Customer Reviews

Complete Dejohn Sisters

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While nothing from these 50's-era sisters is available on CD, calling this "complete" is not accurate by any means. While this piece does contain, supposedly, all the released Columbia/Epic material, none of the work done for other record companies is included. And since one of the DeJohn Sisters' top 100 chart entries was on one of these other labels, this collection can not be considered "complete".

That issue aside, listening to this pair may make you think you're hearing the McGuire Sisters or the Chordettes if you didn't know who the artists were. While their only major chart record ("No More") may be the only tune identifiable as being theirs, the remainder of the songs are palatable - catchy upbeat tunes for the most part.

In spite of the vintage of these recordings, they have survived quite well overall and as a product of Sony Special Products, the sound quality is fairly good. Being all pre-'57 recordings, the entire CD is in mono. So, although hardly complete as the title would lead one to think, this is a reasonably decent effort by Collectables.

Anyone familiar with the 1950s "girl-group" act, The De John Sisters, will know this Chester, Pennsylvania duo (born Julie and Dux DeGiovanni in 1931 and 1933 respectively) had but three hit singles to their credit, and that one of those, the 1958 cover of the 1944 hit by both The Andrews Sisters and Nat "King" Cole, Straighten Up And Fly Right, is not here. But that one came for the small independent label, Sunbeam, where they relocated after four years churning out records for the Epic subsidiary of Columbia. And this Collectables release, which concentrates on those years, is almost as complete as can be.

Chester also happens to be the home of The Four Aces, and it was while singing at the same local club where that legendary quartet was first discovered that the girls were noticed by a talent scout in the employ of Epic Records. Signed to a contract in 1953, and after anglicizing their Italian surname, and with the backing of the Marty Caruso Orchestra, they released Should I Run b/w All Present But One on Epic 9009 late that year which, while enjoying some local success, could not crack the national charts.

That continued with their first three releases in 1954 - I Took Him From You b/w The Juke Box Polka (Epic 9031) and A Kiss And A Rose b/w a nice cover of the 1937 Tommy Dorsey hit Song Of India, they titled The Crazy Song Of India (Epic 9055) both accompanied by the Danny Mendelsohn Orchestra, and Lover's Slang b/w Mandolino (Epic 9080) which had the back of the O. B. Masingill Orchestra. Then, late in 1954 and again with Masingill, they released (My Baby Don't Love Me) No More and watched in amazement as it soared to # 6 Top 100 early in 1955 b/w Theresa (The Little Flower) on Epic 9085, beating out a cover by The McGuire Sisters (# 17) - although, to be fair, that was the B-side of their monster hit, Sincerely (# 1 for 10 weeks).

However, if they and the label thought they were on their way as competition for The McGuires, Chordettes and Fontane Sisters they were in for a rude awakening as none among their next three 1955 releases could get them back on the charts. D'Ja Hear What I Say? b/w A Present For Bob on Epic 9097 and Pass The Plate Of Happiness Around on Epic 9108 each had the Masingiil orchestra backing, while the flipside to the latter, He Loves Me, was done with The Dougherty's Cafe Singers. (Love Is) The Tender Trap b/w I'm Learnin' The Charleston on Epic 9124 and all remaining releases had the Ray Ellis Orchestra backing.

Late in 1955 their cover of the Sarah Vaughan # 11 hit, C'est la Vie, could only manage a weak # 97 Top 100 b/w Uninvited Love on Epic 9131. Even a Sunny Gale cover did better at # 85. That was followed by a Christmas release, The Only Thing I Want For Christmas (Is Just To Keep The Things I Got) b/w That's How Santa Claus Will Look This Year on Epic 9133. Neither side is here, unfortunately, and they remain very hard to find.

Two 1956 releases - The Man With The Blue Guitar b/w Hotta Chocolotta on Epic 9145 and Big D b/w In My Innocence on Epic 9172 - went nowhere. In 1957, Columbia released two promo 45s - Muchacha b/w Mah Little Baby (Shortnin' Bread) on Columbia 40799 and He's Got Time b/w Don't Promise Me (The Can-Can Song) on Columbia 40843. Each is here.

After moving to Sunbeam in 1958 they returned to the charts with the above-mentioned Straighten Up And Fly Right (# 73 in August) b/w Wrong Guy on Sunbeam 106, followed by three misses: Do-Die b/w Wedding Postponed (Sunbeam 116), Watermelon Heart b/w Sorry For Myself (Sunbeam 124) and Hoppity Moe Joe b/w Don't Forget To Remember (Sunbeam 126) - all in 1958 and all backed by the Arnie Goland Orchestra. In 1960 they had one final single with a cover of Be Anything (But Be Mine) b/w Yes Indeed on United Artists 213.

It would be nice if some distributor could put those 10 sides, and perhaps that missing Christmas single, on a CD. But in the meantime this is about as complete as you're ever going to find on one of the lesser lights of the mid-1950s girl groups, with excellent sound and two pages of informative notes written by Mark Marymont.