The Paris Sisters

The Paris Sisters bridged the gap between traditional vocal pop post-World War II and the generation-defining girl group sound that emerged in the wake of rock & roll. By the 1961 release of their Phil Spector-produced breakthrough "I Love How You Love Me," the siblings were already longtime veterans of the music business. Albeth (the oldest), Sherrell (the middle child), and Priscilla Paris (the baby) were born and raised in San Francisco. Their mother, Faye, was the quintessential stage parent, a former opera singer who continued her career vicariously through her children.

They got their start singing and dancing at local Air Force showcases, and circa 1953 they made their recording debut with a pair of singles for the tiny Cavalier label: "The Bully, Bully Man" and the seasonal effort "Christmas in My Home Town." In 1954, their mother engineered a backstage visit during an Andrews Sisters performance, who were so impressed by the siblings' uncanny imitations of their hits that they were invited on-stage for encore performances of the canteen classics "Rum and Coca Cola" and "Beer Barrel Polka." An MCA Records executive in the audience signed them to the label's Decca imprint immediately thereafter, and the single "Ooh La La" appeared by year's end.

Their early Decca tunes adhered to the old-fashioned vocal harmony approach popularized by gruops like the Andrews Sisters. After their seventh Decca single, 1956's "Daughter, Daughter," the label terminated their contract, and the siblings signed with Imperial to release 1957's "Old Enough to Cry," quickly followed by "My Original Love." Imperial opted to cut its losses then and there, and they did not make another record for four years. When they finally resurfaced on Lester Sill's fledgling Gregmark label in 1961, the impresario insisted on a top-to-bottom overhaul of their approach, tapping up-and-coming producer Phil Spector to shepherd the transformation. Spector relegated Albeth and Sherrell to the background, and while he turned the spotlight on Priscilla, he insisted she dial back her powerful voice to a dusky whisper.

While their debut, "Be My Boy," earned little notice, the follow-up, "I Love How You Love Me," cracked the U.S. Top Five, galvanized by Priscilla's intimate lead turn and Spector's atypically restrained production. After the 1962 singles "He Knows I Love Him Too Much" and "What Am I to Do" also generated positive response at radio and retail, Spector began work on an LP, but as production costs began to skyrocket, Sill attempted to exert control of the project. Their skirmish ended disastrously when one of his assistants accidentally discarded the master tapes, although rumors persist it was no accident. Either way, the siblings did not make another record until 1964, signing with MGM to cut a cover of the Bobby Darin smash "Dream Lover" overseen by Spector's erstwhile arranger Jack Nitzsche.

After a pair of singles for Mercury, "When I Fall in Love" and "Always Waitin'," the Paris Sisters recorded the 1966 Unifilms LP Sing from "The Glass House", a soundtrack LP to a failed television series. That same year they signed to Reprise, which paired them with Nitzsche and production partner Jimmy Bowen — though a commercial failure, their 1967 Reprise LP Everything Under the Sun!!! remains an unsung classic of the waning girl group era, featuring several original songs written by Priscilla herself.

Priscilla released her debut solo single, "He Noticed Me," on the York label after Everything Under the Sun!!! belly-flopped. The solo LP Priscilla Sings Herself soon followed, and she closed out 1967 with Priscilla Sings Billy, a tribute to the jazz great Billie Holiday. They reunited the following year to release "Stark Naked Clown" on the GNP Crescendo imprint. "Golden Days," a 1968 one-off for Capitol, proved to be the siblings' swan song. While Albeth gradually moved behind the scenes into television production and public relations work, Sherrell formed her own group, Sherrell Paris & the Now People, touring nightclubs for several years before joining the staff of Mark Goodman-Bill Todman Productions and spending more than two decades as the personal assistant of The Price Is Right host Bob Barker.

Priscilla eventually relocated to London before settling in Paris, France, where she lived for a quarter century. After a 1978 solo LP, Love Is..., she suffered an accident resulting in partial facial paralysis, effectively ending her music career for a number of years. By the 1990s Priscilla was again playing the occasional Parisian club date, and in the spring of 2002 she returned to the U.S. for a proposed reunion concert. Sadly, the show was aborted after the 18-hour flight left her too exhausted to perform. Priscilla died on March 5, 2004, from injuries suffered in a fall at her home. She was 59. Find out more at: www.wtv-zone.com/dpjohnson/parissisters/index.html

Reearch info gathered at: http://www.lastfm.com/


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