Country Music Memory Lane – The Three Bells by Kaye Spencer #westernfictioneers #classiccountrymusic

Coming up sixty-one years ago on August 31, 1959, a musical family known as The Browns had a Number 1 single on Billboard magazine’s country music chart. The song was The Three Bells, also known as the Jimmy Brown Song, Little Jimmy Brown, and Jimmy Brown.

This song was based on a French song called Les trois cloches, which was a hit in 1946. The group Melody Maids had an English translation hit with it in 1948. The song tells Jimmy Brown’s life story in three parts: birth, marriage, and death.

I love coincidences, and this song has a fun one. The vocalist of The Browns was James Edward Brown aka Jimmy Brown. He is best known as Jim Ed Brown.

The Browns were a singing family of two sisters and a brother from Arkansas: Maxine, Bonnie, and Jim Ed. Jim Ed was the middle kid with Maxine the oldest.

 

Bonnie and Jim Ed in back – Maxine in front

The Browns disbanded mostly because Jim Ed pursued a solo career Over the years, they did get back together for occasional appearances and to record a gospel album. In March 2015, the Browns were honored with inclusion in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Jim Ed died in June 2015, Bonnie in June 2016, and Maxine in January 2019.

Here are a few of the many artists who recorded The Three Bells.

• Floyd Cramer
• Chet Atkins
• Tommy Dorsey
• Guy Lombardo
• Ray Charles
• Roy Orbison
• Andy Williams
• Leon Russell
• Andrew Sisters (They change up the lyrics.)
• Johnny Cash and the Carter family
• Allison Krauss & Union Station
• Sha Na Na (No joke. It’s on YouTube. It’s delightfully corny—guaranteed to give you a chuckle.)

Here are The Browns at the Grand Ole Opry singing The Three Bells on July 16, 1965.

Until next time,
Kaye Spencer

 

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Resources:

>The Browns Image courtesy Wikipedia
>The Originals website
>The Three Bells – Wikipedia
>The Browns – Wikipedia

A small tribute to country music legend Merle Haggard by Kaye Spencer #classiccountry #countrymusic #westernfictioneers

April 6, 1937 and April 6, 2016 are significant dates for those of us whose country music roots are in what I call 'classic country'...

Merle Haggard was born on this day, and he died on the same day 82 years later.

Merle Haggard - 1971
Country Music Association, Merle Haggard in 1971,
marked as public domain, more details onWikimedia Commons

I'm not going to talk about Merle's life in this article, as it is easy enough to do an Internet search and read more in depth biographies of his life than I need to synthesize and summarize here.

Merle Haggard - 2010
U.S. federal government, Merle Haggard 2010, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons

What I am going to share is a comparison of his song Mama Tried to Johnny Paycheck's song of similar theme, The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised.

Both songs are iconic of each artist and each song tells the lamentable story of grown men (or women) looking back on the bad choices they made in their younger lives despite the best guiding efforts of their mothers to raise them right and keep them on the 'straight and narrow'.

Both narrators have gotten sideways of the law and, while it seems what they are sorriest about is getting caught, there is a hint of guilt that they cause their mothers sadness and grief. But the dirty deeds they've done in their lives can't be undone so Que Sera Sera.

Mama Tried was released in July 1968 as the first single and title track from Merle Haggard's album, Mama Tried, and it became one of the cornerstone songs of his career.* The song entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Two weeks before Merle died in 2016, the song was preserved in the National Recording Registry due to it's 'cultural, historic, and/or artistic significance"*.

While this song is not autobiographical, Merle did serve time in San Quentin and he did lament the pain it caused his mother. Merle was among the "Outlaw Movement" artists of the 1970s. The song was his fifth Number 1 hit on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Single chart in August 1968.

The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised by Johnny Paycheck, who was also considered one of the members of the "Outlaw Movement" artists**. He received an Academy of County Music Career Achievement award in 1977**. The song was on is on the album, Slide off of Your Satin Sheets and, as a single, it reached Number 8 on the U.S. Country charts in 1977****.

For your viewing and listening entertainment...

Until next time,

 Kaye Spencer


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Resources Disclaimer – Reader discretion advised:
Some information in this article relies primarily upon that model of excellence in accuracy itself, Wikipedia.
*Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mama_Tried_(song)
**Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Paycheck and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Paycheck_discography
***AllMusic: https://www.allmusic.com/song/im-the-only-hell-mama-ever-raised-mt0012001949
****https://www.axs.com/the-top-10-best-johnny-paycheck-songs-86320