Sisters is a
popular
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the total ...
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...
written by
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
in
1954, best known from the 1954 film ''
White Christmas''.
Recordings
''White Christmas''
Trudy Stevens provided the singing voice for Vera-Ellen in "Sisters". The first edition of Vera-Ellen's biography by David Soren made the mistake of suggesting that "perhaps" Clooney sang for Vera in "Sisters". The second edition of the biography corrected that error by adding this: "Appropriately, they sing "Sisters" with Rosemary Clooney actually dueting with Trudy Stabile (wife of popular bandleader Dick Stabile), who sang under the stage name Trudy Stevens and who had been personally recommended for the dubbing part by Clooney. Originally, Gloria Wood was going to do Vera-Ellen's singing until Clooney intervened on behalf of her friend."
''White Christmas'' also starred
Bing Crosby and
Danny Kaye. It was not possible to issue an "original soundtrack album" of the film, because
Decca Records controlled the soundtrack rights, but Clooney was under exclusive contract with
Columbia Records. Consequently, each one issued a separate "soundtrack recording": Decca issuing ''
Selections from Irving Berlin's White Christmas,'' while Columbia issued ''
Irving Berlin's White Christmas
''Irving Berlin's White Christmas'' was an LP album of songs by Rosemary Clooney from the movie ''White Christmas (film), White Christmas,'' released by Columbia Records in 1954 in music, 1954 (CL 6338). The album was also released as a set of fo ...
.'' On the former, the song "Sisters" (as well as all of Clooney's vocal parts) was recorded by
Peggy Lee, while on the latter, the song was sung by
Rosemary Clooney and her own sister,
Betty
Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...
. The Clooney sisters' version, which was also released as a single, was the most popular recording of the song, charting in
1954.
Cover versions
The song was also made famous in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
by sister act the
Beverley Sisters
The Beverley Sisters ( MBE) were an English female close harmony pop vocal and light entertainment trio, consisting of three siblings from London. They were most popular during the 1950s and 1960s, and became well-known through their radio and ...
.
''
Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook'', a 2003 album of songs made famous by Rosemary Clooney, done by
Bette Midler, included a version of the song done by
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...
and Midler.
References
1954 songs
Songs written by Irving Berlin
Rosemary Clooney songs
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