Search - The Browns :: The Complete Hits

Not Quite ALL The Hits

05/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Product Description above says "Every hit notched by the #1 country singing group of the late 50s and early 60s!" and while that is certainly true of their 21 Country charters (5 of which crossed over to the more lucrative Billboard Pop Hot 100 and Hot 100 "Bubble Under" charts), they did overlook four legitimate hit singles, all with RCA Victor as well.



The first omission is Teen-Ex which, as the flip of The Old Lamplighter, reached # 47 Hot 100 in the spring of 1960. Another from 1960 was their rendition of Blue Christmas, which topped out at # 97 Hot 100 in December, as did Ground Hog in April 1961 (written by John D. Loudermilk). The fourth omission was You Can't Grow Peaches On A Cherry Tree which made it to # 35 Adult Contemporary and # 120 Hot 100 "Bubble Under" in the summer of 1965.



Their first hit, Looking Back To See (# 8 Country in July 1954 on Fabor) was billed to Jim Edward And Maxine Brown. Their next five were also all Country hits only (Here Today And Gone Tomorrow - # 7 in late 1955 on Fabor; I Take The Chance - # 2 in spring 1956; Just As Long As You Love Me - # 11 in September 1956; Money - # 15 in March 1957; and I Heard The Bluebirds Sing - # 4 in the fall of 1957) and were all billed to Jim Edward, Maxine And Bonnie Brown, the last four on RCA Victor, as would all their remaining hits.



For the next four (Would You Care - # 13 in October 1958; Beyond The Shadow - # 11 in March 1959; The Three Bells - # 1 Country for 10 weeks, # 1 Hot 100 for 4 weeks, and # 10 R&B for their first cross-over hit - in late summer 1959; and Scarlett Ribbons [For Her Hair] - # 7 Country and # 13 Hot 100 in December 1959) the billing was simply The Browns.



Beginning in 1960, and for these next nine hits through to 1966, the billing would be The Browns Featuring Jim Edward Brown: The Old Lamplighter - # 5 Hot 100, # 17 R&B and # 20 Country - and it's B-side Teen-Ex, mentioned above; Send Me The Pillow You Dream On - # 21 Country and # 56 Hot 100 - and the above-mentioned Blue Christmas - both in December 1960; Ground Hog - see above; Oh No! - # 42 Country in January 1964; Then I'll Stop Loving You - # 12 Country in June 1964; Everybody's Darlin', Plus Mine - # 49 Country and # 135 Hot 100 "Bubble Under" in November 1964; You Can't Grow Peaches On A Cherry Tree - mentioned above; and Meadowgreen - # 46 Country in February 1966.



For these final five Country hit singles only, the billing reverted to just The Browns: I'd Just Be Fool Enough - # 16 in summer 1966; Coming Back To You - # 19 in November 1966; I Hear It Now - # 54 in May 1967; Big Daddy - # 52 in December 1967 and its B-side, I Will Bring You Water - # 64.



Jim Ed would go on to post 51 solo hits from 1965 to 1981 for RCA Victor, only one of which would cross over to the Pop charts (1970s Morning), while Maxine would have one Country hit in late 1968 as a solo artist, in her case on the small Chart label.



While it would have been nice had they seen their way clear to go to 25 tracks and include those missing numbers, that in no way reduces the appeal of this great release from Collector's Choice which has excellent sound quality and informative liner notes written by Colin Escott.

"

Excellent single-disc anthology of country harmony trio

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 05/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Browns sprang from Arkansas in the mid-50s as a sibling vocal trio comprised of Jim Ed, Maxine and Bonnie Brown. They're best remembered hit, 1959's country-pop #1 crossover, "The Three Bells," was cut five years into their career, and though they'd continue to chart together and solo, they'd never again find such chart-topping success. The group debuted as a duo of Jim Ed and Maxine in 1954 with "Looking Back to See," Maxine's clever hootenanny-styled account of her sister's flirtatious exchange with a suitor. The pair's youthful voices had the same jubilant tone as The Collins Kids, but the fiddle and barrelhouse piano backing was more mid-American country than West Coast swing and rockabilly, and Maxine never belted out the songs like Lorrie Collins.



Younger sister Bonnie joined her siblings as they began regular appearances on the Louisiana Hayride and Ozark Jubilee, and the trio waxed the original pedal-steel and fiddle weeper "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow" with harmonies tightened by their sibling bonds. Following their labelmate Jim Reeves in 1956, the Browns moved from the indie Fabor to the Nashville powerhouse RCA where they hit with a cover of the Louvin Brothers' "I Take the Chance." As on many of the Browns' recordings, Jim Ed sang verses (or parts of verses) solo, and was joined by his sisters on the choruses. They'd strike again later in the year with the terrific courting tune, "I Heard the Bluebirds Sing."



While the group's harmonies remained steady, by 1958 there were changes taking place in Nashville. "Beyond the Shadow" expanded their productions to stereo, and the light piano further softened a guitar whose twang was already quite polite. The following year they broke through with a cover of the 1940s Swiss cabaret song "Les Trios Cloches." Originally popularized by Les Compagnons de Chanson, the song was recorded a cappella by Edith Piaf, and translated into English as "The Three Bells." The story of "Jimmy Brown" from birth to marriage to final passing was remembered by the like-named Jim Ed Brown, the tune was laid down with the Nashville Sound at the tail-end of a 1959 session with producer Chet Atkins and arranger Anita Kerr. The recording was a sensation, much as it had been in France in the mid-40s, topping the country chart and giving Atkins his first pop #1.



In quick succession the trio waxed additional crossover hits with folk-pop resurrections of Jo Stafford's "Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" and Sammy Kaye's "The Old Lamplighter." The Nashville Sound was in full bloom by this point, with strings and tinkling pianos accompanying the group's languorous vocal harmonies, making for a sound as smooth as The Fleetwoods pop sides. Even country songs like "Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On" were rendered smooth as glass with violins and cooing background vocals. It was a long way from "Looking Back to See," but the trio's harmonies took well to the new setting. The soft, sweet ballads continued into the mid-60s with "Everybody's Darlin' Plus Mine," "Meadowgreen," and "I'd Just Be Fool Enough." The group's harmonies even ventured into Lettermen-esque easy listening on Chip Taylor's "I Hear It Now." There were a few diversions from the Nashville Sound, including a 1963 version of "Oh No" whose middle tempo and guitar solo could pass for an early Conway Twitty tune. Jim Reeves' "Then I'll Stop Loving You" brought the trio back to their earlier close-harmony roots, and 1966's "I Will Bring You Water" is a surprising slice of sunshine folk-pop.



Collectors' Choice 21-track collection includes their earliest hits for Fabor and all of the RCA sides they landed on the country Top-100 and pop Top-20. As terrific as are the group's best known hits, the versatility with which they wielded their harmonies is even more impressive. They're just as convincing singing hill-bred country as Nashville Sound, folk and straight pop; they covered a lot of ground in their decade-plus of recording. An exhaustive look at their career can be found on Bear Family's eight-CD "The Three Bells," but for most listeners, this disc is just right. Audio note: tracks 1-7 and 17-21 are mono (though at least the first seems to be slightly out of balance), the rest stereo. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]"

Sweet, Sweeter & Bittersweet

Edward Morris | Nashville, TN United States | 06/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When it comes to vocal music, my preferences are sweet, sweeter and bittersweet, all territories The Browns know well. As this collection demonstrates, there is no shade of emotion this trio can't bring into sharper focus with their kaleidoscope of angelic harmonies. Almost everyone is familiar with the sense of wonder and enchantment they convey in their most-heralded hit, "The Three Bells." But that's only a glimpse of their melodic magic. In their voices we can hear the bubbling excitement of first love ("Looking Back To See," "I Heard The Bluebirds Sing"), the guilty longing of illicit love ("I Take The Chance") and the ineffable tenderness of parental love ("Scarlet Ribbons"). Having seen a dozen singers act the song out in the early, grainy, black and white days of television, I am especially fond of "The Old Lamplighter." Nobody else did it as wistfully and believably as The Browns. This isn't just an album--it's a journey through the heart."