50 Fun Facts About The Statler Brothers

The Statler Brothers took their name from a brand of which product, spotted in a hotel room?

Facial tissues gave the quartet its name: a box of Statler Tissues sat in their hotel room when they needed a new one in 1963. None of the four was named Statler, and only two were brothers.

The Statler Brothers spent eight years as opening act and backing singers for which country legend?

Johnny Cash hired the quartet in 1964 and insisted that his record label sign them too. They stayed until 1972, when they left his tour to chase hits of their own.

Bruce Willis sings along to the Statler Brothers' "Flowers on the Wall" while driving in which film?

Pulp Fiction uses the group's 1975 re-recording rather than the 1965 original. Willis's character refers to the same song a year later in Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Which founding Statler Brother wrote "Flowers on the Wall", the quartet's only top-ten pop hit?

Lew DeWitt, the group's original tenor, wrote it. The single climbed to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1966, and the Statlers never reached the pop top 40 again.

In 1980 the Statler Brothers bought which hometown building to turn into their offices and museum?

A former elementary school, their own Beverley Manor, became the group's headquarters for more than two decades. The renovated complex also held an auditorium and a garage for the tour buses.

Which Virginia city, the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, was home base for the Statler Brothers throughout their career?

Staunton stayed the group's base even though they recorded and did business in Nashville. All four original members grew up in the city.

Which franchise covered the Statler Brothers' "Flowers on the Wall" in 2015 with rats billed as the Ratler Brothers?

The Muppets handed the song to a group of rats and modernised the chorus, dropping the smoking reference for pastimes such as sudoku and scrolling Instagram.

The Statler Brothers revised a line in "Don't Wait on Me" after which ballpark finally installed lights in 1988?

Wrigley Field was the only unlit park in the majors when the song came out in 1981, so night baseball there was a safe way to say never. On a 1989 live album the joke became a dome over the ballpark.

"Bed of Rose's" by the Statler Brothers plays on the fictional radio station K-Rose in which video game?

GTA: San Andreas features two Statler songs on K-Rose: this one and New York City, the two singles from the same album.

The Statler Brothers' hit "More Than a Name on a Wall" follows a mother visiting which Washington landmark?

Vietnam Veterans Memorial is where she looks for her son's name among those engraved on its black granite walls. The 1989 single reached number six and was the group's last top-ten hit.

Which Virginia singer replaced the Statler Brothers' ailing tenor in 1982 and wrote three of their number ones?

Jimmy Fortune arrived as a temporary stand-in and stayed for 21 years. Elizabeth, the first song he ever wrote, became one of the group's chart-toppers.

Harold Reid supplied the comedy on The Statler Brothers Show and sang which vocal part in the quartet?

Bass was his part from the first church dates in 1955 to the farewell tour in 2002. His brother Don sang lead and Phil Balsley sang baritone.

The Statler Brothers Show was the top-rated program on which cable channel through most of the 1990s?

The Nashville Network launched the weekly variety hour in 1991, and it became the highest-rated show in the channel's history.

Which American novelist called the Statler Brothers "America's Poets" and reprinted two of their songs in Palm Sunday?

Kurt Vonnegut treated the quartet's lyrics as serious contemporary poetry in his 1981 collection. He argued that one hit captured the state of a man who had just walked out on his family.

Which chronic illness forced the Statler Brothers' original tenor to retire from the group in 1982?

Crohn's disease had troubled him since adolescence, and surgery took him off the road in late 1981. He attempted a return the following June, but it lasted less than a week.

Which Statler Brothers hit won a 1972 Grammy and later became the instrumental theme of their TV variety show?

The Class of '57 follows a graduating class fifteen years on, each singer taking a turn to report what became of the classmates. The Bill Walker Orchestra played it to open the TV show.

Which Ricky Nelson hit of 1961 did the Statler Brothers revive on a chart-topping country album in 1985?

Hello Mary Lou was written by Gene Pitney and recorded by Nelson in 1961. The Statlers' version also went out as a single and reached the country top three.

The Statler Brothers' 1980 single "Charlotte's Web" appeared on the soundtrack of which Burt Reynolds comedy?

Smokey and the Bandit II sends Reynolds and Jerry Reed across the country with an elephant bound for a political convention. The single reached number five on the country chart.

A phrase in the Statler Brothers' "Do You Remember These" caused a stir in which country, where it suggests underwear?

Britain heard an American term for short trousers as a reference to women's underpants, which caused the group some awkwardness there.

After the Statler Brothers retired in 2002, lead singer Don Reid built a second career as what?

An author of several books, he co-wrote the book Random Memories with his brother Harold and later compiled an anthology of the group's songs.

Which 1978 single gave the Statler Brothers their first number one on the Billboard country chart?

Do You Know You Are My Sunshine was the group's 27th country hit before one finally reached the top. It stayed there two weeks, the only chart-topper they recorded with their original line-up.

Which Elizabeth Taylor film, screened before a concert, inspired the title of the Statler Brothers' "Elizabeth"?

Giant, the 1956 epic, was on screen before a show, and that night a girl in the audience introduced herself by the same name. The group later sang the hit to Taylor on her 52nd birthday.

After "My Only Love" in 1985, which Statler Brothers single became their fourth and final country number one?

Too Much on My Heart reached the top later in 1985 and held it for a week. Like the two number ones before it, it was written by the group's newest member.

Kim Reid, who wrote the Statler Brothers' 1978 hit "Who Am I to Say", was which relation of Harold Reid?

His daughter Kim wrote the song, which reached number three, and later gave the Statlers another single, The Best I Know How. She also sang in a short-lived duo with her sister Karmen.

Before a 1963 hit by another band forced a change, the Statler Brothers performed under which name?

The Kingsmen was also the name of the band behind Louie Louie and of a gospel group in the Carolinas, so the Virginia quartet gave it up.

After a slow spell at Columbia, the Statler Brothers scored their 1970s and 1980s country hits on which label?

Mercury Records gave the quartet a fresh start, and their first single for the label, Bed of Rose's, went top ten. They decided to stop chasing pop crossover and stay country.

"Flowers on the Wall" won the Statler Brothers a Grammy in which field, unusual for a country quartet?

Rock and roll was the field: the award was for Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance by a group. The same year's Grammys also named the quartet best new country and western artist.

Which Country Music Association award did the Statler Brothers win nine times between 1972 and 1984?

Vocal Group of the Year went to the quartet six years running from 1972, then again in 1979, 1980 and 1984.

For 25 years the Statler Brothers hosted a free Fourth of July festival in their Virginia hometown under which name?

Happy Birthday USA began in 1970 and grew into a parade and concert that often drew more than 100,000 fans, with the proceeds going to local charities.

The Statler Brothers' comedy album as Lester "Roadhog" Moran is set at a high school named for which cowboy actor?

Johnny Mack Brown was a University of Alabama football hero before he made Westerns. The 1974 album sends up a fourth-rate hillbilly band from the dying days of live radio.

Which Western film star do the Statler Brothers ask after in the title of a 1974 nostalgia single?

Randolph Scott had made his final film, Ride the High Country, in 1962 and retired. The single asking after him reached number 22 on the country chart twelve years later.

Which 1975 Statler Brothers single topped Canada's country chart and was based on an earlier Harold Reid song?

I'll Go to My Grave Loving You reworks his brother's He Went to the Cross Loving You, with Don Reid taking the writing credit. It peaked at number three in the United States.

Where did the Statler Brothers' original tenor first hear the Virginia singer who would later replace him?

At a ski resort close to home, the ailing tenor heard the younger man sing and asked him to audition as a temporary fill-in. The stand-in stayed two decades.

The Statler Brothers warmed up the inmates at the California concert recorded for which landmark 1968 live album?

At Folsom Prison was taped on January 13, 1968, and the Statlers went on early with their pop hit and This Old House before backing the headliner.

The Statler Brothers were weekly regulars on a country variety series that ran from 1969 to 1971 on which network?

ABC taped the series at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, then the home of the Grand Ole Opry. The Statlers sang and supplied brief comic interludes.

Which country singer covered the Statler Brothers' "Bed of Rose's" on her 1974 album Would You Lay with Me?

Tanya Tucker recorded a slightly modified version, which turned up again on a 1982 best-of. Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell cut the song too, in 1990.

Which nostalgia segment of The Statler Brothers Show became its own short-lived spin-off series?

Yesteryear recalled a single year through its songs and events, and proved popular enough to become a stand-alone series hosted by Rex Allen Jr. and Janie Fricke.

Which Statler Brothers album, home of the single "Sweeter and Sweeter", topped Billboard's Top Country Albums chart?

Pardners in Rhyme, released in 1985, went to number one and produced three top-ten country singles, including the group's last chart-topper.

Which Statler Brothers single looks back past Watergate and the Moon landing to the days of I Love Lucy?

A Child of the Fifties, from 1982, was the last top-20 hit to feature the group's original tenor, who takes a solo verse about the seventies.

Which superstar recorded the Statler Brothers' "Susan When She Tried" for his 1975 studio album Today?

Elvis Presley cut the song for an album RCA released in May 1975, a year after the Statlers' own version reached the country top twenty.

The Statler Brothers Show anchored its cable channel's lineup on which night of the week from 1991?

Saturday night suited a show modelled on a 1950s variety hour, with hits, comedy, guest stars and a gospel number to close every episode.

Which Roger Miller hit did the Statler Brothers cover on their debut album, Flowers on the Wall?

King of the Road shares the track list with Chuck Berry's Memphis, Tennessee, Stuart Hamblen's This Ole House and the Whiffenpoof Song.

Which revived 1950s pop song was the Statler Brothers' first single with their new tenor, a number two in 1983?

Oh Baby Mine, subtitled I Get So Lonely, was written by Pat Ballard and had been a hit for the Four Knights and for Johnnie & Jack back in 1954.

The sons of Harold Reid and Don Reid perform together as which country duo?

Wilson Fairchild started out in the 1990s under the name Grandstaff. In 2007 the cousins recorded The Statler Brothers Song as a tribute to their fathers' group.

Which bluegrass act earned a Grammy nomination for covering the Statler Brothers' "Elizabeth" on a 2010 tribute album?

Dailey & Vincent filled a whole 2010 album with Statler songs, and the Statlers' last tenor sometimes performs with them on stage.

Which singer launched his career in 2000 with a top-ten country cover of the Statler Brothers' "Flowers on the Wall"?

Eric Heatherly took his version to number six on the country chart. It was the first single from his debut album, Swimming in Champagne.

The Statler Brothers' first holiday album, a 1978 release featuring "I Believe in Santa's Cause", carries which title?

Christmas Card reached number 17 on the country albums chart. The quartet followed it seven years later with a second seasonal set, Christmas Present.

The Statler Brothers' first music video, shot in 1982 with a stand-in tenor, promoted which single?

Whatever features the group's original tenor on the record, but he was too ill to film, so his eventual successor appeared in his place.

Which hometown venue hosted the Statler Brothers' annual Fourth of July concerts in Virginia?

Gypsy Hill Park filled with fans each July for the free shows, which other country stars joined as guests.

Under which name did the future Statler Brothers make their first appearance in 1955 as a high school group?

The Four Star Quartet sang in local churches with Joe McDorman on lead. Don Reid took his place before the group turned professional.