Maxine Brown Russell, who gained fame performing alongside siblings Maxine and Jim Ed as the Browns, died on this day (Jan. 21) in 2019 from complications of heart and kidney disease. She was 87 years old. Today, we’re taking a look back at the storied career of one-third of country music’s most beloved trios.
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Harmonizing From an Early Age
Born April 27, 1931, in Campti, Louisiana, Ella Maxine Brown Russell moved with her family to Sparkman, Arkansas, as a toddler. Her younger brother, James Edward “Jim Ed” Brown, followed three years later, with younger sister Bonnie Jean coming along in 1938. Encouraged by their parents, the five Brown children began cultivating their famous harmonies from an early age. By their teens, they were performing at local venues.
In 1952, Jim Ed placed second in a talent contest, winning a slot on Little Rock’s Barnyard Frolics radio program. He and Maxine then began making the rounds on local radio and TV programs, including Ernest Tubb’s. Their cheeky song “Looking Back to See” reached No. 8 on the Billboard country and western chart in June 1954.
The following year, recent high school graduate Bonnie joined her two older siblings to form the Browns trio. Following their breakthrough hit “Here Today and Gone Tomorrow,” the Browns signed with RCA Victor in 1956. Two major hits, “I Take the Chance” and “I Heard the Bluebirds Sing” soon followed. Teaming up with legendary producer Chet Akins, the Browns landed their biggest hit in 1959 with “The Three Bells,” an English adaptation of the French-language song “Les Trois Cloches.”
After the Browns recorded “The Three Bells” at Nashville’s RCA Studio B, Atkins told the siblings, “I’ve just recorded you a million-seller.” Within the first month, the song had sold half that amount. “The Three Bells” enjoyed multi-week runs atop both the Hot 100 and the Hot Country & Western Sides chart. It also landed a Grammy nod for Record of the Year, ultimately losing to “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin.
[RELATED: Behind the Violent Origins and Chart-Topping Success of “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin]
Maxine Brown Russell Was “the Life of the Party”
An obituary characterized Maxine Brown Russell as the “cut up” of the globally-renowned trio, and always the life of the party during the group’s tours.” This continued through the Browns’ split in 1967, four years after gaining entry into the Grand Ole Opry.
Maxine enjoyed a brief solo career after parting ways with her siblings, releasing the album Sugar Cane County in 1969. At the time of her death, she was the last surviving member of the Browns. Jim Ed Brown died in 2015 at age 81, with Bonnie following a year later at age 77.
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