The Statler Brothers - I'll Fly Away

[Rev. Rocky Thomas]

The Statler Brothers - I'll Fly Away

The Statler Brothers were an American country music, gospel, and backing vocal group for Johnny Cash. The quartet was founded in 1955 in Staunton, Virginia.

Originally performing gospel music at local churches, the group billed themselves as The Four Star Quartet, and later The Kingsmen. In 1963, when the song "Louie, Louie" by the garage rock band also called The Kingsmen became famous, the group elected to bill themselves as The Statler Brothers. Despite the name, only two members of the group (Don and Harold Reid) are actual brothers and none have the surname of Statler. The band, in fact, named themselves after a brand of facial tissue they had noticed in a hotel room (they joked that they could have turned out to be the Kleenex Brothers). Don Reid sang lead; Harold Reid, Don's older brother, sang bass; Phil Balsley sang baritone; and Lew DeWitt sang tenor and was the guitarist of the Statlers before being replaced by Jimmy Fortune in 1983 due to DeWitt's ill health. DeWitt died on August 15, 1990, of heart and kidney disease, stemming from complications of Crohn's disease.