A CONVERSATION WITH JIM ED BROWN

Question: What do you think has been the key to surviving as long as you have in the music industry?

  “I give all the credit to the Lord. My original plans were to be in the logging and timber business. I went to college to study forestry. I did not plan to study music. But while in college I developed a desire to play the piano. I enrolled in a piano class, and the second day the teacher told me to go over and play the piano. I explained to the teacher that I did not know how to play the piano, and that was why I enrolled in the class.

  “The teacher said, “You don’t come to college to learn how to play the piano. You learn that as a child.”

   “So the teacher kicked me out of piano class.

   “But it was just as well, because every time the Lord closed one door, another one opened up.”

Question: How did you finally get into singing?

   “My sister, Maxine, entered me in a talent contest, but I didn’t win. However, I made enough of an impression on everyone that they kept calling me back. Once you get on stage, it’s like being bitten by a bug. You just want to keep coming back. Even while I was in the Army, I continued to sing.

    “After I got out of the Army, my dad was sick. I told him to take a year off and I would run the logging and timber business. When I received my discharge, I weighed 220 pounds. One year after working in the timber business, I was down to 180 pounds.

   “One of the happiest moments of my life was when my dad was able to return and take over the business.

Question: What happened then?

   “My sisters and I had been singing, but I didn’t think we were going too far. We went to Nashville and recorded the song, “Three Bells”. I thought that would be it. That was supposed to be our swan song. But Chet Atkins didn’t agree with me. He told me it was going to be a hit, and sure enough it was. Things just kept coming after that.

Question: How did Hank Williams influence your career?

   “Hank died about the time we were getting started. He died at the end of 1952, and that’s about the time we had started appearing on the Barnyard Frolic show in Little Rock. His music is essential music, much different than today’s.

   “Hank’s music had a face to it. I mean you could feel it. It touched you deep in your emotions. Today’s music sounds good, but it doesn’t have the depth of Hank’s

   “Songs are like faith. You don’t rationalize them. They either grab you and you’re touched by them, or they leave you cold. There was a song, “The Old Lamplighter,” that I heard when I was young, but I could never find the words to it. Finally, one day I found the song in the library, and was able to record it. There was something about the song that I couldn’t forget for many years. There was something about it that just caught my emotions.

Question: What can the folks in Georgiana expect to hear?

   “First, I’m really looking forward to visiting and singing for all the fans, because we have a common bond. We both love Hank Williams music. I love the legend songs, and I’ll be doing them. If they want to hear some modern songs, we can sing those, too, but I imagine they will prefer the ones they heard and come to like.