Doowopheaven: The Miller Sisters

The Miller Sisters

(Long Island, New York)

Group members:

Maxine Miller

Vernel Miller

Hedy Miller

Jeanette Miller

Sandy Miller

Discography:

The Miller Sisters

1955 – Hippity Ha / Until You’re Mine (Herald 455)

1956 – Guess Who / How Am I To Know (Ember 1004)

1956 – Please Don’t Leave / Do You Wanna Go (Hull 718)

1957 – Sugar Candy / My Own (Onyx 507)

1957 – Let’s Start Anew / The Flip Skip (Skip-Tip) (Acme 111)

1957 – You Made Me A Promise / Crazy Billboard Song (Acme 717)

1958 – Let’s Start Anew / The Flip Skip (Acme 721)

1958 – Hippity Ha / Until You’re Mine (Herald 5275)

1960 – Oh Lover / Remember That (Miller 1140)

1960 – Give Me Some Old-Fashioned Love / The Pony Dance (Miller 1141)

Sylvia Laramore & The Miller Sisters

1960 - My Conscience / I’ll Tell You Why (Miller 1142)

The Miller Sisters

1960 – Please Mr. Disc Jockey / Do You Want To Go (Miller 1143)

Leo Price (bb The Miller Sisters) (uncredited)

1960 – Just Wait And See / [Black Pepper (instrumental)] (Hull 736)

The Avons (bb The Miller Sisters) (uncredited)

1961 – [Avons - Whisper (Softly)] / If I Just (Had My Way) (Hull 744)

The Miller Sisters

1961 – You Got To Reap What You Sow / Pop Your Finger (Hully Gully Dance) (Glodis 1003)

1962 – I Miss You So / Dance Little Sister (Rayna 5001)

1962 – Walk On / Oh Why (Rayna 5004)

Jeannie & The Miller Sisters / The Miller Sisters

1962 – Don’t You Forget / Roll Back The Rug (And Twist) (Hull 750)

The Miller Sisters

1962 – I Cried All Night / The Hully Gully Reel (Hull 752)

1962 –Tell Him / Dance Close (Riverside 4535)

1963 –Silly Girl / Baby Your Baby (Roulette 4491)

1964 – Cooncha / Feel Good (Stardust 3001)

1964 – Cooncha / Hey You (Capri 950)

1965 – Si Senor / Looking Over My Life (Yorktown 75)

Jimmy Dockett (bb The Miller Sisters) (uncredited)

1965 – Oh Gee (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)/ [Jimmy Dockett - Ain't Gonna Tell You No More] (Hull 766)

1965 – [Jimmy Dockett - Merry Christmas Mother] / Season’s Greetings (Hull 769)

The Miller Sisters

1966 – Your Love / Please Don’t Say Goodbye Dear (GMC 10003)

1967 – I’m Telling It Like It Is / Until You Come Home, I’ll Walk Alone (GMC 10006)

Maxine & The Miller Sisters

1968 - Your Gonna Lose (A Good Thing) / The Wedding Is Over (GMC 10013)

Biography:

The Miller Sisters were the daughters of Long Island A&R man, songwriter, & arranger William Henry Miller (Hull, Onyx, Acme, Miller High Fi, Concha, Ember, Tri-Boro, Q, Rayna, Yorktown labels, etc.).

They first recorded “Hippity Ha” with the adorable flip “Until You’re Mine” for Herald back in 1955, one year later they also scored a starring role in Fritz Pollard's R&B picture “Rockin’ the Blues”, which also included the Harptones, Hurricanes, Wanderers and the great Lula Reed. Here they are featured doing two uptempo dance numbers: “Do You Wanna Go” and “Everybody's Havin' a Ball” (a re-titling of their own “Roll Back the Rug”).

The movie premiered at Harlem’s Apollo Theater.

In ’56, after releasing “Guess Who” b/w “How Am I To Know” on Ember, they moved to Hull Records, which was the label former Herald Records executive Blanche "Bea" Kaslin established along with Billy Dawn and Mr. Miller (apparently Kaslin had just had enough of seeing artists being mistreated, not paid appropriately, and being taken advantage of with contracts). The label had some great R&B success with their very first release from The Heartbeats' ”Crazy For You” b/w “Rockin-N-Rollin-N-Rhythm-N-Blues‘N” in ’55. The girls recorded in 1956 among others the remarkable song “Do You Wanna Go” paired with “Please Don’t Go”.

While the sisters were at Herald records, their father obtained their release from an exclusive contract that they held with the label and would thereafter freelance for Hull, ACME, Onyx, Riverside, Roulette, Capri and others. In 1960 they recorded “Please Mr. Disc Jockey” for the Miller High-Figh label. William Miller wrote this ballad in 1956 for Yvonne Mills & The Sensations. The flip was a re-recording of “Do You Wanna Go”. In 1960 and 1961 the girls also provided backup vocals for Sylvia Laramore, Leo Price (the younger brother of Lloyd Price) and The Avons.

In 1961 it was Hully Gully fever that was scuffing the dance floors, and the Glodis release “Pop Your Finger” (flip to “You Got To Reap What You Sow”) certainly would have been getting some heavy rotations around the dance halls.

1962 brought some crackers for the girls, firstly Rayna’s superb release “Dance Little Sister” (flipped with the soulful ballad “I Miss You So”). Slow and swinging, but heavy on the rhythm, and brutally charming vocals with more sass than one can handle. Then on Riverside, the dizzyingly beautiful ballad “Tell Him” (flipped with “Dance Close”). But the year also brought out “The Hully Gully Reel” b/w “I Cried All Night”.

In ’64, Big Joe and the ladies struck again with “Cooncha” b/w “Hey You” which they recorded in Quebec for Capri in ’64, supposedly while on tour together… driving stuff! (Their father was credited as “Pop Miller” on the label).

James "Jimmy" Dockett

In 1965 the sisters backed up Jimmy Dockett on two songs for Hull. They switched to the GMC label in 1966 and had their last release with “Your Gonna Lose (A Good Thing)” b/w “The Wedding Is Over” on the GMC label in 1968.

Sources:

The Miller Sisters biography by Piero Sgro at 45 Cult/

The Miller Sisters biography by Jean-Christophe Piatta at Doo-Wop Blogg

The Avons biography by J.C. Marion at Doo Wop Nation

The Miller Sisters biography by Félix B. Desfossés at Vente de Garage

Rockin' the Blues movie review by Don W at IMDb

GMC label discography by Boba at Soul Source

The Miller Sisters label scans at 45cat

‘Rockin’ the Blues’ Movie Soundtrack: