Biography
In 1956 the sister act Patience and Prudence scored an unexpected Top Ten entry with the spectral single “Tonight You Belong to Me.” Born to Mark McIntyre, the pianist who backed Frank Sinatra throughout the mid-1940s, the McIntyre sisters—Patience and Prudence—first encountered the number at a 1955 summer camp when they were nine and twelve. Their father immediately identified the tune as a decades-old Billy Rose success, prepared a cabaret-style arrangement, and cut a demo intended for Lisa Kirk, spouse of songwriter Robert Wells. For his own archive he also laid down a version featuring his daughters’ voices, then handed a copy to his studio colleague Ross Bagdasarian. Bagdasarian in turn passed the acetate to Liberty Records chief Si Waronker.
Impressed, Waronker signed the pair, had them re-record the track with added layers to heighten its wispy harmonies, and watched the single climb to the number-four spot while rival versions proliferated. After an appearance on Perry Como’s television program, the duo selected “Gonna Get Along Without You Now”—previously a modest Teresa Brewer success—as their next release, which peaked just outside the Top Ten later that same year. Additional Liberty sides, among them a collaboration with labelmate Mike Clifford and later releases on the Chattahoochee imprint, failed to restore them to the charts. The sisters resurfaced together in 1978 for a Dick Clark retrospective, and their recordings gained fresh exposure when “Gonna Get Along Without You Now” appeared in the 1999 film Election and “A Smile and a Ribbon” surfaced in 2001’s Ghost World. Prudence McIntyre passed away on September 15, 2023, at the age of 78.
Impressed, Waronker signed the pair, had them re-record the track with added layers to heighten its wispy harmonies, and watched the single climb to the number-four spot while rival versions proliferated. After an appearance on Perry Como’s television program, the duo selected “Gonna Get Along Without You Now”—previously a modest Teresa Brewer success—as their next release, which peaked just outside the Top Ten later that same year. Additional Liberty sides, among them a collaboration with labelmate Mike Clifford and later releases on the Chattahoochee imprint, failed to restore them to the charts. The sisters resurfaced together in 1978 for a Dick Clark retrospective, and their recordings gained fresh exposure when “Gonna Get Along Without You Now” appeared in the 1999 film Election and “A Smile and a Ribbon” surfaced in 2001’s Ghost World. Prudence McIntyre passed away on September 15, 2023, at the age of 78.
Albums