The Paris Sisters had been in show business for close to a decade and recorded for a number of labels with little commercial success when Lester Sill signed them to his Gregmark Records imprint in 1961 and put them into the studio with producer Phil Spector. Spector had yet to perfect the Wall of Sound production style that would make him rock's most iconic studio wunderkind , and the subdued but atmospheric approach of their first Gregmark single, "Be My Boy," is hardly representative of his best work, but it gave the ...
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The Paris Sisters had been in show business for close to a decade and recorded for a number of labels with little commercial success when Lester Sill signed them to his Gregmark Records imprint in 1961 and put them into the studio with producer Phil Spector. Spector had yet to perfect the Wall of Sound production style that would make him rock's most iconic studio wunderkind , and the subdued but atmospheric approach of their first Gregmark single, "Be My Boy," is hardly representative of his best work, but it gave the Paris Sisters their first solid hit, and provided Spector the opportunity to hone a grandiose sound in the studio. Spector's collaboration with the Paris Sisters lasted for a mere five singles (a projected album collapsed under mysterious circumstances), and all ten tunes they recorded together (plus a stereo mix of "I Love How You Love Me") are collected on The Complete Phil Spector Sessions. In many respects, this material finds both artist and performer in unusual surroundings; rather than emphasizing the sunny harmonies of the Paris Sisters, Spector put Priscilla Paris' breathy vocals up front and moved her sisters Albeth and Sherrell deep into the background, and instead of the grand bombast of his work with the Ronettes or the Crystals, these Paris Sisters sides boasted a simpler and more spacious sound, though the delicate layers of keyboards and strings point towards the ambition of his later masterpieces. The Complete Phil Spector Sessions exists in a middle ground between the pop vocal styles of the '50s and the girl group sounds Spector would champion a few years later, but it certainly captures the virtues of both genres and chronicles a short-lived but inspired collaboration that worked despite its contradictions. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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