The Soul Sisters

#1 The Soul Sisters was a reggae/ska project by Nora Dean whose work included the hit Wreck A Buddy. #2 The Soul Sisters - Theresa "Tresia" Cleveland and Ann Gissendanner were not sisters. They reorded "I Can't Stand It" in 1963. Late in 1963 they signed a deal with Henry "Juggy" Murray's New York City-based Sue Records, which billed itself as "The Sound Of Soul" when launched in 1957, but their timing couldn't have been worse from a commercial aspect. Because, when their initial release came out and began to chart early in 1964, they had run head long into the first waves of the British Invasion, which would soon shove aside on the more lucrative Billboard Pop Hot 100 all but the very best North American artists. Added to that was the decision by Billboard to suspend, from late 1963 and throughout 1964, the R&B charts, and while The Soul Sisters' singles may have been doing appreciably well in that market, there were no listings to reflect that. So it was that the otherwise great uptempo offering I Can't Stand It missed the Top 40 by peaking at # 46 Hot 100 in March/April 1964 on Sue 799 b/w Blueberry Hill. By the time their second single came out, Sue had changed their numbering system (trying to figure out their releases can be a nightmare), and so Good Times Tonight charted at # 98 Hot 100 in June 1964 on Sue 10-005 b/w Foolish Dreamer. Some pressings may also have had Some Soul Food as the B-side. Late that summer neither side of Loop De Loop/Long Gone on Sue 107 could dent the charts, and in October they had their final chart entry when Just A Moment Ago just got into the Hot 100 at # 100 on Sue 111 b/w I Won't Be Your Fooly Anymore. In 1962 they first recorded as part of a trio called The Canjoes (along with Joe Louis Johnson) on Dap 208 (Speaking Of Love/Dance The Boomerang) without denting any national charts, before apparently turning up briefly at Guyden Records where, billed as The Soul Sisters with The Sweet Pea King Band, they may have released The Warm-Up/Because I Love You on Guyden 2066. However, this may NOT have been the same Soul Sisters. The same with 1963's I Can't Let Him Go/You Can't Be My Boyfriend on Kayo 5101. Confirmation is still needed on both discs. There is also some suggestion that may have had a disc come out in 1964 as The Kolettes for Barbara Records - Who's That Guy?/Just How Much (Can One Heart Take?) - Barbara 1094, which was then picked up and distributed as Checker 1094. Again, was this the same duo recording elsewhere under another name to avoid contractual problems? The 1996 release by Collectables essentially covers their one album for Sue "I Can't Stand It" (Sue LP-1022/STLP-1022) which originally contained Good Time Tonight; Loop De Loop; (The Night Time Is) The Right Time; I Can't Stand It; I Love You Baby; That's The Way I Feel; Foolish Dreamer; Some Soul Food; Blueberry Hill; and Long Gone. Here Collectables adds the "bonus" tracks Big Boy, Just A Moment Ago and Think About The Good Times. It has very good sound reproduction and informative notes written by Gene Redd. The cover art of the CD is identical to the LP. Two of those bonus tracks - Think About The Good Times/(The Night Time Is) The Right Time came out as the single Sue 130 in early 1965 while another, Big Boy, was paired with So Much Love in 1967 on Sue 148. In between they released Give Me Some Satisfaction/Flashback as Sue 140 in 1966. It would have been nice had Collectables gone to 16 tracks and added So Much Love, Give Me Some Satisfaction, and Flashback. Ahh well! It appears their only other original single was 1968's You Got 'Em Beat/A Thousand Mountains, which came out on the United Artists subsidiary Veep 1291. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.