Statlers on the Wall

A few weeks back, I was on a jag with a bunch "list songs" that the Statler Brothers had recorded.  I believe that one of the videos might have been from their farewell concert in 2002.

As I've mentioned I'm here in Chicago while the elves keep the homestead running. The other day, I was flipping channels late at night when I came upon the secondary PBS station for the area.  (The main one is WTTW, but this was Lakeshore, which tends to have some interesting concert programming.)  And what should I see but they were airing...the Statler Brothers Farewell Concert from 2002!  I have no idea why, but go figure.  I'm not complaining.  I recorded a later re-airing so that I could see the whole thing, and it was terrific.  The broadcast is very edited down, since during the Pledge Breaks they were selling a DVD of the full concert.  What I thought stood out was how little they made reference to this being their final concert.  Almost none of that -- at least what was aired.  Not until the very end did they make much of a deal of it, when they said that they thought it appropriate to sing the first song that they'd ever sung together, "Amazing Grace," and then after that a few words of thanks and appreciation -- and then waves and off.  Except for one encore, and that was it.

It reminded me that among all the songs I'd posted, I should really have the one that made them famous, the wonderful "Flowers on the Wall."  Though not precisely a "list song," it sort of has an element of that, making it a precursor of sorts.  I also decided to post the record-version only, not a video of them in concert.  In part because this is how they first became known to most people, but also I think that this song has an offbeat, ephemeral quality to it and is almost best-suited to listening, rather than watching.

The song won a Grammy for Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance - Group (Vocal or Instrumental).  And this is with the original group, before Lew DeWitt -- who wrote the song -- had to leave for health reasons.  That's him below on the right with glasses.