Excellent single-disc anthology of '50s/'60s country harmony trio

The Browns sprang from Arkansas in the mid-50s as a sibling vocal trio comprised of Jim Ed, Maxine and Bonnie Brown. They’re best remembered hit, 1959’s country-pop #1 crossover, “The Three Bells,” was cut five years into their career, and though they’d continue to chart together and solo, they’d never again find such chart-topping success. The group debuted as a duo of Jim Ed and Maxine in 1954 with “Looking Back to See,” Maxine’s clever hootenanny-styled account of her sister’s flirtatious exchange with a suitor. The pair’s youthful voices had the same jubilant tone as The Collins Kids, but the fiddle and barrelhouse piano backing was more mid-American country than West Coast swing and rockabilly, and Maxine never belted out the songs like Lorrie Collins.Younger sister Bonnie joined her siblings as they began regular appearances on the Louisiana Hayride and Ozark Jubilee, and the trio waxed the original pedal-steel and fiddle weeper “Here Today and Gone Tomorrow” with harmonies tightened by their sibling bonds. Following their labelmate Jim Reeves in 1956, the Browns moved from the indie Fabor to the Nashville powerhouse RCA where they hit with a cover of the Louvin Brothers’ “I Take the Chance.” As on many of the Browns’ recordings, Jim Ed sang verses (or parts of verses) solo, and was joined by his sisters on the choruses. They’d strike again later in the year with the terrific courting tune, “I Heard the Bluebirds Sing.”While the group’s harmonies remained steady, by 1958 there were changes taking place in Nashville. “Beyond the Shadow” expanded their productions to stereo, and the light piano further softened a guitar whose twang was already quite polite. The following year they broke through with a cover of the 1940s Swiss cabaret song “Les Trios Cloches.” Originally popularized by Les Compagnons de Chanson, the song was recorded a cappella by Edith Piaf, and translated into English as “The Three Bells.” The story of “Jimmy Brown” from birth to marriage to final passing was remembered by the like-named Jim Ed Brown, the tune was laid down with the Nashville Sound at the tail-end of a 1959 session with producer Chet Atkins and arranger Anita Kerr. The recording was a sensation, much as it had been in France in the mid-40s, topping the country chart and giving Atkins his first pop #1.In quick succession the trio waxed additional crossover hits with folk-pop resurrections of Jo Stafford’s “Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)” and Sammy Kaye’s “The Old Lamplighter.” The Nashville Sound was in full bloom by this point, with strings and tinkling pianos accompanying the group’s languorous vocal harmonies, making for a sound as smooth as The Fleetwoods pop sides. Even country songs like “Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On” were rendered smooth as glass with violins and cooing background vocals. It was a long way from “Looking Back to See,” but the trio’s harmonies took well to the new setting. The soft, sweet ballads continued into the mid-60s with “Everybody’s Darlin’ Plus Mine,” “Meadowgreen,” and “I’d Just Be Fool Enough.” The group’s harmonies even ventured into Lettermen-esque easy listening on Chip Taylor’s “I Hear It Now.” There were a few diversions from the Nashville Sound, including a 1963 version of “Oh No” whose middle tempo and guitar solo could pass for an early Conway Twitty tune. Jim Reeves’ “Then I’ll Stop Loving You” brought the trio back to their earlier close-harmony roots, and 1966’s “I Will Bring You Water” is a surprising slice of sunshine folk-pop.Collectors’ Choice 21-track collection includes their earliest hits for Fabor and all of the RCA sides they landed on the country Top-100 and pop Top-20. As terrific as are the group’s best known hits, the versatility with which they wielded their harmonies is even more impressive. They’re just as convincing singing hill-bred country as Nashville Sound, folk and straight pop; they covered a lot of ground in their decade-plus of recording. An exhaustive look at their career can be found on Bear Family’s eight-CD “The Three Bells,” but for most listeners, this disc is just right. Audio note: tracks 1-7 and 17-21 are mono (though at least the first seems to be slightly out of balance), the rest stereo. [©2008 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com]