The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group from Staunton, Virginia. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening act and backup singers for Johnny Cash. Originally performing Southern gospel music at local churches, the group billed themselves as The Four Star Quartet, and later The Kingsmen. In 1963, when the song "Louie, Louie" by the garage rock band also called The Kingsmen became famous, the group elected to bill themselves as The Statler Brothers. Despite the name, only two members of the group (Don and Harold Reid) were actual brothers and no member had the surname of Statler. The group actually named themselves after a brand of facial tissue they had noticed in a hotel room (they later quipped that they could just as easily have named themselves "the Kleenex Brothers"). Don Reid sang lead; Harold Reid, Don's older brother, sang bass; Phil Balsley sang baritone; and Lew DeWitt sang tenor and was the guitarist before being replaced due to ill health by Jimmy Fortune in 1982. The band's style was closely linked to their gospel roots. "We took gospel harmonies," said Harold Reid, "and put them over in country music." Most of their albums contain at least one gospel song, and they produced several containing only gospel. They also recorded a tribute song to The Blackwood Brothers, who influenced their music. The song "We Got Paid by Cash" was written by the Statler Brothers as a tribute to Johnny Cash, who discovered and mentored them. Career Early in the group's history, before the group named themselves The Statler Brothers, Joe McDorman was their lead singer. The Statlers began their career at a performance at Lyndhurst Methodist Church near their hometown of Staunton, Virginia, under the name The Four Star Quartet. In 1964, they started an eight-year run as Johnny Cash's opening act and backing vocalists. This period of their career was memorialized in their song "We Got Paid by Cash." They were featured regularly on The Johnny Cash Show, his ABC hit that ran from 1969 to 1971. Due to their expanding career, the Statlers left Cash's entourage around the mid-1970s to concentrate on their own career, a departure that took place on good terms. Two of the Statlers' best-known songs are "Flowers on the Wall," their first