Biography
Among the Paris Sisters, Priscilla emerged as the youngest and most visually striking, her slender build marking her as the lead singer on the group’s 1961 Phil Spector-helmed girl-group landmark “I Love How You Love Me.” Later she launched a low-profile solo trajectory while developing notable strength as a composer. Born in San Francisco in 1945, she was still attending kindergarten when she entered the trio alongside her older sisters Albeth and Sherrell. Their mother Faye embodied the classic stage parent, a onetime opera singer who channeled her own ambitions through her daughters; in 1954 she arranged a backstage encounter at the Warfield Theater during an Andrews Sisters show, so captivating the World War II-era act that the Paris girls were asked to join them for encores of the wartime favorites “Rum and Coca Cola” and “Beer Barrel Polka.” An MCA Records scout in attendance promptly signed the siblings to the Decca subsidiary, resulting in the year-end release of “Ooh La La.” Even as rock & roll gained momentum, the Paris Sisters’ Decca sides clung to the vintage close-harmony style associated with the Andrews Sisters and the McGuire Sisters; once the label dropped them, the trio moved briefly to Imperial in 1957 before enduring four years without a contract.
The group resurfaced in 1961 on Lester Sill’s new Gregmark imprint, where the label head demanded a complete stylistic reinvention and enlisted the rising producer Spector to execute it. Spector pushed Albeth and Sherrell into supporting roles while directing Priscilla to soften her robust delivery into a smoky whisper. Their Gregmark debut “Be My Boy” attracted scant attention, yet the follow-up “I Love How You Love Me” reached the U.S. Top Five, propelled by Priscilla’s intimate vocal and Spector’s unusually restrained arrangement. The 1962 singles “He Knows I Love Him Too Much” and “What Am I to Do” also fared well with listeners and buyers, prompting Spector to begin work on a Paris Sisters album; when expenses mounted, Sill sought to intervene, and their dispute ended with the alleged accidental erasure of the masters by one of Sill’s staff—though persistent accounts suggest deliberate sabotage. The Paris Sisters bore the brunt of the loss and continued hopping between labels until 1966, when Reprise Records teamed them with former Spector arranger Jack Nitzsche and his production partner Jimmy Bowen.
Although the resulting 1967 Reprise album Everything Under the Sun!!! sold poorly, it has since been recognized as an overlooked gem of the late girl-group period, highlighted by several Priscilla originals that hold their own beside songs from Burt Bacharach and Carole King. Shortly after the LP’s commercial disappointment she issued her first solo single, “He Noticed Me,” on York; the album Priscilla Sings Herself appeared soon afterward, and she closed 1967 with Priscilla Sings Billy, a salute to jazz legend Billie Holiday. Following the Paris Sisters’ dissolution in 1969, she moved first to London and then settled in Paris, France, remaining there for twenty-five years. After issuing the 1978 solo album Love Is…, she sustained an injury that caused partial facial paralysis and sidelined her musical activities for an extended period. By the 1990s she had resumed occasional club performances in Paris, and in spring 2002 she traveled back to the United States for a planned Paris Sisters reunion show; the concert was canceled when the eighteen-hour flight left her too fatigued to appear. Priscilla died on March 5, 2004, at age 59 from injuries sustained in a fall at her home.
The group resurfaced in 1961 on Lester Sill’s new Gregmark imprint, where the label head demanded a complete stylistic reinvention and enlisted the rising producer Spector to execute it. Spector pushed Albeth and Sherrell into supporting roles while directing Priscilla to soften her robust delivery into a smoky whisper. Their Gregmark debut “Be My Boy” attracted scant attention, yet the follow-up “I Love How You Love Me” reached the U.S. Top Five, propelled by Priscilla’s intimate vocal and Spector’s unusually restrained arrangement. The 1962 singles “He Knows I Love Him Too Much” and “What Am I to Do” also fared well with listeners and buyers, prompting Spector to begin work on a Paris Sisters album; when expenses mounted, Sill sought to intervene, and their dispute ended with the alleged accidental erasure of the masters by one of Sill’s staff—though persistent accounts suggest deliberate sabotage. The Paris Sisters bore the brunt of the loss and continued hopping between labels until 1966, when Reprise Records teamed them with former Spector arranger Jack Nitzsche and his production partner Jimmy Bowen.
Although the resulting 1967 Reprise album Everything Under the Sun!!! sold poorly, it has since been recognized as an overlooked gem of the late girl-group period, highlighted by several Priscilla originals that hold their own beside songs from Burt Bacharach and Carole King. Shortly after the LP’s commercial disappointment she issued her first solo single, “He Noticed Me,” on York; the album Priscilla Sings Herself appeared soon afterward, and she closed 1967 with Priscilla Sings Billy, a salute to jazz legend Billie Holiday. Following the Paris Sisters’ dissolution in 1969, she moved first to London and then settled in Paris, France, remaining there for twenty-five years. After issuing the 1978 solo album Love Is…, she sustained an injury that caused partial facial paralysis and sidelined her musical activities for an extended period. By the 1990s she had resumed occasional club performances in Paris, and in spring 2002 she traveled back to the United States for a planned Paris Sisters reunion show; the concert was canceled when the eighteen-hour flight left her too fatigued to appear. Priscilla died on March 5, 2004, at age 59 from injuries sustained in a fall at her home.
Albums
