The recent death of Bonnie Brown Ring of Dardanelle reminds me of the important roles played by the Arkansas-born Brown family in the history of American country music. Bonnie was the younger sister of Jim Ed and Maxine Brown, and together they were instrumental, as one music historian has written, "in the development of the elegant, often orchestral 'Nashville sound,' which replaced the string bands of earlier eras."
The Brown siblings were the children of Floyd and Birdie Tuberville Brown, and they grew up mostly in and around Pine Bluff. Their father initially worked at farming and timber hauling, but eventually he and his wife bought a store, and later they established the Trio Restaurant and Supper Club in Pine Bluff.
The Brown children were musically inclined, and in 1952, while Jim Ed was attending Arkansas A&M College in Monticello, Maxine entered her brother in a talent contest being sponsored by the Barnyard Frolic country music show sponsored by radio station KLRA in Little Rock. While Jim Ed did not win the contest, he was invited to appear on the show regularly. It was not long before Maxine joined her brother on the Barnyard Frolic, decked out in full cowgirl regalia lovingly made by her mother.
In 1955 at the age of 18, Bonnie Brown joined her older siblings to form a trio. The youngest of the Brown children, Norma, occasionally filled in when needed.
Among the songs Jim Ed and Maxine sang at the Frolic was one Maxine wrote, "Looking Back to See." This song helped bring the Browns to the attention of music promoters and recording companies, a mixed blessing because it also led to their signing with less-than-reputable Fabor Recordings.
Here is how Maxine recalled the ill-fated signing: "The music industry, whether it's country, rock, pop, or punk, has some fine, upstanding people in it. However, it also crawls with shysters, crooks, and con artists. On our rocky road to the big time, we had yet to meet up with probably the sorriest bastard then infesting the industry. His name was Fabor Robinson."
In 1954 Fabor Robinson recorded Maxine's "Looking Back to See," and it sold widely. Unfortunately, Robinson's contract with the Browns denied them royalties--the first of many instances where the young duo from Arkansas was cheated by a recording studio.
Eventually, the Browns extricated themselves from their contract with Fabor Recordings and, with the help of master guitarist and record producer Chet Atkins, signed a contract with RCA Records in Nashville. A string of popular hits followed.
According to music historian Jim Kelton who wrote the entry on the Browns in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, it was their "smooth harmonies" that not only "put the Browns at the forefront of Nashville's emerging sophistication but [it] fit in with the burgeoning folk music movement, allowing them to capitalize on the popularity of both."
The most successful song ever recorded by the Browns was "The Three Bells," which the Browns recorded at the famous RCA Studio B in Nashville in June 1959. It was an immediate success, climbing to the top of both the country and pop charts. This was followed by the well-received "Scarlet Ribbons" and "The Old Lamplighter." Altogether the Browns recorded more than 250 songs between 1955 and 1967.
The Browns joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1963. However, they disbanded in 1967 after both Maxine and Bonnie married and had children. Maxine's marriage did not last, but Bonnie was happily married to Gene "Brownie" Ring, a physician at Dardanelle, until his death earlier this year. Jim Ed Brown continued to perform until his death in June 2015 at age 81.
The Browns were accepted in the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in 1998. Last year they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
As it turned out, Maxine Brown could write more than songs. In 2005 she published an autobiography, Looking Back to See: A Country Music Memoir (UA Press and still in print). This is one of the best memoirs I have ever read, full of sharp details, unsurpassed humor, and no small amount of the most delicious gossip. Elvis Presley, who was sweet on Bonnie, was a regular at the Trio Club. Maxine's idol was Eddy Arnold, whom she says "never sang a single bad note."
One of my favorite stories from Maxine's autobiography was of Bonnie throwing her drink in the face of a disc jockey who was making racist remarks about a new black country singer named Charley Pride.
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Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist living in Hot Spring County. Email him at Arktopia.td@gmail.com.
Editorial on 07/24/2016