By breathtakingguy (65.238.154.229) on Monday, June 16, 2003 - 11:18 pm:

Can anyone tell me about Sisters Love? I have several of their recordings on Motorcity and they were great! When did they record for Motown and where are they now? I keep trying to get their Motorcity CD, but, to no avail. Any sugestions?

By ..... (207.241.96.10) on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 - 06:20 am:

Back in 1997, Hot Productions announced more '(Very) Best of ' Motorcity Records' series for release in Febrary 1998.
Because of some kind of business arrangment/confict, those CDs are probably still locked up.
Ian Levine runs an Advanced Northern Soul List on Topica. Perhaps, he can shed some light.

By Weldon A Mc Dougal III (68.80.162.3) on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 - 08:19 am:

Hi breathtakingguy, if you read the book, Motown The Golden Years, we did interviews with Sisters Love, I can't remember everything but thay are well.
WELDON

By Brother Love (12.65.108.126) on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 12:02 am:

The Sisters Love had one single issued on Man-Child Records in 1968, while their next stop A&M Records released six singles, from 1969-1971. There was one single that came out on the Cal-State label in 1972 that had been recorded while they were at Man-Child. Their recordings at Motown were only issued from 1972-1973, with four singles released in the US and one issued only in the UK, they also had some later reissued singles on A&M and Tamal/Motown, in 1975 & 1976. The Motor City recordings consisted only of lead singer Vermettya Royster and no other members. The Very Best of Motor City recordings never saw the light of day and was never issued.

The only living members all live in L.A. and they are Merry Clayton, Vermettya Royster, Jeannie Long and Lillie Fort.

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 05:08 am:

I'm glad to have heard all of their releases.

From what I hear, their band was incredibly funky live. In the early 70s, they also toured with The Jackson Five as the opening act and were received quite well.

By MotownForever (152.163.252.68) on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 08:07 am:

Does anyone know if "Are You Lonely" (released on A&M in 1970) by the Sisters Love is available on CD? What a great song!

By GreeneyesWe (65.238.91.202) on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 08:22 am:

Well, if only ONE Sisters Love recorded as Sisters Love on Motorcity......I'm wondering if only ONE Velvelette sang, too. And, was that ONLY Martha Reeves singing being billed as Martha AND the Vandellas on the Motorcity recordings? Hmmm. I have some FLO CD'S where Lynda is singing lead and I swear all the backround, too. Were the other two out doing lunch?

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 08:28 am:

"Are You Lonely" is not on CD to my knowledge. Maybe we can get our pal HW to produce an entire CD of their material, like he did for Velvelettes & Barrett Strong.

By Brother Love (12.65.174.141) on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 02:20 pm:

Are You Lonely? was issued on a compilation CD called "Struttin' and Flirtin' R&B at A&M: 1969-1981, it came out in 1990 in the UK and is now out of print. The only other songs to be released on CD are Mr. Fix-It Man and Give Me Your Love, which has been on four different collections.

I do think that it is about time for Universal to release a collection of all of their A&M and Motown singles, Spectrum would be the ideal label.

By MotownForever (152.163.252.68) on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 03:25 pm:

Thanks, Brother Love. I'll try to track that one down.

I have "Give Me Your Love" on CD but not "Mr. Fix-It-Man", would you happen to know the name of the CD that song is on? Appreciate your help.

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 10:48 pm:

Oops. My bad.

By Vandelron (24.44.20.172) on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 - 11:41 pm:

How long was Merry(Gimme Shelter) Clayton in the group?I dont believe she is in the pics of them I have seen and Im assuming she was not with them at MoWest.

By Sister Lillie (166.5.207.108) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 03:21 pm:

It's refreshing to know that the Sisters still have a special place with so many folk. I for one, think that's great!! Yes, the remaining Sisters are doing well and we do keep in touch. Merry, Vermettya and Jeanie still make their homes in LA County and I am in San Bernardino County. We are all still making music in and out of the industry. Odia Coates and Gwen Berry have passed away. Reading your messages on this forum brings back a lot of memories of the "good old days"!

Howdy Weldon A. McDougal III--------

By Brother Love (12.65.138.122) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 03:26 pm:

Mr. Fix-It Man was issued on the CD The Motown Girls R32M-1057 in 1987, it only came out in Japan.

Merry Clayton sang lead on the songs This Time Tomorrow/I Know You Love Me, Man Child #1010 and Do It Right Now/Do It Right Now, Cal-State Music #3201, background vocals only. The song Do It Right Now can be found on the bootleg CD Lost Deep Soul Treasures Vol. 2 and was issued on Sounds of Soul #1007, Odia Coats did the lead vocal on this track.

By Brother Love (12.65.138.122) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 03:33 pm:

Sister Lillie, it is so great to have you here with us, welcome to the Soulful Detroit Forum. Thanks for all the years of such soulful music, I'm sure that there is a lot of guestions that our friends want to ask you.

By Davie Gordon (193.122.21.42) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 04:01 pm:

Hi Lillie, great to see you here - we've already had a visit from Vermettya.

If you click on the "search forum" button on the left hand column then type in "Sisters Love" in the search box you'll find all the previous posts about the group. There's no way the group are forgotten !

Let's hope that a comprehensive CD covering the groups work for A&M and Motown will finally be put together by Universal - it would make a lot of people very happy.

Davie

By Sister Lillie (166.5.207.108) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 05:32 pm:

Its wonderful to visit with friends of the Sisters. How was the visit with Vermettya? As for the comprehensive CD (A&M-Motown), that would be awesome.

By Weldon A. Mc Dougal III (68.80.162.3) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 07:49 pm:

Hi Lillie, nice to here from you here on the forum, I was with Jeanie last September I asked about you, nice to know all is well, I'll be back in LA soon, I'll get in tuch with you,
your friend,
WELDON

By Sister Lillie (67.227.39.246) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 09:47 pm:

Hi Weldon, nice to hear from you. Please do get in touch, I look forward to seeing and talking to you. I'll be sure to tell Jeanie that we've touched base.

By Brother Love (12.65.162.57) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 01:35 am:

Hey Weldon,

I really enjoyed your photos in The Golden Years book. I wanted to know who the guy is in the picture
with Sisters Love, do you have other photos that you took of the group?

By Apeman (67.121.106.94) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 04:10 am:

I remember a photo of Sisters Love in an ad with a gorilla. How did that come about?

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 11:01 am:

I was unaware that Odia Coates had passed away.
I remember her from recording duets with Paul
Anka-"Havin' My Baby"-and had remember she had
been w/Sisters Love.

By Sister Lillie (166.5.207.108) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 12:17 pm:

The photo with the gorilla was taken during the Sisters time at A&M, its one of many taken in the company's promotional effort for us.

Odia was in the original lineup of the Sisters, (Merry, Gwen, Odia & Lillie), prior to her work with Paul Anka.

By Eli (151.197.64.135) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 12:38 pm:

Hi Sister Lillie,
My name is Bobby Eli and I am a producer/writer/musician from Philly.

In 1977 I received a call from Epic records during which I was involved in a lot of CBS projects and they wanted to know if I would be interested in producing Odia Coates.
I jumped at the opportunity as I loved her performance on the Paul Anka record.
We got together and recorded three songs and she was a joy to work with, a producers dream.
She even stayed at my home while we did the sessions.
Through her I met Paul Anka and developed a professional bond with him as well.

I had no idea that Odea had passed away.
This is truly heartbreaking news.
I have recently been wondering where she has been.
How long has it been and how??

By Apeman (67.121.106.94) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 01:07 pm:

Thanks for the answer about the gorilla photo. I would like to see it again.

Was there any competition between Sisters Love and the Honey Cone?

Did the groups ever meet each other?

By sister Lillie (166.5.207.108) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 01:52 pm:

Eli, She passed away in the early 90s, cancer was a factor. It was a difficult time for all who knew and loved her, she was a very special person.

Apeman, I'm sure some of them are still around, even I have one. No competition at all, and yes we did know each other; merry and Edna were good friends long before the Sisters.

By Greg C. (207.103.134.248) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 12:01 am:

I've always loved The Sisters Love. I guess what hooked me was seeing the group perform "I Could Never Make A Better Man Than You" and "Give Me Your Love" on Soul Train. What energy! I ran out and bought the single and waited for their Mowest LP "With Love" to come out and it never did. I really hope Motown releases it. With folks like Willie Hutch and Gene Page involved, I know it was a powerful release.

By Eli (141.151.73.11) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 10:06 am:

Hi Sister Lillie,

Thanks for the info.
That is so sad indeed. Odia was a very special and sweet person.
I will dig up my photos of us in the studio and I will post them here.

God Bless.

By Sister Lillie (67.224.50.252) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 05:22 pm:

Hi Eli,

That would be wonderful! I Look forward to seeing them, and I'm sure others would enjoy it too.

God bless you too!

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 11:18 pm:

Yeah, Eli. Let's see 'em!

By Brother Love (12.65.168.247) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 02:52 am:

Some Sisters Love unreleased tracks:

Do What You Gotta Do (Lillie Fort lead vocal)
Ain't Love Wonderful (Lillie Fort lead vocal)
His Honey Is Sweet (Gwen Barry lead vocal)
Giving Up (Jeannie Long lead vocal)
Just A Little Misunderstanding
Communication
Fast Mac
Sweet Inspiration
I Ain't That Easy To Lose
Thunder Mamma
Shine On
I Hate Myself For Loving You
Have I Lost You
Plant A Seed
I Heard It Throught The Grapevine
(All other lead vocals Vermettya Royster)

Sister Lillie do you recall other tiles?

By breathtakingguy (65.238.154.108) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 09:14 pm:

Wow.....I wish they'd release a Sisters Love CD! Look like there's plenty of material. Sad we have to be kept waiting......and waiting......

By Brother Love (12.65.138.29) on Tuesday, July 01, 2003 - 03:19 am:

Dear Sister Lillie,

I just wanted to take the time to wish you a very special Happy Birthday.

Know that there are people who truly care and love you for all of the joy that you and your Sisters have shared with all of the world.

We wish you all the very best.

By Weldon A. Mc Dougal III (68.80.162.3) on Tuesday, July 01, 2003 - 03:32 am:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Lillie, from your friend
Weldon A. Mc Dougal III

By Eli (151.197.125.156) on Tuesday, July 01, 2003 - 10:33 pm:

Hapy Birthday Lillie from Bobby Eli

By Uptight (24.55.6.144) on Thursday, July 03, 2003 - 12:45 am:

Happy belated birthday Lillie.