Post by Kaz ~;~ on Mar 12, 2011 14:46:02 GMT -5
The King Sisters were arguably one of the most technically accomplished vocal groups to emerge from the big band era.
They took their stage name from the middle name of their father, William King Driggs, who was a college voice trainer.
At varying times the group comprised of
Maxine (Maxine Driggs, 1911, Payson, Utah, USA)
Louise (b. Luise Driggs, 21 December 1913, Payson, Utah, USA, d. 4 August 1997
Sandy, Utah, USA)
Alyce (b. Alyce Driggs, 14 August 1916, Payson, Utah, USA, d. 21 August 1996, Los Angeles,
California, USA)
Donna (b. Donna Olivia Driggs, 3 September 1918, Sanford, Colorado, USA, d. 20 June 2007, Plano, Texas, USA)
Yvonne (b. Yvonne Driggs, 15 January 1920, USA).
Together with a friend, Anita, the sisters performed with Horace Heidt’s band in 1935. Billed as the Six King Sisters the group initially appeared with Heidt at the Golden Gate Theater, San Francisco before moving with him to Chicago. Maxine left in 1936 after she got married. After singing on Heidt’s Alemite radio show from 1936-38, the group appeared on radio with Al Pearce. When Alvino Rey, Louise’s husband, who played electric guitar with Heidt, left to form his own band, the Kings went with him, and performed with the band, and as individual soloists, until 1943.
Yvonne King sang on several Rey hits, including the band’s theme song, ‘Nighty Night’, ‘I Said No’ and ‘Idaho’. The sisters also featured on ‘Tiger Rag’ and ‘Strip Polka’. In addition they had successful records under their own name, through to 1945, including ‘The Hut-Hut Song’, ‘Rose O’Day’, ‘My Devotion’, ‘I’ll Get By’, ‘It’s Love-Love-Love’, ‘Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet’, ‘The Trolley Song’, ‘Candy’ and ‘Saturday Night (Is The Loneliest Night Of The Week)’. They also appeared in several movies including Sing Your Worries Away (1942), Meet The People (1944), The Thrill Of A Romance (1945), On Stage Everybody (1945) and Cuban Pete (1945).
Rey broke up the band when he went into the US Navy, and when it re-formed after the war, it was without the sisters. They had been resident on Kay Kyser’s radio show during 1944, but in the late 40s, and beyond, were only making occasional personal appearances and recordings while they concentrated on raising their respective families. In the mid-60s, they were once again in demand with the advent of the enormously popular The King Family television show, in which they featured, together with a vast cast of relatives. Their 60s television series spawned several albums and they continued to record into the 70s covering popular standards such as ‘Nina Never Knew’, ‘Too Late Now’, ‘Street Of Dreams’ and ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore’.
