History Music / TheStatlerBrothers

* {{Pun}}: "We Got Paid by Cash," a look back at the days when the Statlers opened for Music/JohnnyCash.

Due to the typical makeup of vocal groups (two tenors, a baritone, and a bass), their songs are sometimes confused with ones performed by Music/TheOakRidgeBoys. Musically, however, the Statlers always maintained a strong connection to gospel music, and the distinction was even greater visually, as the Statlers typically all wore three-piece suits while the Oak Ridge Boys favored their regular clothes.

* LongRunnerLineUp: Two of them, actually. The group was Don and Harold Reid, Phil Balsley and Lew [=DeWitt=] from 1960 to 1982 (22 years), when [=DeWitt=] had to quit because of Crohn's Disease ([=DeWitt=] eventually died of it in 1990), then the Reids, Balsley, and Jimmy Fortune from Fortune replacing [=DeWitt=] in 1982 to 2004 when the band called it a day (22 years).

** The Statlers themselves included musical shout outs to Johnny Cash, in "We Got Paid By Cash" - the song opens with the distinctive bass entry to "Big River" and closes on the mariachi trumpets of "Ring of Fire."

* {{Pun}}: "We Got Paid by Cash," a look back at the days when the Statlers opened for Creator/JohnnyCash.

* {{Pun}}: "We Got Paid by Cash," a look back at the days when the Statlers opened for [[Creator/JohnnyCash]].

** And a hilarious real life subversion occurred when one of the lines "When The Lights Go On At Wrigley Field" became reality seven years later when they did put electric lights in at Wrigley Field. They changed the lyrics to putting a dome over it.

* SpellMyNameWithAThe: In the title performance on ''Alive at the Johnny Mack Brown High School'' by Lester "Roadhog" Moran & The Cadillac Cowboys, Roadhog is very [[InsistentTerminology insistent]] in calling the school '''the''' Johnny Mack Brown High School.

* LongRunnerLineUp: [[LogicalExtreme both of them]]:
** Type 1: Don Reid, Harold Reid, Phil Balsley and Lew [=DeWitt=] from 1955 to 1982 (27 years), when [=DeWitt=] had to quit because of Crohn's Disease ([=DeWitt=] eventually died of it in 1990).
** Type 2: Don Reid, Harold Reid, Phil Balsley and Jimmy Fortune from Fortune replacing [=DeWitt=] in 1982 to 2004 when the band called it a day (22 years).

* ConceptAlbum: The Statlers would frequently release albums reflecting a theme. Examples are ''Pictures of Moments To Remember'' which centered on memories and ''Sons of the Motherland'' which focused on their love for America. Perhaps their most significant themed album was their gospel album released in 1975, entitled ''Holy Bible'', which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which has song versions of the bible stories and divided up into a two record set called Old Testament and New Testament]]

* BrilliantButLazy: In their memoir Don and Harold Reid portray Lew [=DeWitt=] as this. He wrote "Flowers on The Wall" but was content to let the Reids handle most of the songwriting after that, as well as the day-to-day business of the group. His later health problems only added to it.

* VocalTagTeam: Don Reid was usually the lead vocalist, but some songs have more than one of the members singing lead. However, Fortune usually sang lead during his tenure.

A [[LongRunner long-running]] CountryMusic Quartet (nearly 50 years!) from Staunton [[note]]pronounced [[ItIsPronouncedTropay STAN-ton]][[/note]], Virginia. Former members are: Don Reid (lead vocals), Harold Reid (bass), Phil Balsley (baritone), and Lew [=DeWitt=] (tenor). [=DeWitt=] left in 1983 due to health issues, with Jimmy Fortune taking his place. The group released "Flowers on the Wall" in 1965, a song that became a huge crossover hit and even netted them a Grammy. From then until the late 1980s, they were a somewhat constant presence on the country charts, scoring even more {{Signature Song}}s along the way, such as "Do You Remember These", "The Class of '57", "I'll Go to My Grave Loving You", "Do You Know You Are My Sunshine", "The Official Historian on Shirley Jean Berrell" and "Elizabeth".

* ConceptAlbum: The Statlers would frequently release albums reflecting a theme. Examples are ''Pictures of Moments To Remember'' which centered on memories and ''Sons of the Motherland'' which focused on their love for America. Perhaps their most significant themed album was their gospel album released in 1975, entitled Holy Bible, which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which has song versions of the bible stories and divided up into a two record set called Old Testament and New Testament]]

* ThisBedOfRoses: Their song ''Bed of Rose's'' is the TropeNamer.

* WorldWarTwo: The cause of "Silver Medals and Sweet Memories," about a woman's love for the sergeant who never returned from the European theater.

* TropeNamer: ThisBedOfRoses

!Tropes

* StraightManAndWiseGuy: Don & Harold (the actual brothers of the group) sometimes perform this routine between songs [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0vmkhatLL0 as shown here]] (begins at 3:25)

A [[LongRunner long-running]] CountryMusic Quartet (nearly 50 years!) from Staunton, Virginia. Former members are: Don Reid (lead vocals), Harold Reid (bass), Phil Balsley (baritone), and Lew [=DeWitt=] (tenor). [=DeWitt=] left in 1983 due to health issues, with Jimmy Fortune taking his place. The group released "Flowers on the Wall" in 1965, a song that became a huge crossover hit and even netted them a Grammy. From then until the late 1980s, they were a somewhat constant presence on the country charts, scoring even more {{Signature Song}}s along the way, such as "Do You Remember These", "The Class of '57", "I'll Go to My Grave Loving You", "Do You Know You Are My Sunshine", "The Official Historian on Shirley Jean Berrell" and "Elizabeth".

* BandOfRelatives: A strange DoubleSubversion. Don and Harold ''are'' brothers, but the rest were unrelated. No one in the group had the last name Statler, though.

* UnreliableNarrator: possibly in "New York City". He mourns his pregnant girlfriend's decision to move to New York and speculates what life might be like there for his son. When the song was recorded (1971) New York was the most prominent of the four states that allowed abortion on demand in the pre-Roe V. Wade era. If a woman with an unplanned pregnancy said she was going to New York City, it was usually code indicating she was getting an abortion.