Looking Back to See: A Country Music Memoir

28. Still Singing

Still Singing It’s not over until it’s over.And it wasn’t over yet for the Browns— not by a long shot.Nostalgia for older music had gotten so strong in the ’90s that many groups that had disbanded years earlier were getting back together and drawing huge crowds.One reason for this was that radio had stopped playing songs by the classic country artists who’d built the business. But long-time fans still wanted to see the stars and listen to those great old songs again. By now, our children had all grown up and flown the nest.We were free to leave home any time we wanted to. If we had a worry, it was only about who was going to take care of the dog. Bonnie and I began going to Nashville more often to perform with J.E.on the Grand Ole Opry. It seemed like the Browns were going over better with live audiences than we’d ever done before. I can’t recall a time we didn’t get an encore or a standing ovation. Our appearance on the Opry on October 7,1990,was awesome. The audience wouldn’t let us leave the stage.We did all our hits and they still wanted more.When we finally did leave,Bonnie and I were so excited we couldn’t stop crying. Only another performer could know how good it make us feel to be accepted in such a tremendous way after all those years. Our voices were in excellent shape for this performance because we had been rehearsing with J. E. to sing for the ROPE (Reunion of Professional Entertainers) awards show and banquet in 1989. Gordon Terry, then president of ROPE, had invited us to perform at this gala event along with Little Jimmy Dickens.What an honor it was to sing for our peers and see them give us a standing ovation. Happily for us, the press was there to witness it all. In the next day’s Tennessean, critic Robert K.Oermann enthused, “The family trio,the Browns,reunited 269 28 especially for the show.Jim Ed and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie practically breathed in harmony as they flawlessly recreated ‘The Three Bells,’‘Scarlet Ribbons,’‘The Old Lamplighter’ and their other classic hits.” I should say something here about what ROPE is and why it’s always been important to us.Because the country music industry was getting so big, impersonal and forgetful of its roots, a bunch of “old timers”got together in 1983 and founded ROPE.Among the founders was our good friend and former manager,Tom Perryman;Patsy Cline’s husband,Charlie Dick;and legendary disc jockeys Smokey Smith,Len Ellis,and Ramblin’Lou.A main purpose in establishing the group was to show some respect for the people who had helped make country music into a billion-dollar business. Many of these talented and stillactive folks had been cast aside and forgotten,no longer nominated for awards or invited to the big industry social functions.ROPE gave us a place of our own. Apart from restoring our dignity, ROPE had two other goals— providing financial assistance to entertainers in need and building a retirement home for entertainers. (I’ve always joked that I’d probably be the first one to move in.)We did a repeat performance for ROPE in 1990 to help fund these two goals. On the show with us were Bill Monroe, FaronYoung, and JustinTubb, all of who have since died. • • • The scariest show for an artist is performing to an audience of his or her peers.I was almost quaking with fear when ROPE invited us back again to sing at its annual banquet and awards show in 1999. Even though we had entertained for them twice in the past,this show somehow seemed to be the most important of all. Maybe it was because we were older then and wanted so badly to do a good job. J. E. hired a TV crew to tape the entire show. I think he wanted to have a full hour on film in case something happened to one of us. After all,the Browns were no spring chickens.Bonnie and I thought we should rehearse, and we did. For two weeks we practiced with the Browns’ records until we could sing them all with ease.Then, after arriving in Nashville, we practiced some more with J. E.’s band to master...