A Crowded Life in Comics –

Flowers Off the Wall.

When I got on the Statlers’ Christmas card list, there would always be a (typically) off-the-wall photo of the boys, spreading Christmas cheer. The late Harold Reid is here, on Santa’s lap.

By Rick Marschall

In this column I am going to steal from myself a little, which is a little like dating oneself, of which I frequently am accused. Dating yourself grows mighty thin mighty quickly: you always seem to know every topic that comes up; a constant sense of deja vu. But here I will pick my own pocket, because I posted some thoughts on the web immediately upon hearing of Harold Reid’s death.

Moments to remember in my Crowded Life. Some readers know that I wear several hats, and one of them is a cowboy hat. I have written four books on country music; many articles and interviews; and have met many of my heroes – Bill Monroe, Roy Acuff, Merle Haggard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Connie Smith, Porter Waggoner, Linda Ronstadt, Mac Wiseman, Dolly Parton, Hank Snow, George Jones…

… and the Statler Brothers. Remembering the Statlers’ bass singer is not that unusual in a column about comics, because the Statlers loved comics. I will share some moments to remember.

Harold Reid, bass singer of the greatest quartet in country music history, died of kidney failure at 80. My late wife had kidney failure and transplant, and I knew the “look” from recent photos of Harold that his kidneys were not behaving, a sad and painful thing to experience.

I intersected with the Statlers many times. Their first hit remained one of their biggest – Flowers On the Wall – but right about the end of their association with Johnny Cash in 1972, they were booked by the Fire Department of Greenwich CT, of all places, to put on a show. The toney bedroom community of Greenwich, with more CEOs than the rest of the planet, seems an odd venue for country music, but the firemen had it right.

I interview Harold Reid, and began by saying that I had five favorite country singers: four of them were Merle Haggard, and – Harold interrupted my “joke”  and said, “Yeah, we like ol’ Merle...” – and then I finished my not-very-clever, but sincere, compliment saying that the four Statler Brothers were the other one.

I learned in that interview, and then in subsequent chats and meetings, that the four were not only nostalgia fans, evident from their playlist, but were comics fans, and collectors. They loved comics, Red Ryder in particular; and Western movies, Gene Autrey in particular. Comic books, merchandising collectibles, trivia… through the years I sent them comic books and especially Big Little Books for their virtual museums

Around 1981 I was a go-between with them and Dean Young to have them score a Broadway musical based on Blondie. The strip and characters were being shopped for options by King Features. I spent a couple visits with Dean in Florida, putting the book together, and as he tooled around in his convertible he played tapes of the Popeye movie’s music, and was in love with the Harry Nilsson tunes. (I think he also played the tape of Paul Williams’ songs for the recent Muppets movie too.) He loved the music, but, more, he loved the idea of comic characters on stage, screen, and cassettes. He was dreaming up premises for a Blondie musical comedy.

The Statlers were already known for their nostalgia songs. Really, love songs to Pop Culture and America’s collective childhood – odes to Randolph Scott; a typical Class of ‘57; Saturday morning serials; Gene and Roy; Veronica and Betty; a mythical movie theater called The Strand; evocations of trivia – Do You Remember Those?

I asked Dean if he knew the Statlers. He did not. So I described their appeal – country but very pop-friendly crossover sound – and said I would make a tape of their hits in this genre. He would love them as much as he did Nilsson and Williams, I predicted. At my first chance I called Harold and his brother Don Reid at their office in Staunton VA. Would be interested in talking about writing a Broadway score? Oh, yes.

The Statler Brothers, by the way, were not brothers, except for Harold and Don. None of them were Statlers; they got the name from a brand of tissues on a table when they were brainstorming. The other members were Phil Balsley and Lew DeWitt (later tenor Jimmy Fortune when Lew died young). All were born around Staunton, pronounced “Stanton,” and never moved from the area.

I was part of the conference call between Dean and Harold and Don. I forget whether the collaboration ever made it to second or third base (I would love to hear songs they pitched!) but it never slid into home, neither that team nor any Broadway Blondie.

The Statlers’ music was special and transcended country. They did comedy (Harold played Lester "Roadhog" Moran of the Cadillac Cowboys); they hosted the Nashville Network's longest-running variety hour; they toured years with the Man in Black (chronicled in their song "We Worked for Cash"); and it seems like 50 per cent of their songs were nostalgia / patriotic / gospel songs... but 100 per cent were love songs.

They retired at the top of their game some years ago. Ultimately, they earned twice the number of gold albums than Johnny Cash had; and were the Country Music Association’s “Top Group” for 11 years in a row. Collectively, they are members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. The DVD of their Farewell Concert will have anyone’s heart racing for a week. The sons of Harold and Don perform now as an act, taking their middle names as “Wilson Fairchild.”

It is not really accurate theology to imagine Harold Reid entering a Heaven lined with comic pages, Big Little Books, and movie posters… but in the meantime we’ll all be back here, playing solitaire till dawn with a deck of 51...

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