In 1966, The Statler Brothers accomplished something few country groups could have imagined. A song written by Lew DeWitt, the group’s original tenor singer, won a Grammy in a category that included The Beatles, The Supremes, Herman’s Hermits, and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
The winning song was “Flowers on the Wall,” an unusual little record about a lonely man finding increasingly ridiculous ways to occupy his time. It had reached No. 2 on Billboard’s country chart and No. 4 on the pop chart.
But here is the surprising part. Despite that remarkable beginning, The Statler Brothers would not have a No. 1 country single until 1978, twelve years after that Grammy victory.
The story of those years explains far more about The Statler Brothers than one award ever could.
Johnny Cash Gave Four Virginia Singers Their Big Opportunity
Before the Grammy, The Statler Brothers were four young singers from Virginia with deep roots in Southern gospel music. Don Reid, Harold Reid, Phil Balsley, and Lew DeWitt had developed a distinctive four-part harmony that could make a country song sound immediately recognizable.
Johnny Cash became an important figure in the group’s early career. In 1964, The Statler Brothers joined Johnny Cash’s touring show, and Johnny Cash encouraged Columbia Records to give the quartet a recording contract.
In March 1965, The Statler Brothers recorded “Flowers on the Wall.” The song was written by Lew DeWitt, who turned the mundane activity of counting flowers on wallpaper into an unforgettable piece of musical storytelling.
The humor was obvious, but the situation underneath was not especially funny. The narrator seemed determined to convince everyone that being alone was perfectly fine, even as the distractions suggested otherwise.
That contrast helped make the song unusual. Country audiences embraced it, but so did listeners who normally followed pop and rock music.
Don Reid later recalled that the unexpected crossover success left the group uncertain whether to pursue country or rock. The Statler Brothers ultimately chose country music, believing that was where their musical identity belonged.
A Grammy Wasn’t a Guarantee of More Hits
Winning a Grammy should have opened every door. In reality, the years immediately following “Flowers on the Wall” were not nearly as successful on the charts.
The Statler Brothers continued performing with Johnny Cash, but Columbia Records struggled to produce another hit of comparable size. Aside from two Top 10 country singles in 1967, the quartet had difficulty maintaining that early commercial momentum.
A significant change came when producer Jerry Kennedy signed The Statler Brothers to Mercury Records in 1969.
With Mercury, the group’s recordings began reaching country audiences more consistently. “Bed of Rose’s” entered the Top 10, followed by songs including “Do You Remember These,” “The Class of ’57,” and “I’ll Go to My Grave Loving You.”
The Statler Brothers also won another Grammy for “The Class of ’57” and collected repeated CMA Vocal Group of the Year honors throughout the 1970s.
Yet the top position on the country singles chart remained just out of reach.
The Song That Finally Reached No. 1 Began With a Fan’s Request
One of the most interesting details in The Statler Brothers’ history concerns the song that finally broke that streak.
According to an account drawn from Don Reid’s recollections, a woman approached the stage during a performance and asked whether the group knew “You Are My Sunshine,” the familiar old standard associated with Jimmie Davis.
Harold Reid recognized that the wording of the question could become the foundation of a different song. Harold Reid and Don Reid developed the idea into “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine.”
Released in March 1978, the recording reached No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart in May. It was the first country chart-topper for The Statler Brothers and the only one featuring the original quartet.
By that point, thirteen years had passed since “Flowers on the Wall” first entered the country charts in 1965.
What the Grammy Could Never Measure
The Statler Brothers continued making hit records, eventually adding three more No. 1 country singles during the 1980s with Jimmy Fortune as tenor singer. The group also became a familiar presence on television, hosted a successful variety series during the 1990s, and retired from touring in 2002.
In 2008, The Statler Brothers were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
There is something remarkable about the distance between those two milestones: a Grammy-winning breakthrough in the 1960s and a Hall of Fame induction more than four decades later.
The Statler Brothers had earned major recognition long before that first No. 1 country single. The quartet kept building a career through strong harmonies, memorable songwriting, humor, and songs that reflected everyday American life.
For longtime listeners, “Flowers on the Wall,” “The Class of ’57,” and “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine” still represent different chapters of that extraordinary journey.
The Grammy proved that The Statler Brothers could compete with the biggest names in popular music. The years that followed showed why country audiences kept coming back.