In 1963, when Johnny Cash was burning up the charts with his song “Ring of Fire,” he met four young men on stage at the Roanoke Fair in Virginia.
After impressing Cash with their vocals, the men – known as the Statler Brothers – were hired “on a handshake,” and toured with the “Man in Black” for almost 10 years, inspiring their song “We Got Paid by Cash.”
Keep reading to learn more about the legendary quartet who made America cry with their song, “More than a Name on the Wall.”
In 1963, when The Kingsmen hit the top of the charts with a song titled “Louie Louie,” the other Kingsmen, from Virginia, had to change the name of their quartet.
The four boys, Don and Harold Reid, Phil Balsley and Lew DeWitt, were on tour, in a hotel room pitching out some new names, to separate their band from the Oregon-based quintet.
Don earlier shared with a Virgina publication that it was his eyes that struck a box of Statler brand tissues in the room.
The name stuck.
“We could have been the Kleenex Brothers,” Don said of the new era of two brothers and two friends, now known as the Statler Brothers.
That same year, the Statler Brothers, whose country sounds blend with gospel harmonies, were playing at the Roanoke Fair in Salem, Virginia, when they captured the attention of the iconic Johhny Cash.
Cash was at the Salem Fairgrounds promoting his 16th album and hired them “on a handshake.”
“John was a walkin’, talkin’, singin’ musical encyclopedia,” Reid said.
Over the next 10 years, the “Class of ‘57” singers toured, recorded and appeared on TV with Cash, who helped the young men become Columbia Records hitmakers.
