Jim Ed Brown, who had several hits with sisters Maxine and Bonnie ("Looking Back To See," "The Three Bells") and as a solo act ("Pop A Top," amongst others), and who was a longtime regular on the Grand Ole Opry, passed away on Thursday at Franklin, Tennessee from lung cancer at age 81.
The Browns were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this past March.
After several Country-and-Western top-ten hits in the 1950s, Jim Ed and his sisters were set to go their several ways when their producer at RCA Victor records, guitar legend Chet Atkins asked if there was anything left they wanted to record.
They suggested a song that they had sung at home, "The Three Bells," which had been a hit for Edith Piaf and Les Compagnons de la Chanson as "Les Trois Cloches."
They recorded what was also known as "The Jimmy Brown Song," and it was a massive hit on the country charts that was also one of 1959's biggest pop hits.
The first major success for Jim Ed and Maxine came in 1954 with a humorous song the two penned entitled "Looking Back to See." Bonnie joined the act in 1955.
The trio were invited to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1963.
The Browns went their separate ways in 1967. By then, Jim Ed had a big country solo hit, entitled "Pop A Top." He would continue to have top 10 hits on the Billboard C&W charts well into the 1970s.
No comments:
Post a Comment