Ronnie's Girl Group Forum

Author	Topic: The Paris Sisters
Ronnie (Moderator)	posted 10/26/07 4:06 PM Soft ... beautiful ... warm ... lovable ... sensuous ... Those words are just the tip of the iceberg in describing what the wonderful Paris Sisters were all about. Most people know them only from their top ten record "I Love How You Love Me" and possibly its predecessor "Be My Boy" and its follow-up "He Knows I Love Him Too Much." But they had so many other great ones as well. The sisters were a trio from San Francisco. They were lead singer Priscilla, Sherell and Albeth. Priscilla wrote several of the songs they recorded, including "My Good Friend," "Too Good To Be True" and "I'm Me." Tragically Priscilla passed away in 2004 from injuries suffered in a fall. This lady with the voice of an angel was only 59. Here's a nice Spectropop tribute to her. http://www.spectropop.com/remembers/PPobit.htm Priscilla Paris
Richard Astley-Clemas	posted 10/29/07 0:21 AM The Paris Sisters-who were in the British movie Its Trad Dad-were one of the female vocal trios from the early 50s before they were called Girl Groups. I don't think they had any success until the Spector things but appearantly they were just one of many who found Spector hard going http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rumine This is the website of Ginny Wright
Ally	posted 11/2/07 3:36 AM I got one of their records from e-Bay. "He knows I love him too much" from 1962. another dreamy ballad. I had the pleasure of seeing the ladies perform at a very small teen night club in San Mateo, CA. known as Big Al's in 1961. They were dressed in dresses. long sleeve white gloves, very stylish, hair up. At the time, I love how you love me was topping the charts.
Wes	posted 11/3/07 7:07 AM Wow,wish I could have had that experience,Ally! Out of all their great songs,their first one on Gregmark,"BE MY BOY",remains my favorite.
Ally	posted 11/8/07 5:09 AM Thank for mentioning "Be My boy", Wes. Would you believe that "Be My Boy" hit #1 on the SF Bay Area charts in 1961? I still have the KYA Swingin' 60 survey with it at the top spot. April 24, 1961. #5 Daddy's home, Shep & the Limelites; #4 Mother-in-law, Ernie K-Doe; #3 Bonanza, Al Caiola; #2 Flaming Star, Elvis Presley; #1 Be my boy, Paris Sisters (Gregmark) #1 also week before. For Ronnie's girl group fans, Linda Scott, "I've told every little star, #8. "Mama said" Shirelles, #23 up from #34. #28 Ronnie, Marcy Jo, up from #32; Triangle, Janie Grant, #29, dropping from #17. Fun stuff.
Wes	posted 11/12/07 0:59 AM Wow,Ally....I'd love to look at that one! I have a few that I could trade copies of,but most of mine are from the Boston,Worcester,and Springfield,MA. areas.Wish I had these radio charts from every area of the country.It's amazing how certain songs got a lot of popularity in different regions of the country.
Richard Astley-Clemas	posted 11/12/07 9:16 AM In the U K there was nothing like this-the BBC had this rule about "needle time" which meant only so many hours a week could be used for playing recorded music.100s of American recordings werw issued every month yet few were heard on the radio.Which is why people tuned into Radio Luxembourg and heard music through a murk of atmospherics. The pirate ships of the mid 60s were declared illegal and its why the BBC had to do something about this situation they'd created by the end of the 60s http://groups.yahoo.com/group/highschoolpoppers This is the website for loads of pictures of girl singers
Richard Astley-Clemas	posted 11/12/07 11:15 AM In the U K there was nothing like this-the BBC had this rule about "needle time" which meant only so many hours a week could be used for playing recorded music.100s of American recordings werw issued every month yet few were heard on the radio.Which is why people tuned into Radio Luxembourg and heard music through a murk of atmospherics. The pirate ships of the mid 60s were declared illegal and its why the BBC had to do something about this situation they'd created by the end of the 60s http://groups.yahoo.com/group/highschoolpoppers This is the website for loads of pictures of girl singers
Ally	posted 11/14/07 6:29 AM Interesting stuff Richard. In the early 1960s, the top 60 songs were played with a few coming off and on the charts each week. When the kids didn't hear their favorites enough, a top 40 was found and held onto for years. Now, alas, all one could hear on "oldies" stations are those songs that made top 3. So as Del Shannon told us, " keep searching, searching" and find those obscure oldies. "let me be the one" Paris Sisters. I recently bought the 45 off E-bay.
Wes	posted 11/14/07 3:10 PM I just love all 5 of the Paris Sisters Gregmark releases...plus a couple of the B sides,too. They were so great with their dreamy soft ballads. AND......on the B side of "I LOVE HOW YOU LOVE ME",,one can find "ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT",something quite different from their usual style,as this is an uptempo song,which I guess one could call sort of a novelty type,but I think it's great and well worth mentioning.
Wes	posted 11/18/07 1:56 AM They also had a few nice songs on Reprise and a couple on Mercury.
Ronnie (Moderator)	posted 12/2/07 9:59 AM As you may know if you saw my message on the other board (but may not know if you did not see it) ..... I recorded a radio interview show with the two surviving Paris Sisters, Albeth and Sherrell, on November 21. And I just posted it on my Radio Page. That show, to me, is as poignant as any that I have ever done. The Paris Sisters are three lovely ladies with heavenly voices whose soft beautiful recordings have touched hearts around the world for close to 50 years. Their legacy is so much more than merely their best known hits: the top ten smash "I Love How You Love Me" "He Knows I Love Him Too Much" and "Be My Boy." It's hard to believe that the three sisters were dancers before they were singers. With my heartfelt appreciation to Albeth and Sherrell for their kindness, I dedicate this show to the loving memory of Priscilla Paris. Right before closing the show with their rendition of "Dream Lover," I asked Albeth and Sherrell to express their own closing thoughts. Here's what each of them said: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ALBETH: There really were four of us. Because our mother impacted our careers in the most positive way. She had a dream for us and she never let go of that. She did everything she could to help us achieve our own recognition. And we got so many pictures of the three of us with Mom. She's gone now and, sadly, Priscilla is gone also. She passed away in Paris and we miss her terribly. But we do have her two sons. They're very much a part of our family and they are fabulous young men. And we have the sound of her voice as an eternal legacy. SHERRELL: I think we were lucky. I know sisters and brothers don't realize what they have when they're growing up. And sometimes they go in separate directions. We were kept together for many many many years. And at times we all wanted to run away in different directions. But when we look back on it, it was a marvelous way to share and spend your early years and on through life. It's something that, we're close as sisters but we're also close as friends, and all that we went through and all the memories. And I can only add, I was probably the last to spend time with Priscilla, a month in Paris. I miss her. Every day of my life I think of her. And hearing her tonight, it's really reached me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am pleased to announce that my November 21 one-hour radio interview show with Albeth and Sherrell of the Paris Sisters has now been archived on my Radio Page. To listen to this show or any of my 20 previous shows, please use the link provided below, and then click on "Ronnie's Radio Page." http://jerseygirlssing.com Jersey Girls Sing!
Richard Astley-Clemas	posted 12/2/07 6:45 PM The Paris Sisters were one of many who were to define the term "pixie girls" which referred as much to attitude as music.The "girl next door" type was NOT the later Rock Chick most of who talk absolute rubbish. We have one right now in this country called Amy winehouse-who is nothing more than a drug addled and tatooed drunkard.I never heard her and don't want to do but she's in the papers every day usually after trashing her own fans or simply not turning up so people have to get their money back. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/highschoolpoppers This is the website for loads of pictures of girl singers
Lenny Guerette	posted 2/23/08 10:28 PM As our mem'ries of the 50s to mid-60s are jogged by this site, I'm happy to say that I, too, loved/love those oh-so-haunting songs the Paris Sisters recorded for us. Even my dad enjoyed their songs!!! Some local department stores in New Hamp. had top-100-45s bins that coincided with the top-100 lists (not just top-40 or top-60!) of our radio station. W.T. Grant was one of those stores which offered to us that large selection ... IF we had the money to buy some! So many of those songs were obscure, non-hit goodies! We also had two local record/music stores which sold 45s for .98 -- buy 10, get one for free... Wouldn't we love to own many of those 45s now! But, alas, those days are gone; yet, our mem'ries live on. The VARIETY of music we had back in the days of our oldies was so refreshing. Long live our oldies but goodies. LG (obg)
Tom Diehl	posted 2/20/09 4:46 AM I recently got to hear the Paris Sisters' Too Good To Be True, off of their Reprise lp Everything Under The Sun, boy it is GOOD !! If it was a single, it's a shame it wasnt a big hit. If it wasn't a single, that's the crime right there.... it was among their best! Check it out, everyone...the album was reissued on cd by ERIC records a couple years back.

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