The Statler Brothers

The Statler Brothers (sometimes referred to as The Statlers) were an American vocal group from Staunton, Virginia. Formed in 1955, they went on to become the opening act and backup singers for Johnny Cash, which led to their own successful career.The group began as the amateur Four Star Quartet in Staunton, Virginia, performing in local churches. In 1959, after Don Reid replaced original lead singer Joe McDorman, they reorganized as The Kingsmen and developed three distinct shows — country, pop, and gospel — tailored to different venues in their region. They performed their gospel program on Sundays and their country and pop shows during the week, with a repertoire including country tributes, pop standards, and impersonations of popular artists.In 1963, after the song "Louie, Louie" by the rock band The Kingsmen was a major hit, and with a gospel group in the Carolinas also using the name, another name change was in order. Taking a cue from a box of facial tissue in their hotel, Don Reid, Harold Reid, Phil Balsley, and Lew DeWitt were known from then on as The Statler Brothers, although only two of them were actual brothers.In 1964, the fully professional Statler Brothers commenced an eight-year run as Johnny Cash's opening act and backing vocalists, which included singing on his At Folsom Prison album and appearing weekly on The Johnny Cash Show, the ABC series that ran from 1969 to 1971. The next year, the Statlers quit the Cash tour to focus on their own career.Although they were a quartet that occasionally recorded and performed gospel songs, they never considered themselves a gospel act ("we were not gospel") and James Blackwood said, "If the Statler Brothers had ever decided to come fully into the gospel field, they would have been the best gospel quartet ever in the business.” When signing at Mercury in 1970, the Statlers resolved to be “strictly country. No more pop or crossover targets, just country like we'd always wanted to be.”

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.