James Edward Brown
(b. April 1, 1934) is a country music singer who achieved fame in the 1950s with his two sisters as a member of The Browns. He later had a successful solo career from 1965 to 1974, followed by a string of major duet hits with Helen Cornelius through 1981. Brown is currently the host of the Country Music Greats Radio Show
, a syndicated country music program in Nashville, Tennessee.
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JIM ED BROWN TICKETS
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Biography
Jim Ed Brown was born April 1, 1934 in
Sparkman, Arkansas. Brown and his sisters,
Maxine and
Bonnie, sang individually at rural venues until 1954, when Jim Ed and Maxine signed a record contract as a duo. They earned national recognition and a guest spot on
Ernest Tubb's television show for their humorous song "Looking Back to See," which hit the top ten and stayed on the charts through the summer of 1954.
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The Browns
Jim Ed and Maxine were joined in 1955 by 18-year-old Bonnie, and The Browns began performing on
Louisiana Hayride
in
Shreveport, Louisiana. By the end of 1955, the trio was appearing on
KWTO-AM in
Springfield, Missouri, and had another top ten hit with "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow," which got a boost by their national appearances on ABC-TV's
Ozark Jubilee
. They signed with RCA Victor in 1956, and soon had two major hits, "I Take the Chance" and "I Heard the Bluebirds Sing." When Jim Ed was drafted in 1957, the group continued to record while he was on leave, and sister Norma filled in for him on tours.
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In 1959, The Browns scored their biggest hit when their
folk-pop
single "
The Three Bells" reached number one on the
Billboard
Hot 100 pop and country charts. The song also peaked at number ten on
Billboard's
Rhythm and Blues listing. The trio had moderate successes on the country music charts. In 1963, they joined the
Grand Ole Opry and in 1967 the group disbanded.
Solo career
Brown continued to record for RCA and had a number of country hits, starting in 1965 while still with his sisters. In 1967, he released his first solo top ten hit, "Pop A Top," which became his signature song. In 1970, he gained a crossover hit with "Morning" which went to number four on the country charts and number 47 on the pop charts. Other hits included "Angel's Sunday" (1971), "Southern Loving" (1973), "Sometime Sunshine" (1974) and "It's That Time Of Night" (1974).
Beginning in 1976, Brown released a string of major duet hits with
Helen Cornelius starting with the number one hit, "I Don't Wanna Have To Marry You." Other hits for the duo included "Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye" (1977), "Born Believer" (1977), "I'll Never Be Free" (1978), "If The World Ran Out Of Love Tonight" (1978), "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" (a cover of the then-recent
Neil Diamond-
Barbra Streisand hit) (1979), "Lying In Love With You" (1979), "Fools" (1979), "Morning Comes Too Early" (1980) and "Don't Bother To Knock" (1981).
Brown hosted the syndicated country radio shows
Jim Ed Brown's Country Place
and
Nashville On The Road
. He also
The Nashville Network programs,
You Can Be A Star
(a talent show), and
Going Our Way,
which featured Brown and his wife traveling the U.S. in an
RV.
Radio host
Brown currently hosts two nationally-syndicated country music radio shows, the weekly two-hour
Country Music Greats Radio Show
and the weekday short-form vignette,
Country Music Greats Radio Minute
. Both are broadcast by over 300 radio stations to a weekly audience exceeding three million, as well as on the Internet. Recorded at the Hard Scuffle Studios in Nashville, the
Country Music Greats Radio Show
blends music from the 1940s through the 1990s with an interview archive of country stars past and present. Brown also tells tales of living and working in the country music industry.
He remains an active and popular member of the
Grand Ole Opry and lives in the south Nashville suburb of
Brentwood, Tennessee with his wife Becky.
Discography
Notes
- The Browns Biography
- The Browns Biography
References
- The Browns Biography
- The Browns Biography