THE KELLY BROTHERS a/k/a THE KING PINS

The Kelly Brothers were a family gospel group who branched out into sanctified Southern soul.

The group was formed in Chicago in 1948. That’s when Bishop William Adelair discovered three teen-aged siblings—Andrew, Robert, and Curtis Kelly—newly arrived from Shelby, Mississippi, and teamed them up with Offe Reese, a 20-year-old transplant from Hernando, Mississippi. They played the local church circuit and, in 1954, recorded two gospel sides for the independent Chance label. However, Chance’s Art Sheridan opted not to release the recordings.

The group’s first single, “God Said He Is Coming Back Again,” was put out circa 1955 on the minuscule C.H. Brewer label and featured a new member, T.C. “Charles” Lee. Offe Reese now doubled as the group’s manager, having replaced Bishop Adelair. The Kelly Brothers’ vinyl debut proved inauspicious, in particular because they had to pay for it themselves.

In 1956, they recorded a single for the big Chicago independent, Vee Jay Records, but the label barely paid attention to the Kelly Brothers. They next went to Nashville and recorded for the Nashboro gospel label, who would release two singles on them—in 1957 and ‘59 respectively.

By 1960, the Kelly Brothers were on Federal, a Chicago-based subsidiary of King Records in Cincinnati. Over the next two years, they put out seven singles and an album on Federal. But by 1963, the Kelly Brothers were ready to switch over to secular music. To establish an identity separate from the gospel world, they renamed themselves the King Pins. Their second release under that name, “It Won’t Be This Way (Always),” caught on with the Rhythm & Blues market, going to #13 on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart.

In 1964, Federal closed its Chicago operation. The King Pins quickly found a new home at the Nashville-based Sims label and reverted to their Kelly Brothers name. Over the next three years, they released eleven singles and an album, Too Much Soul. Most of their material was co-written by Robert and Curtis Kelly and recorded at the Woodland Studio in Nashville. Their biggest Sims release, “Falling In Love Again,” reached #39 R&B in early 1966.

In late 1967, Russell and Carol Sims decided to close down their label. They sold off its assets to various companies, which was how the Kelly Brothers ended up back on Nashboro. The label had picked up not only the group but their Sims catalog, and decided to release Kelly Brothers material on their Excello imprint. They began with an album, Sweet Soul, that featured ten Sims tracks and two new recordings made at the Hi Records Studio in Memphis.

None of their Excello releases sold terribly well, prompting the label to drop the Kelly Brothers in 1970. They returned to Chicago without a record deal, but, per Offe Reese, “We continued quite a while after that. We did R&B for a while, but then people started calling us back. They wanted us to do gospel, so we started back doing gospel again.”

Reese ran his own label, recording both gospel and R&B acts. In the mid-1980s, he started hosting a gospel show on the radio. T.C. Lee became a minister in a local church. And all the group members continued to live on Chicago’s West Side.

Charted singles:

“It Won’t Be This Way (Always)” (as the King Pins, 1963) R&B #13, Pop #89
“Falling In Love Again” (1966) R&B #39

Other noteworthy recordings by the Kelly Brothers include “You’re That Great Big Feelin’,” “My Love Grows Stronger,” “I’ve Got My Baby (And That’s Enough),” “You’re the Most,” “Love Time,” “Can’t Stand It No Longer,” “You Put Your Touch On Me,” “Comin’ On In,” “If It Wasn’t For Your Love,” and “My Baby Loves Me.”