Promoted as a duet, the Wallace Brothers were actually a six-man band with cousins John Simon and Ervin Wallace on lead vocals. Another Wallace (no kin to the brothers) brought the six-piece band to Cleveland Warnock's attention in 1963. Other Wallaces, Cooky and Earnest, also joined; Ervin played the guitar and Earnest the organ.

Warnock wrote songs with Billy Bardon in the '40s and '50s for movie cowboy Jimmy Wakely, and never strayed far from the music business. He liked the Wallace Brothers and their potential. Their members ranged from 14 to 16 years of age and all attended Archer High School in Atlanta. Warnock transported them from Atlanta to his East Point, Georgia, home for basement rehearsals. "Faith" b/w "I'll Let Nothing Separate Me," written by Earnest, was their first single. Cleveland's newly founded Royal label launched the Wallace Brothers in 1963.

Now recording artists, the Wallace Brothers stepped up their gigging. Nashville disc jockey John Richbourg of WLAC played "Faith" on his popular radio program and generated some interest. A deal was struck with Russell Sims, and subsequent copies of "Faith" and the Wallace Brothers' future recordings bore the Sims Records logo. Warnock received a percentage of sales from Sims and co-publishing rights to the Wallace Brothers' songs. With Richbourg touting "Faith," many R&B stations east of the Mason-Dixon line added the single to their rotations.

Their second single, 1964's "Precious Words" b/w "You're Mine," opened more doors. It spent six weeks on the Cash Box Black music survey, but never climbed higher than number 31. Claudia Robinson, a blue-eyed soul singer/writer listed as Claud Robinson, wrote the song.

The Wallace Brothers' last gem was their third single, "Lover's Prayer." Released in the fall of 1964, it squeaked into Billboard's Hot 100, stopping at number 97. At the time, Billboard didn't have a Black music survey, but the record did make the Cash Box Black survey. Written by Earnest and Cooky Wallace, it followed the same format as previous singles,withh two-part harmonies sung over a simple rhythm bed accented by a rolling organ.

The group's recordings were added to R&Bplay listss in the South and the North. Sims released their only LP, Soul, Soul and More Soul, in 1965, and took them to Muscle Shoals, Alabama's celebrated Fame Studios to cut additional tracks for the album, which included both sides of the first three singles. Sims Records released one more song off the album in 1965, but "One Way Affair" b/w "Go on Girl" failed to chart, as did two 1966 singles, "I'll Stay Aside" and "No More."

The United Kingdom division of Sue Records issued three Wallace Brothers singles, with the last, "I'll Step Aside," in 1967; Sue also issued a compilation album of Wallace Brothers tracks called Soul Connection in 1968.

Back in the States, Russell Sims issued the last Wallace Brothers single, "Thanks a Lot," on Sims in 1967. When it bombed, Sims and the band parted ways. The remaining bandmembers signed with Jewel Records in 1968, releasing three singles. Simon joined the Naturals, who enjoyed one release on Calla Records, "I Can't Share You"; they faded when Calla's owner, Nate McCalla, died at his home in Florida. ~ Andrew Hamilton, Rovi