Country Music Memory Lane – The Three Bells by Kaye Spencer #westernfictioneers #classiccountrymusic

Here is my August article that posted on the Western Fictioneers’ blog last Monday.

Coming up sixty-one years ago (August 31, 1959) a musical family known as The Browns had a Number 1 single on Billboard magazine’s country music chart. The song was The Three Bells, also known as the Jimmy Brown Song, Little Jimmy Brown, and Jimmy Brown.

This song was based on a French song called Les trois cloches, which was a hit in 1946. The group Melody Maids had an English translation hit with it in 1948. The song tells Jimmy Brown’s life story in three parts: birth, marriage, and death.

I love coincidences, and this song has a fun one. The vocalist of The Browns was James Edward Brown aka Jimmy Brown. He is best known as Jim Ed Brown.

The Browns were a singing family of two sisters and a brother from Arkansas: Maxine, Bonnie, and Jim Ed. Jim Ed was the middle kid with Maxine the oldest.

<<Bonnie and Jim Ed in back – Maxine in front

The Browns disbanded mostly because Jim Ed pursued a solo career. Over the years, they did get back together for occasional appearances and to record a gospel album. In March 2015, the Browns were honored with inclusion in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Jim Ed died in June 2015, Bonnie in June 2016, and Maxine in January 2019.

Here are a few of the many artists who recorded The Three Bells.

Floyd Cramer
Chet Atkins
Tommy Dorsey
Guy Lombardo
Ray Charles
Roy Orbison
Andy Williams
Leon Russell
Andrew Sisters (They change up the lyrics.)
Johnny Cash and the Carter family
Allison Krauss & Union Station
Sha Na Na (No joke. It’s on YouTube. It’s delightfully corny—guaranteed to give you a chuckle.)