Family Brown was a Canadian

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

band founded in 1967 by Joe Brown (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

), along with his son Barry (vocals,

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

) and daughters Lawanda and

Tracey Tracy, Tracey, or Tracie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tracy (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname, also encompassing spelling variations Places United States * Tracy, C ...

(vocals), as well as Dave Dennison (guitar) and Ron Sparling (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

). Between 1967 and 1990, the band charted several singles in both Canada and the United States. The band also won eighteen

Canadian Country Music Association The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3, 1973, when a gr ...

awards, the most received by any artist. After disbanding in 1990, Barry and Tracey Brown and Randall Prescott formed the group

Prescott-Brown Prescott-Brown was a Canadian country music trio composed of Tracey Brown, her brother Barry Brown (Canadian musician), Barry, and her husband Randall Prescott. All three were members of the Canadian country group, Family Brown, which parted ways ...

in 1991.

History

Family Brown was founded in 1967 by frontman Joe "Papa" Brown, who was born August 30, 1925, in

Amherst, Nova Scotia Amherst ( ) is a town in northwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin (Canada), Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, and south of the Northumberland Strait. The town sits on a height of land a ...

. Brown was a local musician who had played in two local bands before founding Family Brown, taking the role of lead singer and

ist. His son, Barry Brown, and daughters Lawanda and Tracey, were also members of the band. Barry served as vocalist, songwriter and guitarist, while the daughters sang backing vocals. Rounding out the membership were lead guitarist Dave Dennison and drummer Ron Sparling, who was also the manager. Family Brown began performing in local venues and by 1970 had moved to nationwide tours of Canada. Signed to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

in 1971, the band released the single "R. R. No. 2" that year, from their self-titled album on

. By 1972, the band was the subject of a national TV show, ''Call It Country'' (later ''Country Way'', then ''Family Brown Country''), which taped at

CJOH-TV CJOH-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, serving the National Capital Region (Canada), National Capital Region as part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside ...

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, the band recorded for

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, recording nine studio albums and two greatest hits albums in that timespan and charting forty-three singles on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Country Tracks charts. Several of their singles also charted on the country charts in the United States, including the No. 30 "But It's Cheating." They also received 3 Juno's one in 1985 for Country Group of the Year, as well as seventeen ''RPM'' Big Country Awards and eighteen

awards, the most ever received by one act. In 1979 the band added steel guitarist/fiddle player Gary (Spike) Spicer. After Joe Brown died in 1986, and at this time Tracey's husband Randall Prescott joined the band and served as a record producer for their final two RCA albums. The band broke up after their final performance in September 1990. In 1997, Family Brown was inducted into the

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame honours Canadian country music artists, builders or broadcasters, living or deceased. The artifact collection includes extensive biographical information on the inductees. The Canadian Music Hall of Fame can ...

. Tracey charted a duet with Terry Carisse in 1990, later founding the group Prescott Brown & Lonesome Daddy (later

) along with Randall Prescott and Barry Brown. The trio charted nine singles in the early 1990s and won another Juno Award. After its disbanding, Tracey charted two more singles of her own.

List of awards

Family Brown received the following awards: *1976: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1977: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1978: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1979: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1979: ''RPM'' Big Country Award, Single of the Year ("Stay with Me") *1979: ''RPM'' Big Country Award, Album of the Year (''Familiar Faces, Familiar Places'') *1980: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1981: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1982: CCMA Group of the Year *1982: CCMA Single of the Year ("Some Never Stand a Chance") *1982: CCMA Song of the Year ("Some Never Stand a Chance") *1982: CCMA Album of the Year (''Raised on Country Music'') *1993: CCMA Entertainer of the Year *1983: CCMA Single of the Year ("Raised on Country Music") *1983: CCMA Song of the Year ("Raised on Country Music") *1983: CCMA Group of the Year *1983: CCMA Album of the Year (''Raised on Country Music'') *1983: CCMA Entertainer of the Year *1984: CCMA Group of the Year *1984: CCMA Album of the Year (''Repeat After Me'') *1985:

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Country Group of the Year *1985: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1985: ''RPM'' Big Country Award, Album of the Year (''Feel the Fire'') *1986: CCMA Group of the Year *1986: CCMA Album of the Year (''Feel the Fire'') *1987: CCMA Group of the Year *1987: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1988: CCMA Group of the Year *1989: CCMA Group of the Year *1989: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1989: ''RPM'' Big Country Award, Album of the Year (''These Days'') *1989: CCMA Single of the Year ("Town of Tears") *1989: CCMA Song of the Year ("Town of Tears") *1990: ''RPM'' Big Country Award for Top Group *1990: CCMA Song of the Year ("Pioneers")

Discography

References

{{Authority control Canadian country music groups Juno Award winners Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 RCA Records Nashville artists Ovation Records artists Musical groups from Ottawa 1967 establishments in Ontario 1990 disestablishments in Ontario Canadian Country Music Association Entertainer(s) of the Year winners Canadian Country Music Association Fans' Choice Award winners Canadian Country Music Association Group of the Year winners Canadian Country Music Association Album of the Year winners Family musical groups