Of anyone in country music, country mainstay Vince Gill has always been the first to give credit where it’s due.
So it was no surprise that Gill took some time during his recent Saturday night appearance at the famed Grand Ole Opry to pay tribute to the late Jim Ed Brown, who passed away from cancer on June 11, by performing the crowd favorite song, “Pop a Top.”
“I have only sung this one time in my life…and I’m going to try it again,” chuckled Gill to the enthusiastic crowd.
Brown made “Pop a Top” a country hit back in 1967, and the song had a resurgence back in 1999 when Alan Jackson included it on his “Under the Influence” album. Of course, Brown was not only known for his solo work, but also for his work alongside his sisters Maxine and Bonnie, who together were known as “The Browns’ and were best known for their 1959 crossover hit “The Three Bells.”
“If you listen to The Browns, it’s a very pretty sound,” Mr. Brown said earlier this year, in an interview with Peter Cooper of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “It was sibling harmony, a sound that was very pleasing. I’ve never heard anybody that could come close to that particular sound. It couldn’t be imitated.”
