The Forester Sisters

The Forester Sisters were an American country music vocal group consisting of sisters Kathy, June, Kim, and Christy Forester. Having performed together locally in their native Lookout Mountain, Georgia, since the 1970s, the four sisters began singing full-time in the 1980s and signed to Warner Records Nashville in 1984. Their greatest commercial success came between then and 1991, when they charted fifteen top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, five of which went to number one: "I Fell in Love Again Last Night", "Just in Case", "Mama's Never Seen Those Eyes", "Too Much Is Not Enough" (with The Bellamy Brothers), and "You Again". They won the Academy of Country Music Group of the Year award in 1986 and were nominated three times for a Grammy Award. In addition to their country music albums, they released multiple albums of gospel music and one of Christmas music. The group's sound is defined primarily by four-part vocal harmonies, most often with Kim or Kathy singing lead vocals. Their style has been compared to other contemporary family-based country music groups such as the Judds and the Whites, while critical reception to their body of work has generally been mixed. The sisters retired from the music industry in 1996 and found work in other fields. The Forester Sisters are four sisters who were born and raised in Lookout Mountain, Georgia: Kathy (born January 4, 1955), June (born September 22, 1956), Kim (born November 4, 1960), and Christy (born December 21, 1962). The sisters' parents, Vonnie Geneva (née Gray; 1932–2018) and Clyde D. "Bunk" Forester, would encourage the four to rehearse music for church choir every week, something which Christy later observed would help the sisters learn how to sing in harmony. In addition to their church work, Kathy and June performed in local bands during the late 1970s while also holding jobs as schoolteachers. After Christy had finished college, the four sisters decided to begin performing professionally. Songwriters Bobby Keel and Billy Stone discovered them at a local music festival, and invited them to record a demo at a music studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The demo tape was sent to Paige Rowden, the artists and repertoire representative for Warner Bros. Records' Nashville division, who arranged for them to audition at the label after hearing them open for Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers. Jim Ed Norman, a record producer who was then also the president of Warner Bros. Nashville, signed the sisters in late 1984. According to Kim, when the sisters were first contacted by the label, she thought that the call was a prank and immediately hung up before the label called a second time. The group's debut single "(That's What You Do) When You're in Love", released in mid-1985, reached a peak of number ten on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The song served as the lead single for their self-titled debut album released later that year. Three more singles from the album would reach number one on the same chart by 1986; in order of release, these were "I Fell in Love Again Last Night", "Just in Case", and "Mama's Never Seen Those Eyes". Muscle Shoals-based songwriters Terry Skinner and J. L. Wallace produced the album and co-wrote both "When You're in Love" and "Mama's Never Seen Those Eyes"; they wrote the former with Ken Bell, with whom they had previously recorded in the band Bama. "Just in Case" was written by Exile members J. P. Pennington and Sonny LeMaire, and previously recorded by that band on their 1984 album Kentucky Hearts. Sales figures from Warner Bros. Nashville indicated that more than 100,000 copies of "I Fell in Love Again Last Night" were sold. Coinciding with the success of this album, the sisters were nominated by the Academy of Country Music for Vocal Group of the Year in both 1985 and 1986, winning the award in the latter year. The album itself was nominated for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985. Also stemming from the album's commercial success was an extensive touring schedule, consisting of performances with Alabama, George Jones, Ricky Skaggs, and several other country music artists throughout 35 states. An uncredited review in People was mixed, calling their sound "heavy on country" and stating that the gospel sound of "The Missing Part" "adds a distinct warmth that blends cosily with the quartet's brightness". At the time of the album's release, Kathy lived with her husband Terry Adkins, who was also their manager and bass guitarist, while the other three sisters continued to live with their parents. The quartet's second album was 1986's Perfume, Ribbons & Pearls. It charted only one single in "Lonely Alone", which spent two weeks at the number two position on Hot Country Songs that year. Contributing songwriters to the album included Pam Tillis, Bob McDill, and Walt Aldridge. As with the previous album, Skinner and Wallace stayed on as producers. People published a positive review, praising the vocal deliveries of all four sisters while also stating that the album "warms the heart while it invigorates the toe". Cliff Radel of The Cincinnati Enquirer rated the album 2 out of 5 stars, calling the singing "clear as the sky on a crisp fall day" but criticizing the "poverty stricken songs". Montreal Gazette writer Lucinda Chodan contrasted the quartet's sound with that of The Judds, stating that "those celestial voices are harmonizing in the service of songs that, for the most part, are about as individual as pennies in a jar." She thought that "100% Chance of Blue" and the cover of The Supremes' "Back in My Arms Again" were the most distinct songs, but still criticized the production. After "Lonely Alone", the Forester Sisters were featured vocalists on The Bellamy Brothers' late-1986 hit "Too Much Is Not Enough", a number-one single from their album Country Rap. Following this song's success, the two acts toured together the following year on the Brothers and Sisters Tour. You Again, the sisters' third album, accounted for three singles upon its 1987 release. First was a cover of Brenda Lee's 1965 hit "Too Many Rivers", which the Forester Sisters took to top five on the country charts. After it came the title track, which became the sisters' fifth and final number-one hit. The last single was the top-five "Lyin' in His Arms Again", also written by Skinner and Wallace. The two split the album's production duties with Barry Beckett, James Stroud, and Emory Gordy Jr. Also included on the album was "Sooner or Later", later a top-ten hit in 1990 for Eddy Raven. James M. Tarbox of Knight Ridder News Service reviewed the album favorably, considering the album "consistent" for its lyrical themes of love while also noting that the sound was both "traditional" and "savvy for a couple of tunes to easily cross over to other formats." Alongside You Again, the sisters also recorded A Christmas Card, an album composed of traditional Christmas carols which was issued later in 1987. The next album was 1988's Sincerely. Its lead single was "Letter Home", followed by a cover of the 1950s pop standard "Sincerely", and finally "Love Will". Included on the album were a cover of The Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face", and the Harlan Howard composition "These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye", later a top-ten country hit for Doug Stone in 1991. Songwriter Wendy Waldman, who wrote "Love Will", handled most of the production duties on this album, with assistance on some tracks from Beckett, Stroud, and Norman. Sincerely accounted for the quartet's second Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal nomination at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1988. Jan Walker of The Orlando Sentinel said that "there's a confident sound to each of the 10 songs on the album, a showcase for the seemingly effortless natural harmony of four sibling voices." William Ruhlmann of AllMusic reviewed the album with favor as