The Country America Loves

Are You Statler-Pilled, Anon?

By guest contributor @BillMcKinleyFan.

Over recent months, C. Jay Engel has written about the concept of “Heritage Americans,” taking inspiration from Sam Francis’s “Middle American Radicals.” I really like Mr. Engel’s concept, and I wanted to riff off of it with my own musings on my (and soon to be your) favorite Country quartet. This band is the Statler Brothers. Over forty years performing (1955–2002), they became icons of an idyllic, nostalgic America that was dying as they emerged. Due to the nostalgic tendency prominent in their writing, along with their Virginia gospel roots, Kurt Vonnegut called the group “America’s poets.” I posit that their reputation and message make them perfect ambassadors for Heritage Americans. In essence they were just four good old boys from Staunton, Virginia, who sang about God, family, and women. By being “just that,” they became so much more.

So, who were the Statlers? Formed in Staunton, Virginia, in 1955, and originally going by “The Four-Star Quartet,” the band performed at churches in the Staunton area. The original band consisted of lead singer Joe McDorman, bass singer Harold Reid, tenor and guitarist Lew DeWitt, and Phil Balsley. All four were friends, with the latter three all attending the same Presbyterian Church. At some point in the late ’50s, Joe left the group, promptly being replaced by Harold’s younger brother Don. They worked the radio circuit throughout the late ’50s and early ’60s until in 1964 they hit their big break. In March of ’64, the group opened for Johnny Cash at his show in Canton, Ohio. Without any real contract, Cash extended an offer for them to join him in his shows as part of the opening act. Soon after, in 1966, the group had their first national hit, “Flowers on the Wall.” Along with this, they released several albums, mostly including popular covers and gospel songs. This continued for eight and a half years until, in 1972, they amicably left the Cash troupe and went on their own path. At this point they had become well known for their matching suits and unique quartet sound.

Some of my favorite songs from the Johnny Cash era include “We,” “Hammers and Nails,” and “Ruthless.” The song “We” demonstrates the simplistic yet brilliant lyrical talent of Don Reid. The song simply describes the hijinks of a group of friends as they travel the country. They “made the paper once in Phoenix when we stopped and tried to break up a fight,” and “spent a night in L.A. looking for a doctor’s daughter on the strip.” Despite their luck, good and bad, they “wouldn’t trade it for the world and all its gold.” The following line is one I think about surprisingly often: “It’s the past that makes the future worth living.” We can dream of the future all we want, or live in the present to our hearts’ content, but without what happened before us it is all meaningless. Therefore, the past is where we must inherently draw meaning, which is true in both a Christian sense and a sense of a people and nation.

After leaving the Johnny Cash entourage, the Statlers really came into their own. The albums Innerview (1972), Short Stories (1977), and Years Ago (1981) are all masterful albums full of pure and uniquely American music. In 1977, they released the album that lends this article its name, The Country America Loves. Despite the cover looking like a Bicentennial celebration album, none of the tracks were overtly patriotic. The album opens with “The Movies,” a nostalgic look at American film. The next song was “Let It Show,” a song which tells women to be more upfront in expressing interest towards men — otherwise men will never know. The rest of the A side are songs of unrequited love and lost love. The B side includes more of the same, with the exception of “Thank God I’ve Got You.” This song details the struggles of a middle-class American, and his gratefulness for his thrifty, caring wife. Their patriotism was not demonstrated in some over-the-top song about how much they love America because of its ideas. Their patriotism goes unquestioned because their songs are unequivocally by and for Americans. The Statlers remained a top country act throughout the ’80s, even when Lew DeWitt had to step down due to Crohn’s Disease. He was replaced by Jimmy Fortune, and the show went on for twenty more years until their retirement in 2002 (though Jimmy still performs their songs at his own concerts).

The brief history of the Statlers complete, I will now turn towards why they are the perfect representatives of Heritage America, as well as lessons we can learn from their success. For starters, the band rose to prominence not by chasing a big Nashville label and becoming urbanites. Indeed, you could find them, when off the road, in their hometown of Staunton. They ran their business out of their childhood elementary school, which they purchased for the sole purpose of setting up their headquarters in their hometown. For over twenty years they hosted a Fourth of July celebration in the town that brought in tons of people, creating a boom for local businesses every July. It is pretty rare for prominent musicians to elevate their communities with themselves, but that is effectively what the Statlers did for Staunton. In other words, they were rooted in their community in exactly the same way that Heritage Americans are. Regardless of the situation, if you want to maintain healthy communities, you must maintain your roots within them.

Having roots in your community is important for your sense of self and your connection to the past. I am blessed to have roots deep within my hometown. My first ancestors came to the county in 1806, just three years after this county came into existence, and family have been tilling the soil ever since. Some of us, due to the choices of our forefathers, may have been ripped from our roots. If this is the case, rootedness may not exist, but it must be established. These roots are both physical (land, children) and communal (church, school, fraternal organizations, etc.). Through a well-lived life, even a man born with no roots can grow a tree for his children to rest under. This is something the Statlers understood very well. They could certainly have moved to Nashville or L.A. and become even bigger than they were, but their identity and homes mattered more. I feel that the OGC is doing something very admirable in forming a fraternal order from which we can identify each other and help each other build, but there is much more that can be done to become more rooted.

The next aspect of importance that I am linking with the Statlers is that of culture more broadly and aesthetics more narrowly. It is of no surprise to those in our spheres that music, film, literature, fashion, etc. have all taken a nosedive in quality. Somewhat recently I saw a Twitter post of a couple wearing mid-century attire, another one of those “retvrn” posts that attract a bunch of people to lament the decline. The OGC Twitter account pointed out: “They’re looking at the selfie stick btw.” I replied to this comment by stating: “For some reason people don’t seem to realize it, but what other people wear doesn’t affect what you wear. You can just dress well without broadcasting it to the world and be perfectly happy, and perhaps set a higher standard for those around you without saying a word.” I followed that up by asserting: “So many people want to complain about modernity (rightfully so) but then they listen to modern music, drive modern cars, and wear modern clothing. Just stop, get a good-looking car, listen to good music, and dress well.”

Yes, the culture is terrible, but simply opting out and embracing your American Heritage by behaving normally by our forefathers’ standards is much better for us than complaining online about decline. Being a Zoomer who reads history, I’ve seen the decline in standards and rampant degeneracy; I just choose not to accept it for myself. My standard casual attire is a tucked-in flannel with jeans, just like it’s been for my Midwestern farming ancestors more or less since the 19th century. I literally don’t own a pair of sweatpants. The average song I listen to is older than my parents, and my truck was built during Clinton’s first term. No one bats an eye, no one cares, and if anything, I do my small part to elevate the standards of the place I am in.

The Statler Brothers noticed the decline as well. They actually wrote a song solely about the degradation and vulgarization of film with “Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott.” That said, they did not allow this negative shift to send them into despair or affect their behavior. In the 1980s, as popular country musicians began wearing ripped jeans and untucked shirts, what did the Statlers wear? Four matching suits, just as they had done for the past three decades. As country shifted away from gospel music and towards more secular rocking party songs, what did the Statlers do? They produced not one, but two gospel records without ever changing their Staunton sound. As America’s cultural pillars decayed, the Statlers ignored the decline and built parallel pillars, preserving wholesome Americana well past its supposed expiration date. I guess the motive of this whole paper is that although decline is certainly happening, complaining about it and despairing over it doesn’t get you anywhere. You are a receiver of an American inheritance. Your ancestors built this country and its incredible culture for you, so don’t act like it’s over because of the people around you. Take the culture your forefathers gave you and live in it, building upon it for your own posterity.

“This is not a Bicentennial Album…”