stories involves the white suits he had made for an appearance in Charlotte, N.C. When the group took a bow after their first song, Harold’s pants ripped. “I had to be onstage for one and a half hours so I told the audience I had just ripped the ass out of my pants,” he says. “Everyone got a great bang out of it.”

The Statlers scored their first hit, “Flowers on the Wall,” in the mid-1960s. The song, written by band member DeWitt, earned the group two Grammy Awards in 1965 for Best New Country and Western Artist as well as Best Contemporary Country Performance by a Group.

Their success resulted in their own headlining tour for which they needed an opening act. They decided on a young female entertainer by the name of Barbara Mandrell. “It’s hard to be in the business and not know of Barbara Mandrell,” observes Harold. “She is a great talent and we were looking for the best and strongest opening act you could find. No one fits that better than Barbara.”

Ironically, Mandrell and the Mandrell Family Band had performed “Flowers on the Wall” as part of their act. “Little did I know that one day I would end up performing with [the Statlers],” Mandrell says. She hoped that opening for their sold-out shows would help her gain name recognition. “That was my goal.”

The Statlers soon dubbed her their “Statler sister” and used that sibling status to lovingly tease her. Mandrell, who was meticulous about her clothing and makeup, recalls one night when she was about to walk on stage and the Statlers caught her and asked her if she was going to put her makeup on and fix herself up for the show. She remembers all the teasing, she says, with “respect, admiration and love. All of my memories with them I treasure.”

Mandrell wasn’t surprised by the group’s sense of humor. Harold and Don are both known for their wit on and off the stage. “People like to laugh once in a while,” Don says. “We had lighthearted fun. We never carried a message on stage. We just wanted to entertain.”

The two attribute their comic tendencies to their mother, who had a sharp wit. “She was able to see the funny side of things,” Harold recalls. “She never took herself too seriously.” For example, one day at the age of six, Harold was playing in the yard when it started to rain. He scooted around the house to go inside and noticed that it wasn’t raining on the other side of the house. He asked his mom why that was. Without skipping a beat she replied, “It has to stop somewhere.”

The Statlers’ Staunton roots have always been deeply embedded in their music and their souls. They made it their home base, always coming back to family and friends. One of the traditions they started in Staunton was the city’s annual Fourth of July “Happy Birthday USA” celebration. They began planning for the event in 1969 and held it every year for the next 25 years, pulling in crowds of up to 100,000 people.

Bill Anderson recalls one year when he and his band, the Po’ Boys, challenged the Statlers to a softball game during the holiday celebration. “I not only had a band but I also had a softball team made up of members of the band,” he explains. “We would play against local disc jockeys or television broadcasters, etc.”

In every city prior to Staunton, Anderson’s team was the crowd favorite. “In Staunton they introduced me and the softball team and 25,000 people booed us,” he recalls with a chuckle. “They didn’t want us to beat their local boys. The Statlers had a real good team. We accused them of having ringers on the team.”

Mandrell, also a guest on the Fourth, shares the group’s love for America and Americana. “They are big flag wavers and I am a big flag waver,” she says. “We both believe in God, country and family.”

They additionally share an admiration and respect for truckers. Mandrell recounts the many times she has stopped at a truck stop while on tour. “The nation would be on its knees without our truckers,” she observes. “My song ‘Tonight My Baby Is Coming Home’ is about truck drivers. The more I was on the road the more I realized how important they were.”

Anderson has his own truck-related Statler memory. He recalls when the Statlers bought a Mercedes truck to help transport their equipment from venue to venue. “I was looking for a truck and they kept going on about how much they loved the Mercedes truck,” he says. “My bus driver begged me to buy a Ford but I gave in and bought the Mercedes but the Statlers had one. My

bus driver never forgave me for that.”

Looking back, Don estimates that group members spent one-third of their lives at truck stops. “We always traveled at night,” he says. “We have eaten in so many truck stops. They kept us alive. We have fond memories of those stops.”

One of the Statler Brother’s biggest thrills came in June 2008 when they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. When it was first announced, Harold thought a mistake had been made. “I never really dreamed of it. It was a total shock,” he says. “Being inducted into the County Music Hall of Fame is a special acknowledgement of what you have done. Without being big-headed, it will help me get through the rest of my life. It is a sweet memory, the greatest night of our career.”