The Sisters Love was an American R&B and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

ensemble active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Sisters Love was founded in 1968 by former members of

The Raelettes The Raelettes (or occasionally The Raelets or The Raeletts) were an American girl group formed in 1958 to provide backing vocals for Ray Charles. They were reformed from the group The Cookies. Between 1966 and 1973, the Raelettes recorded on ...

. Several of

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

's backing ensemble quit the band at the same time and soon afterwards organized themselves into their own vocal group.Liner Notes, ''Sisters Love: Give Me Your Love''.

Soul Jazz Records Soul Jazz Records is a British record label based in London. Outside of releasing records, the label also publishes books, occasionally films and performs as a DJ set. The music releases labels from a variety of genres, including reggae, house, ...

, 2006. They recorded their first single in 1968 for Los Angeles label Manchild Records and soon after signed with

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. They remained on A&M for several years, appearing in the

Willie Hutch William McKinley Hutchison (December 6, 1944 – September 19, 2005), better known as Willie Hutch, was an American singer, songwriter as well as a record producer and recording artist for the Motown record label during the 1970s and 1980s. Biog ...

-scored

blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

film ''

The Mack ''The Mack'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation crime drama film directed by California native Michael Campus and starring Max Julien and Richard Pryor. The film also stars Oscar-nominee Juanita Moore and Tony-nominated actor Dick Anthony ...

'' singing the

song "Now Is the Time". They scored a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

in 1971 with "Are You Lonely?", written and produced by Gene Chandler, which reached #20 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

R&B charts and #108 on the Billboard Singles Chart.

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in W ...

, ''Top Pop Singles''. 12th edn, p. 896. In 1972, the group left A&M and signed with

MoWest Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

, a

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

subsidiary. They toured with the

Jackson Five The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Tito ...

and had an album scheduled for release, ''With Love'', in 1972, but this was shelved and the group disbanded in 1973; the recordings for the album remained unreleased until 2010 when Reel Music issued the album in its intended running list, along with several bonus tracks. "Give Me Your Love", (1973) was one of the group's most successful songs, and was revived in 1980 by New York DJ Danny Krivit who released an extended eight-minute version. ''Give Me Your Love'' was also title of a 2006 singles compilation album released by

. At Motown, the group worked with such songwriters and producers as

Hal Davis Harold Edward Davis (February 8, 1933 – November 18, 1998) was an American songwriter and record producer. Davis was a producer and writer for Motown Records for nearly thirty years, and was a key figure in the latter part of the Motown ...

and

Gloria Jones Gloria Richetta Jones (born October 19, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" and has wo ...

. Their 1973 song "I'm Learning To Trust My Man" quickly became a

Northern Soul Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...

favourite. It was reissued on Tamla Motown in 1975, two years after its original MoWest Release. The song's B-Side, "Try It, You'll Like It" (later recorded by its writer Willie Hutch) was also recorded by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

and is included on the deluxe edition of his album ''

Let's Get It On ''Let's Get It On'' is the twelfth studio album by the American soul singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye. It was released on August 28, 1973, by the Motown subsidiary label Tamla Records on LP. Recording sessions for the album took place dur ...

''. MoWest ceased operations in Spring 1973, and the group released their last single, this time for the main Motown label, in November that year, entitled "My Love Is Yours (Till The End Of Time)". A reformed version of Sisters Love later recorded for

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, DJ, and prominent Doctor Who fan. A populariser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of hi-NRG, he has co-written and co-produced records with sa ...

's Motown revival label

Motorcity Records Motorcity Records is a British record label formed by producer Ian Levine in 1989. The label aimed to record new material with former Motown artists. History Levine, a Motown fan since his childhood in the 1960s, was offered a chance to recor ...

, releasing the single "No More Broken Hearts" in 1989. Lead singer Vermettya Royster also made solo recordings for the label, including a remake of "Give Me Your Love", released as a single in 1991. Royster later released a solo album in 2009 entitled ''On The Half Shell'', featuring faithful re-recordings of several Sister Love tracks, as well as some original songs.

Members

Merry Clayton Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer. She contributed vocals to numerous tracks and worked with many major recording artists for decades, including a duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song " Gimm ...

*Jeannie Long *Vermettya Royster *Lillie Fort *Gwen Berry *

Odia Coates Odia Coates (November 13, 1941 – May 19, 1991) was an African-American singer, best known for her high-profile hits with Canadian singer-songwriter Paul Anka. Early life The daughter of an evangelicalism, evangelical clergy, minister, Odi ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Motown artists American funk musical groups American soul musical groups American girl groups