The Statler Brothers Thro' The Years

The most awarded singers in the history of country music
Harold Reid (born August 21, 1939), Phil Balsley (August 8, 1939), Lew DeWitt (March 8, 1938), Don Reid (born June 5, 1945), Jimmy Fortune (born March 11, 1955)

[00:00:14] – 1 The Grand Ole Opry “Flowers on the Wall” 00:14
[00:02:36] – 2 With Merle Haggard “The Fugitive” 02:36
[00:04:11] – 3 With Marty Robbins “Did you know you are my Sunshine” 04:11
[00:06:15] – 4 With Marty Robbins “Whatever happened to Randolph Scott” 06:15
[00:07:11] – 5 “Don’t wait on me” 07:11
[00:10:08] – 6 “The Great Pretender” 10:08
[00:14:16] – 7 The Statler Brothers Farewell Concert “Thank you world” 14:16

The Statlers began their career at a performance at Lyndhurst Methodist Church near their hometown of Staunton, Virginia, under the name The Four Star Quartet. In 1964, they started an eight-year run as Johnny Cash's opening act and backing vocalists. This period of their career was memorialized in their song "We Got Paid by Cash." They were featured regularly on The Johnny Cash Show, his ABC hit that ran from 1969 to 1971. Due to their expanding career, the Statlers left Cash's entourage around the mid-1970s to concentrate on their own career, a departure that took place on good terms.

Two of the Statlers' best-known songs are “Flowers on the Wall”, their first major hit that was composed and written by Lew DeWitt, and the socially conscious “Bed of Roses”. In the 1980s, the Statlers were a mainstay on The Nashville Network (TNN), where their videos were shown regularly. Also on TNN, between 1991 and 1998, they hosted The Statler Brothers Show, a weekly variety show, which was the network's top-rated program for its entire 7-year run.

Throughout the Statlers' career, much of their appeal was related to their incorporation of comedy and parody into their musical act, due in large part to the humorous and comedic talent of group member Harold Reid; they were frequently nominated for awards for their comedy as well as their singing. They recorded two comedy albums under the pseudonym Lester "Roadhog" Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys, and one-half of one side of the album Country Music Then and Now was devoted to satirizing small-town radio stations' Saturday-morning shows.
The Statlers earned the number-one spot on the Billboard chart four times, for “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine? in 1978, “Elizabeth” in 1984, and in 1985, “My Only Love” and “Too Much on my Heart". Since forming, the Statlers have released over 40 albums.

DeWitt retired from the Statler Brothers in 1982 due to ill health. After a 3-year hiatus, he returned to the music industry as a solo artist until shortly before his death on August 15, 1990, from complications of Crohn’s disease, at age 52.

Harold Reid (born on August 21, 1939) died on April 24, 2020, after a long battle with kidney failure, at age 80.


1 The Grand Ole Opry “Flowers on the Wall”
Song Flowers on the Wall
Artists The Statler Brothers

2 With Merle Haggard “The Fugitive”
Song The Fugitive
Artists Merle Haggard, The Statler Brothers

3 With Marty Robbins “Did you know you are my Sunshine”
Song Did you know you are my Sunshine
Artist The Statler Brothers

4 With Marty Robbins “Whatever happened to Randolph Scott”
Song Whatever happened to Randolph Scott
Artist The Statler Brothers

5 “Don’t wait on me”
Song Don’t wait on me
Artist The Statler Brothers

6 “The Great Pretender”
Song The Great Pretender
Artist The Statler Brothers

7 The Statler Brothers Farewell Concert “Thank you world”
Song Thank you world
Artist The Statler Brothers