# The Browns

The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic of the Nashville sound, though their music also combined elements of folk and pop. They disbanded in 1967 and were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in March 2015.

## History

James Edward, older sister Maxine, and younger sister Bonnie Brown sang individually in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, until 1954, when Maxine and Jim Ed signed a record contract as a singing duo. They earned national recognition and a guest spot on Ernest Tubb's radio show for their self-penned song "Looking Back to See", which hit the top ten and stayed on the charts through the summer of 1954. The song would be a hit again nearly 20 years later for Buck Owens and Susan Raye in 1972.
They were joined in 1955 by then-recent high school graduate, 18-year-old Bonnie, and began performing on Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, Louisiana. By the end of 1955, the trio was appearing on KWTO in Springfield, Missouri, and had another top ten hit with "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow", which got a boost by their appearances on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee, which Maxine Brown called "our real breakthrough." Jim Ed and Maxine had first appeared on the show as a duo in 1955. Producer Si Siman signed them with RCA Victor in 1956, and soon they had two major hits, "I Take the Chance" (a cover of a Louvin Brothers composition that showed the Browns' close harmony) 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, as did Billy Walker.
In 1959, The Browns scored their biggest hit when their folk-pop single "The Three Bells" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop and country charts. The song also peaked at No. 10 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues listing. Based on a song called "Les trois cloches", it was originally a hit in France for Édith Piaf. It was merely a coincidence that the hit rendition by the Browns chronicles the life of a character named "Jimmy Brown". The recording sold over one million copies, "The Three Bells" by the Browns was nominated for both Record of the Year and the Best Group or Vocal Performance in the Grammy award categories in 1959. Their version of "Blue Christmas" reached No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in December 1960.
The Browns appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand, and followed up with "Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" and "The Old Lamplighter", recordings that also did well on both the pop and country charts. With an international following, they toured Europe extensively and saw further moderate success on the country music charts. In 1963, they joined the Grand Ole Opry.
Jim Ed began recording as a solo artist for RCA Victor in 1965, and these efforts quickly began overshadowing the trio's recordings. Maxine sang lead vocal on the group's final singles released in 1968, "Big Daddy" and "I Will Bring You Water," with Jim Ed only supplying background vocals. The trio officially disbanded that year and Maxine signed with Chart Records in 1969, resulting in a small hit with "Sugar Cane County".
In the 1980s, The Browns began performing occasionally in concert for the first time in nearly 20 years. In 2006, the trio performed "The Old Lamplighter" and "The Three Bells" for the PBS special, Country Pop Legends.
On June 11, 2015, Jim Ed Brown died from lung cancer at age 81. On July 16, 2016, Bonnie Brown also died from lung cancer at the age of 77. Maxine Brown died on January 21, 2019, at the age of 87 from complications of heart and kidney disease.
The Browns were honored with the "Lifetime Achievement Award" during the inaugural Arkansas Country Music Awards on June 3, 2018, alongside fellow Arkansas natives Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Ed Bruce, and Wayne Raney. The event was held at the Center for Performing Arts at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

## Discography
### Albums

| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
| 1957 | Jim Edward, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown | | RCA Victor |
| 1959 | Sweet Sounds by the Browns | | RCA Victor |
| 1960 | Town & Country | | RCA Victor |
| 1960 | The Browns Sing Their Hits | | RCA Victor |
| 1961 | Our Favorite Folk Songs | | RCA Victor |
| 1961 | The Little Brown Church Hymnal | | RCA Victor |
| 1963 | Grand Ole Opry Favorites | | RCA Victor |
| 1964 | This Young Land | | RCA Victor |
| 1964 | Three Shades of Brown | | RCA Victor |
| 1965 | I Heard the Bluebirds Sing | | RCA Victor |
| 1965 | When Love Is Gone | 18 | RCA Victor |
| 1966 | Alone with You | | RCA Victor |
| 1966 | Our Kind of Country | 25 | RCA Victor |
| 1966 | The Best of The Browns | | RCA Victor |
| 1967 | The Old Country Church | | RCA Victor |
| 1967 | Browns Sing the Big Ones from Country | | RCA Victor |
| 1968 | A Harvest of Country Songs | | RCA Camden |
| 1984 | Rockin' Rollin' Browns | | Bear Family |
| 1985 | 20 of the Best | | RCA Victor |
| 1986 | Jim Ed Brown & The Browns | | MCA |
| 1986 | Looking Back to See | | Bear Family |
| 1993 | The Three Bells | | Bear Family |
| 1996 | Family Bible | | Rock Bottom |
| 2008 | The Complete Hits | | Collector's Choice |

### Singles

| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated | Chart Positions | Chart Positions | Chart Positions | Chart Positions | Album |
| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated | US Country | US | CB Country | CB Pop | Album |
| 1954 | "Looking Back To See" b/w "Rio De Janeiro" (Non-album track) | 8 | | | | Jim Edward, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown |
| 1954 | "Why Am I Falling" b/w "Itsy Witsy Bitsy Me" | | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1955 | "Draggin' Main Street" b/w "Your Love Is Wild As The West Wind" (Non-album track) | | | | | Jim Edward, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown |
| 1955 | "Do Memories Haunt You" b/w "Jungle Magic" | | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1955 | "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow" b/w "You Thought I Thought" | 7 | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1956 | "I Take The Chance" b/w "Goo Goo Dada" (Non-album track) | 2 | | | | Three Shades Of Brown |
| 1956 | "Just As Long As You Love Me" b/w "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" | 11 | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1956 | "A Man With A Plan" b/w "Just-A-Lot-Of Sweet Talk" | | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1957 | "Money" b/w "It Takes A Long Long Train With A Red Caboose" | 15 | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1957 | "Getting Used To Being Lonely" b/w "I'm In Heaven" | | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1957 | "I Heard The Bluebirds Sing" b/w "The Last Thing I Want" (Non-album track) | 4 | | 20 | | Jim Edward, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown |
| 1957 | "True Love Goes For Beyond" b/w "The Man In The Moon" | | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1958 | "Crazy Dreams" b/w "Ain't No Way In The World" | | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1958 | "Would You Care" b/w "The Trot" | 13 | | 14 | | Non-album tracks |
| 1959 | "Beyond The Shadow" b/w "This Time I Would Know" (from I Heard The Bluebirds Sing) | 11 | | 14 | | Non-album tracks |
| 1959 | "The Three Bells" b/w "Heaven Fell Last Night" (Non-album track) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Sweet Sounds By The Browns |
| 1959 | "Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" b/w "Blue Bells Ring" (Non-album track) | 7 | 13 | 5 | 17 | Town & Country |
| 1960 | "The Old Lamplighter" / | 20 | 5 | 12 | 8 | Town & Country |
| 1960 | "Teen-Ex" | | 47 | | 114 | Non-album track |
| 1960 | "Lonely Little Robin" / | | 105 | 39 | 78 | The Browns Sing Their Hits |
| 1960 | "Margo (The Ninth of May)" | | | 35 | 89 | The Browns Sing Their Hits |
| 1960 | "Whiffenpoof Song" / | | 112 | | tag | The Browns Sing Their Hits |
| 1960 | "Brighten the Corner Where You Are" | | | | 114 | The Browns Sing Their Hits |
| 1960 | "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" b/w "You're So Much A Part Of Me" (Non-album track) | 23 | 56 | 21 | 50 | I Heard The Bluebirds Sing |
| 1960 | "Blue Christmas" b/w "Greenwillow Christmas" | | 97 | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1961 | "Ground Hog" / | | 97 | | | Our Favorite Folk Songs |
| 1961 | "Angel's Dolly" | | | 41 | | Non-album track |
| 1961 | "My Baby's Gone" b/w "Whispering Wine" (Non-album track) | | | | | I Heard The Bluebirds Sing |
| 1961 | "Alpha And Omega" b/w "Foolish Pride" | | | | | I Heard The Bluebirds Sing |
| 1962 | "Buttons And Bows" b/w "Remember Me" | | 104 | | | I Heard The Bluebirds Sing |
| 1962 | "The Old Master Painter" b/w "It's Just A Little Heartache" | | 118 | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1963 | "The Twelfth Rose" b/w "Watching My World Fall Apart" | | | 40 | | Non-album tracks |
| 1964 | "Oh No!" b/w "Dear Teresa" | 42 | | 49 | | I Heard The Bluebirds Sing |
| 1964 | "Then I'll Stop Loving You" b/w "I Know My Place" (Non-album track) | 12 | | 20 | | The Best Of The Browns |
| 1964 | "Everybody's Darlin', Plus Mine" b/w "The Outskirts Of Town" | 40 | 135 | 16 | | Non-album tracks |
| 1965 | "I Feel Like Crying" b/w "No Sad Songs For Me" | | | | | Non-album tracks |
| 1965 | "You Can't Grow Peaches From A Cherry Tree"$^A$ b/w "A Little Too Much To Dream" (Non-album track) | | 120 | 21 | 134 | The Best Of The Browns |
| 1966 | "Meadowgreen" b/w "One Take Away One" | 46 | | 30 | | Non-album tracks |
| 1966 | "I'd Just Be Fool Enough" b/w "Springtime" | 16 | | 29 | | Our Kind Of Country |
| 1966 | "Coming Back To You" b/w "Gigawackem" (from Our Kind Of Country) | 19 | | 17 | | Non-album tracks |
| 1967 | "I Hear It Now" b/w "He Will Set Your Fields On Fire" (from The Old Country Church) | 54 | | 55 | | Non-album tracks |
| 1968 | "Big Daddy" / | 52 | | 55 | | Non-album tracks |
| 1968 | "I Will Bring You Water" | 64 | | | | Non-album tracks |
* $^A$Also peaked at #35 on Adult Contemporary charts.