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SHEPHERD SISTERS

“ALONE (WHY MUST I BE AlONE)”

(Morty Craft, S. Craft)

Lance 125

No. 18    November 11, 1957

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 Not so very long ago, four sisters from Middletown, Ohio–blondes all–sang their way across this country.

Martha, Mary Lou, Gayle, and Judy Shepherd per­formed at gatherings, niteries (as booze-houses were

politely called at one time), and talent shows.  Frequently, they would take top honors on the “Arthur

Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” TV show.  Herbie Space noted their cheerful 10und and invited the girls to fill

a void in his band.  A booking agent named Karl Taylor caught a glimpse of the act often referred to

as the “LaLa Quartet” and put the sisters on a multinational U.S.O. tour.

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On their return, a canny Morty Craft signed the Shepherd Sisters to Melba Records for a spunky but

forgettable “Gone With the Wind.”  Craft next suited the quartet in his own number, “Alone (Why Must

I Be Alone),” possibly the happiest heartacher to ever chart.

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The song, its arrangement, and those voices were so catchy that even those who noticed the girls’ imprecise

harmonies still liked it.  The sisters worked the Nautilus Hotel in Miami, the Town and Country in New

York, and the Barclay in Toronto.  They were picked up by Mercury for a single or so–then in turn by MGM,

Warwick, and United Artists Records–but nothing sold very well.

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Finally, in 1963, the act passed through a watershed of sorts when they met someone who knew just how

to make the best of the Shepherd Sisters’ distinctive vocalizations.  lt was BOB CREWE who produced

the sisters at their finest.  Their Atlantic Recording, “The Greatest Lover” had the feel of an innocent Shelley

 Fabares record, and their 20th Century Fox single “Finders Keepers” jumped out as if rendered by the livid

EXCITERS.  “Don’t Mention My Name” staked out the number 94 slot on the Hot 100 in 1963, but it was all

too little, too late.   The Shep­herd Sisters time had passed.