Country's Family Reunion with Bill Anderson - (May 17, 2014)

Country's Family Reunion with Bill Anderson and featuring
Jim Ed Brown, Helen Cornelius and Barbra Fairchild.

Bill Anderson has been using that philosophy for over fifty years to capture the attention of millions of country music fans around the world, en route to becoming a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and one of the most popular, most enduring entertainers of our time.

He's known, in fact as "Whispering Bill," a nickname hung on him years ago as a result of his breathy voice and his warm, soft approach to singing a country song. His credentials, however, shout his prominence: One of the most awarded songwriters in the history of country music, a million-selling recording artist many times over, television game show host, network soap opera star, spokesman for a nationwide restaurant chain, and a consummate onstage performer. His back-up group, The Po' Folks Band, has long been considered one of the finest instrumental and vocal groups in the business.

Bill Anderson was born in Columbia, South Carolina, but spent most of his growing-up years around Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, having worked his way through college as a disc jockey on nearby radio stations. It was while he was still in school that he began performing and writing songs. At the age of nineteen he composed the country classic, "City Lights," and began rapidly carving his place in musical history.

He moved to Nashville, Tennessee, secured a recording contract with Decca Records, and began turning out hit after hit with songs like "Po'Folks," "Mama Sang A Song," "The Tips Of My Fingers," "8X10," and the unforgettable country and pop smash, "Still." His compositions were recorded by such diverse musical talents as Ray Price, Porter Wagoner, James Brown, Debbie Reynolds, Ivory Joe Hunter, Kitty Wells, Faron Young, Lawrence Welk, Dean Martin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Walter Brennan and many others.

Bill has been voted Songwriter Of The Year six times, Male Vocalist Of The Year, half of the Duet Of The Year with both Jan Howard and Mary Lou Turner, has hosted and starred in the Country Music Television Series Of The Year, seen his band voted Band Of The Year, and in 1975 was voted membership in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Ten years later, the State of Georgia honored him by choosing him as only the 7th living performer inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In 1993, he was made a member of the Georgia Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. In 1994, South Carolina inducted him into their Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. And in 2001, he received the ultimate honor, membership in Nashville's prestigious Country Music Hall of Fame.

An entertainer in every sense of the word, Bill Anderson was the first country artist to host a network game show, starring on ABC-TV's, "The Better Sex." He also appeared for three years on ABC's Daytime soap opera, "One Life To Live."

For six years he hosted a country music game show on The Nashville Network called, "Fandango," later an interview show called "Opry Backstage," and somehow found time to be co-producer of another TNN Show called, "You Can Be A Star." In addition, Bill has appeared frequently as a guest star on television's top variety and game shows, including The Tonight Show, The Today Show, Match Game, Family Feud, Hee Haw and others. For seven years he hosted the acclaimed "Bill Anderson Visits With The Legends" show on XM satellite radio.

Bill Anderson's autobiography, "Whisperin' Bill," was published by Longstreet Press in 1989 and relates the fascinating details of his life and lengthy career in show business. The book, which Bill personally wrote over a period of three years, made bestseller lists all across the south. Bill's second book, a humorous look at the music business titled, "I Hope You're Living As High On The Hog As The Pig You Turned Out To Be," was published in 1993 and is currently in it's sixth printing. His most recent literary effort is "Letters To My Fans - Volume One."

Bill Anderson continues to paint a broad stroke across the Nashville music scene. He has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1961 and performs there regularly. He continues to tour and to record, his latest album being the self-descriptive, "Songwriter." In the fall of 2011, Bear Family Records released Bill's first box set, "Bill Anderson - The First Ten Years," a 126-song collection of works initially released between 1956 and 1966. The 4-disc package is accompanied by a 64-page hard-cover book full of stories and timeless photographs.

Since 1997, Bill has also hosted the highly-rated television series on RFD-TV called "Country's Family Reunion," a show where legendary country stars sit alongside both their peers and newcomers to the industry, singing their songs and swapping their stories.

Despite his hectic schedule and the demands of his multi-faceted business enterprises, Bill has made a renewed commitment to his first love - songwriting. "I feel like I've come full-circle," he smiles, "because songwriting is what got me to Nashville in the first place." In 1995, Billboard magazine named four Bill Anderson compositions - "City Lights," "Once A Day," "Still," and "Mama Sang A Song" - among the Top 20 Country Songs of the past 35-years. No other songwriter had as many songs listed.

Anderson closed out the 20th century with a pair of #1 hits, "Wish You Were Here," by Mark Wills and the Grammy nominated "Two Teardrops" by Steve Wariner. His song, "Too Country," recorded by Brad Paisley along with Anderson, Buck Owens and George Jones, won CMA Vocal Event Of The Year honors for 2001. The following year saw Kenny Chesney soar with his version of the Anderson-Dean Dillon masterpiece, "A Lot Of Things Different."

But in a period of twenty-five months between November, 2005, and December, 2007, Anderson enjoyed perhaps the most fertile period of his songwriting life. He won CMA Song of the Year honors for his and Jon Randall's poignant ballad, "Whiskey Lullaby," recorded by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss, a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association for co-writing with Tia Sillers the Country/Gospel Recorded Song of the Year, "Jonah, Job, and Moses," sung by the Oak Ridge Boys, and his first ACM Song of the Year Award for "Give It Away," recorded by George Strait and written with Buddy Cannon and Jamey Johnson. "Give It Away" went on to win the CMA Song of the Year as well as affording Anderson his fourth Grammy nomination.

In 2002, Broadcast Music, Inc. named Anderson its first country music songwriting Icon, placing him alongside R&B legends Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and James Brown as the only recipients of that prestigious award. In 2008, the Academy of Country Music honored him with their inaugural Poets Award.

On the personal side, Bill lives on Old Hickory Lake outside Nashville where he spends as much time as possible with his three children and eight grandchildren. He is a boater and sports enthusiast who has been known to adjust his work schedule to fit around a ball game he just "has to see." He is an avid reader, his bookshelves lined with mysteries, biographies, books on religion, sports, and humor. He is not married at the present time.

Jim Ed Brown has the career distinction of topping the charts as a member of a trio, a duo, and as a solo artist. He also has one of the smoothest singing voices ever put on record.

One of five children of a struggling Arkansas lumberman and his wife, Jim Ed and family gathered around the family's battery-powered radio to listen to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights.

Inspired by what they heard, Jim Ed and his older sister Maxine would harmonize together. They began appearing on local radio while Jim Ed was still in high school.

By his second year in college, Jim Edward (as he was credited) and Maxine were regulars on the Barnyard Frolic on Little Rock radio station KLRA. Their first hit, "Looking Back to See," became a No. 8 country hit in 1954. The next year, younger sister Bonnie joined them, and they became the Browns, scoring another Top 10 hit with "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow." The group signed with RCA in 1956 and quickly notched two Top 5 hits, "I Take the Chance" and "I Heard the Bluebird Sing."

After a two-year stint in the service, Jim Ed joined his sisters again, and in 1959 they hit with the "The Three Bells," topping the country chart for 10 weeks and the pop charts for four weeks. Follow-up singles "The Old Lamplighter" and "Scarlet Ribbons" were pop-country hits as well.

The Browns joined the Opry in 1963, but by the mid-'60s, Bonnie and Maxine decided to retire. Jim Ed went solo and scored hits throughout the next two decades. His 1966 smash, "Pop a Top," hit No. 3.

Beginning in 1975, Jim Ed co-hosted the syndicated weekly television series Nashville on the Road for six seasons. He also teamed with Helen Cornelius to become one of country music's most successful duos. The pair topped the charts with "I Don't Want To Have to Marry You" in 1976, and were named CMA Vocal Duo of the Year in 1977.

In 1983, Jim Ed became host of You Can Be a Star, a country music talent search on The Nashville Network. In 1994, he and his wife Becky co-hosted TNN's travel show Going Our Way.

Today, Jim Ed hosts the nationally syndicated Country Greats Radio Show and remains the smooth-voiced crowd pleaser, and from time to time Opry audiences witness a truly magical moment, when Bonnie and Maxine reunite with Jim Ed on stage and the Browns are once again together in the spotlight.

Helen Cornelius was known to country music fans as a singer/songwriter, but she also danced, acted, and played several instruments. She was born Helen Lorene Johnson in Monroe City, MO, and grew up on a farm with older brothers who played in bands. She and her sisters Judy and Sharon formed a trio, and their supportive father took the girls to their gigs. Eventually Cornelius left her sisters and began touring with her backup band, the Crossroads.

After graduating from high school, Cornelius married and worked as a secretary. She returned to touring during the '60s and became a songwriter, gaining recognition in 1970 when she was signed as a writer to Columbia/Screen Gems Music after submitting a demo tape. After the company folded, Cornelius sent a tape to Jerry Crutchfield and began working for MCA Music; he later helped her sign with Columbia Records. In 1973, she came to Nashville and recorded two unsuccessful singles, later signing to RCA. She released her first single for the label in 1975; neither it nor its follow-up charted.

The key to success proved to be Ferguson's pairing of Cornelius with Jim Ed Brown. The duo debuted in 1976 with "I Don't Want to Have to Marry You," which soon became a major hit. She again tried a solo single, "There's Always a Goodbye," but it did nothing. She had no other hits until her duet with Brown on "Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye" became a Top Three success. Later in 1976, the two began appearing regularly on the TV series Nashville on the Road. Cornelius went out on tour with Brown's road show and also made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry.

In 1978, she and Brown had more chart success with two Top 15 duet singles, "I'll Never Be Free" and "If the World Ran Out of Love Tonight," and Cornelius scored a solo hit with "What Cha Doin' After Midnight Baby." The Cornelius/Brown hit streak continued until 1981, when Cornelius, feeling as though she was losing her identity as a performer, decided to break up the duo. She then released "Love Never Comes Easy," which made it to the Top 50. Her next hit came in 1983, the year she also worked as a spokesperson for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In 1984, Cornelius changed directions and joined the road revival of Annie Get Your Gun, also touring with the Statler Brothers. She released a self-titled album in 1985, and three years later, she joined Brown for the Reunited Tour '88.

The 1990s saw the grand opening of Helen Cornelius' Nashville South, located in the thick of Gatlinburg, TN, a thriving entertainment district. The facility featured live country entertainment by Cornelius and her band nightly, and saddles for stools in the cocktail lounge. 2002 and 2003 found Cornelius performing at the Jim Stafford theater in Branson, MO, as a rotating part of the women-in-country entertainment production Us Girls!

Barbara Fairchild's vibrant personality, her love for humor and storytelling along with her extraordinary talent for singing country and gospel music make her one of the finest entertainers you will see. She has a sincere warmth that flows out of her to everyone she meets, whether on the street or as a member of the audience in one of her shows.

Barbara performs with her very talented husband, Roy Morris. They are really in love, and it shows. In the tradition of other husband and wife teams that brought laughter to millions, Barbara and Roy have a natural flare for comedy that is delightful to experience. They are such an important part of the Branson Entertainment Community.

Their Sunday Morning Worship Service that began in 1992 has continued to be a source of inspiration to the thousands of Branson visitors who attend each year. Countless people say. "A trip to Branson is not complete without being with Barbara and Roy on Sunday Morning." Their special Veteran's Service, is so important to them, held during Branson's Veteran's Homecoming Week in November. They believe we owe more to our Veteran's than we could ever repay and take every opportunity to let our nation's heroes know how important they are. Barbara and Roy's faith is their foundation and the most important aspect of their lives.

Throughout Barbara's exciting and extensive career she has received many awards and honors. Her nomination for two prestigious Grammy Awards, one for her #1 country hit, "The Teddy Bear Song" and the other in the music for children category, "Lullaby for Teddy" are highlights in her career. She is recognized as one of the finest female entertainers in Country Music. Barbara was one of Ralph Emery's favorite guests during the years he hosted the top-rated "Nashville Now" show on the TNN television network. Ralph even trusted her to be a guest host for him at times in his absence. Through that show Barbara Fairchild became a household name to thousands of viewers.

Barbara's talent has not diminished through the years and you can often see her these days on the RFD Network along with many of her peers on the very popular "Country Family Reunion" hosted by Bill Anderson.

Among the many television appearances during her career include, "The Tonight Show," Hee Haw," "A Salute to Country Music," " The CMA Country Music Awards," and the three part special, "A Country Homecoming," hosted by Ralph Emery. She has made several appearances on CBN (The 700 Club) and TBN and two tribute specials to the Legendary Dottie Rambo. She was thrilled to host her own TV Special, "Barbara Fairchild In England" on the BBC network, just to name a few.