My introduction to this week's tune came, surprisingly enough, from a Kurt Vonnegut essay in his book Palm Sunday. Vonnegut's piece (he considered the song poetry and related how it reflected his life at that point in time) caused me to seek it out and give it a listen. While the song didn't have quite the effect on me it had on Vonnegut (he'd just gone through a divorce from his first wife and felt the song accurately portrayed the end of his usefulness...about which I'm sure Vonnegut changed his mind after his second marriage), I did come to love it and appreciate its take on the newly divorced man....
The Statler Brothers got their start in the mid-fifties singing Gospel Music before catching a humongous break in 1964 when they became the opening act (and backing vocals) for Johnny Cash. They would remain with Cash (though recording their own material) through the mid-seventies before amicably parting and taking their career to another level in the Country Music world. They would have a number of hits through the seventies and eighties, culminating in their own weekly variety show (the cleverly named The Statler Brothers Show) on TNN for seven years from 1991-98. Like Jo Stafford a few weeks back, the Statlers became known for incorporating comedy in their act and became a popular touring band. For their career, the Statler Brothers released 38 studio albums and 96 singles (and had four #1 hits on the Country singles chart). The Statlers won three Grammy Awards, and have been inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Hall of Fame. The Statler Brothers had a farewell tour in 2002 before retiring that same year.
Fun Fact: While Harold and Don Reid were brothers, Phil Balsley and Lew Dewitt were not, and none of them had the name Statler. The band was actually named after a brand of tissue that was in a hotel room in which they were staying. The Statlers would joke in later years that they just as easily could have been named the "Kleenex Brothers."
"Flowers on the Wall," released in 1965, was the first single from the Statlers first album, the aptly named Flowers on the Wall. The single would reach #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and #4 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100. The album peaked at #10 on the country album chart, but only reached #125 on the Billboard 200.
"Flowers on the Wall" is the story of a recently single man who is mustering all the bravado (and self-deprecation) he can muster to convince his friends (and himself) that his life is going swimmingly without his lady love. The song is delivered with a jaunty melody (and plenty of an emaycee fave, the banjo), and the Statlers make the most of their respective voices (lead, tenor, baritone, and bass). As I've noted a time or two here, it takes some talent to perform a song that has all the earmarks of being a novelty hit and not let it become one, and the Statlers do it with aplomb on this one. "Flowers on the Wall" is another featured tune that might not be for everyone (especially if you're not a fan of Country Music), but it's definitely one of Country's all-time great tunes, and another in a long line of poignant songs about the end of a relationship that capture its sorrow and heartache with grace and great care.
Lyric Sheet: "Counting flowers on the wall, that don't bother me at all/Playing solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one/Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo/Now don't tell me I've nothing to do..."
Enjoy:
Republican = Racist
Peace,
emaycee
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