On View : The Statler Brothers: Tried, True and No. 1 on TNN

As almost everybody in prime-time television will tell you, variety is dead.

Fortunately, they couldn’t convince the Statler Brothers. If you tune in The Nashville Network on any Saturday night, you’ll see a sure-enough, straight-ahead, unabashed hour of “musical variety.”

“When we went to do a television show for the network, everybody said the variety format was dead,” says Don Reid, lead singer of the quartet, none of whose members is named Statler. “So we did it, and we’re fortunate to have it so well received.”

Well received, indeed. “The Statler Bros. Show” is the cable network’s top-rated series, and has been since its debut in October, 1991. It is variety with a capital V: comedians, jugglers, magicians and impressionists you never see anymore.

In any week, there’ll be a musical tribute to one of the 50 states, a “novelty” act (How about that guy who played “Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms” on rotary sawblades!) a medley of “classic” American songs and, of course, a Statler Brothers gospel tune for a show-closer.

It sounds pretty hokey, eh?

It might well be, too, were it not for the show’s 20-piece house orchestra, the superb voices of regulars Ronna Reeves and Crystal Gayle and, of course, the impeccable taste of the Statler Brothers themselves.

The Statlers--keeping clear of drinkin’ and cheatin’ music--sing country songs or gospel tunes or American standards of home, love, small-town virtue and All-American pride. There’s not a trace of irony or cynicism in it.

And they know when to stay offstage.

“Our mail is filled with letters saying, ‘Y’all don’t sing enough,”’ Reid says. “That’s so much better than getting letters that say, ‘My Lord, you guys are singing all the time!’ ” The show is written by Reid and his bass-brother, Harold, the only relatives in the bunch. The group is rounded out by fair-haired Phil Balsey, baritone, and tenor Jimmy Fortune, the littlest, youngest Statler.

“We have always tried to stay away from fads,” Don Reid says.

“Our audience spans generations, and we have the widest range of fans that there is. I’m not sure why, and I’m afraid to investigate it too closely, so that we don’t start imitating ourselves. We do what we feel,” he says.

“Just the other day, my mother was telling me, ‘People like you because you’re clean and you dress good.’ That’s as good a reason as any.”

The quartet evolved in Staunton (that’s STANT-on), Va., when Lew DeWitt, tenor, hooked Harold and Phil into a quartet organized by Joe McDorman.

After a false start, Harold reorganized the group in 1961, adding brother Don. They appeared as the Kingsmen and were discovered and hired by Johnny Cash in ’64.

Then another group of Kingsmen broke big. You may have heard of “Louie, Louie.” Our heroes sat around the hotel room figuring a new name for the group and, as legend has it, a box of Statler tissues inspired them.

The Statlers’ first hit may well have been their biggest. The Grammy-winning “Flowers on the Wall” in 1965 crossed over to the pop charts. More than 40 albums have followed.

Jimmy Fortune joined the group after illness forced DeWitt to quit in ‘82, and it has been more than 30 years since a Statler Brother has had a day job.

A recent Saturday night show was a special edition, dedicated to the songs and styles of World War II. “We don’t really remember this music, this era. It’s not our time,” Don Reid acknowledges. “But we all have been affected by it through our families. It was a very romantic time, a time of a music and a feeling we wanted to capture.”

These days, the Statler Brothers don’t run a 150-concert tour. They’ve cut back their schedule to about 40 concerts a year and divide their time between Nashville and Staunton.

“We get home, we all have our own families, friends, and lives,” Don Reid says. “And yet, inevitably, we wind up back together.

“Last week I had a surprise birthday party and all the Statler family was there,” he says. “Before the night was over, the four of us wound up around the piano, singing gospel songs.”

Good night, Mrs. Statler, wherever you are.

“The Statler Bros. Show” airs Saturdays at 6 and 10 p.m. on TNN.