Ask “Mr. Music”
Jerry Osborne



FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 16, 2001

DEAR JERRY: I have looking for background information on Patience & Prudence (McIntyre) for quite some time. I do have their two charted songs, “Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now” and “Tonight You Belong to Me.”

However, I understand they did about six more singles that never charted. Could tell me any of those song titles?
—Bob Cable, Downsville, N.Y.

DEAR BOB: By all accounts, the real names of the then very young sisters are indeed Patience and Prudence McIntyre. At the time of their first hit, “Tonight You Belong to Me,” Patience was 11 and Prudence, a ripe old 14.

Their dad, Mark McIntyre, a piano player and songwriter already well known at Liberty Records, in Los Angeles, brought the girls to the studio, in the summer of 1956.

Their audition tape contained a bouncy Patience and Prudence revival of the 1927 hit (Gene Austin), “Tonight You Belong to Me” (Liberty 55022).

Not only did the company jump at the chance to sign the McIntyres, but they rushed the tune into production and distribution.

“Tonight You Belong to Me” caught on immediately and raced right into the Top 5. In doing so, it also became the biggest hit in Liberty's history at that time. It would be two years and more than 100 single releases before Liberty would have a better selling hit — “The Witch Doctor” by David Seville (1958).

The follow-up single, “Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now” (Liberty 55040) also did very well at the end of '56, reaching No. 11. The B-side, “The Money Tree,” even charted, making this the first two-sided hit for Liberty.

Here are the subsequent Patience and Prudence singles you asked for, none of which became hits:

(1957): “We Can't Sing Rhythm & Blues” (Liberty 55058); “You Tattletale” (Liberty 55084); “Over Here” (Liberty 55107).

(1958): “Heavenly Angel” (Liberty 55125); “All I Do Is Dream of You” (Liberty 55154); “Golly, Oh Gee” (Liberty 55169).

(1959): “Should I,” with Mike Clifford (Liberty 55207).


DEAR JERRY: I hope you can assist me with a tough question.

One of the biggest hits of 1965 is “Wooly Bully,” by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs. When Billboard magazine did their year end tabulations, the song emerged as that year's No. 1 song.

Ironically, the song stalled at No. 2, so how did this rock and roll classic wind up in the pole position even though it didn't reach No. 1 in the first place?
—Scott Burton, Bridgeport, Conn.

DEAR SCOTT: The answer is not a tough one at all. The No. 1 song for the entire year of 1965 is not “Wooly Bully,” it is “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,” by the Rolling Stones.

“(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction” held the top chart spot for four weeks in the summer of '65.

The only other song to hold No. 1 for four weeks that year is “Yesterday,” by the Beatles.

IZ ZAT SO? Among the biggest selling artists in Liberty Record's history is Ross Bagdasarian, though most folks know him better as David Seville, creator of the zany Chipmunks: Alvin, Theodore, and Simon.

For all the success Liberty, Bagdasarian, and the Chipmunks had, it is likely none of it would have happened had Mark McIntyre not introduced Ross Bagdasarian to the Liberty label. That introduction took place before Mark brought daughters Patience and Prudence in for their audition.






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