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Patience and Prudence

 
Artist: Patience and Prudence

Group Members:

Prudence McIntyre, Patience McIntyre

Similar Artists:

  • Formed: 1956, Los Angeles, CA
  • Disbanded: 1959
  • Genres: Vocal Music

Biography

The sister duo Patience and Prudence reached the Top Ten in 1956 with a fluke hit, the ghostly "Tonight You Belong to Me." The daughters of a professional musician -- Mark McIntyre, who accompanied Frank Sinatra on piano during the mid-'40s -- Patience and Prudence McIntyre reportedly learned the song while at summer camp in 1955 (when they were nine and 12, respectively). Their father recognized it as a Billy Rose hit from several decades earlier, and was impressed enough to work up the arrangement as a demo intended for cabaret singer Lisa Kirk (wife of Robert Wells). McIntyre also recorded a version with Patience and Prudence's vocals, strictly for personal reasons, but gave a dub to studio friend Ross Bagdasarian, who passed the record on to Si Waronker of Liberty Records. Waronker loved the song, so Patience and Prudence signed to Liberty and recut the song with overdubs to strengthen their ethereal vocals, then watched as the record soared to number four nationally (with several cover versions eventually coming along). After performing on Perry Como's television show, they chose for a follow-up single "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" (earlier a minor hit for Teresa Brewer), which just missed the Top Ten later in 1956. The duo recorded several more singles -- including a pairing with fellow Liberty act Mike Clifford and several singles for the Chattahoochee label -- but never reached the charts again. They reunited for a 1978 performance on a Dick Clark feature, and earned a surprisingly long lease on life after their songs were used in a pair of films, 1999's Election ("Gonna Get Along Without You Now") and 2001's Ghost World ("A Smile and a Ribbon"). ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Patience and Prudence
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Patience and Prudence (last name McIntyre, but not used professionally) were two sisters who were a young singing act in the 1950s.

Contents

Career

Their father, Mark McIntyre, was an orchestra leader, pianist, and songwriter, who accompanied Frank Sinatra on piano during the 1940s.[1] In the summer of 1956, he brought his daughters, 11-year-old Prudence and 14-year-old Patience,[2] into the Liberty Records studio in Los Angeles, California. They made a demonstration recording of the song, "Tonight You Belong to Me," which had been a hit for Gene Austin in 1927, and was written by Billy Rose and Lee David. Not only did Liberty sign them, but it immediately released a recording of the girls singing the song as a commercial single, (with the B-side, "A Smile and a Ribbon," a composition with music by Mark McIntyre) and by September the song reached #4 on the Billboard charts[1] and #28 in the UK Singles Chart,[3] and was the biggest selling record put out by Liberty for two years. It sold over one million copies and reached gold record status.[4]

After performing on Perry Como's television show,[1] another recording by the girls, "Gonna Get Along without Ya Now," was released the same year and reached #11 on the Billboard chart[1] and #22 in the UK;[3] its B-side, "The Money Tree," also reached #73 in the U.S.

The two girls continued to record - including a pairing with fellow Liberty act Mike Clifford, and several singles for the Chattahoochee Records label - but did not have any subsequent hit records.[1] In 1978, they reunited and appeared on a Dick Clark television feature.[1] Collectors Choice issued a CD compilation of their entire Liberty Records singles.

Song use

  • "A Smile and a Ribbon" is featured on a Sepia CD, LISA KIRK SINGS AT THE PLAZA. It was the b-side of a single she cut for Columbia in the mid-1950s.
  • "A Smile and a Ribbon" was used in the film, Ghost World as the child song of protagonist Enid, played by Thora Birch.
  • "A Smile and a Ribbon" was used as the accompaniment to a television advertisement for the National Lottery in the UK in the spring of 2006.
  • "Tonight You Belong to Me" was used by eBay in Germany as the soundbed for its television ad campaign in 2006.
  • "Tonight You Belong to Me" was used in the film, Birth starring Nicole Kidman and Lauren Bacall.
  • "Tonight You Belong to Me" was covered by NRBQ on their album, Grooves in Orbit, released in 1983 on Bearsville Records. The song was sung by an adult male vocalist instead of two teenaged girl singers, but was arranged in a similar manner to the original.
  • "Gonna Get Along without Ya Now" was covered by the Spanish singer Soraya Arnelas on her album, Ochenta's, and was chosen as the second single off the record, and released in February 2007.
  • "Gonna Get Along without Ya Now" was also covered by Viola Wills in 1980, reaching #37 in Australia
  • "Tonight You Belong to Me" was used in the film, The Jerk and was sung as a duet by Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters.
  • "Dreamer's Bay" was used as the accompaniment to a television advert for Unilever's Surf detergent in the UK and Ireland in the summer of 2007.
  • The track "Dreamer's Bay" is used in the Surf Small and Mighty commercial.
  • "Patience And Prudence" is the title of a song on Hot Cross' 2003 album, Cryonics. It makes no explicit reference to the singing duo.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Biography by John Bush". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jjfuxq9gldfe~T1. Retrieved 12 February 2009. 
  2. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 32. CN 5585. 
  3. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 420. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  4. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 84. ISBN 0-214-20512-6. 

External links


 
 
Learn More
The Best of Patience and Prudence (2004 Album by Patience and Prudence)
Original Hits, Vol. 3: Past & Present (1961 Album by Various Artists)
Glimmer (1996 Album by Glo-Worm)

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