The Stovall Sisters

A group of three sisters, Rejoyce, Lillian and Nettie Stovall, who started singing with their family's gospel group in the Midwest, but by the late 1950s had come west to Oakland CA. They switched to secular R&B in the 60's and for a time circa 1970 they ended up as Ikettes backing Ike & Tina Turner. Eventually, they tired of the Turner's internal discord and put a classified ad in the Oakland Tribune that said "'Three black girls looking for a band". "Two producers from Warner Bros. actually answered it." they told the a reporter in 2006. One of the producers, singer/songwriter William Truckaway, was looking for a contemporary rock gospel sound to backup a white Jewish singer. "We went to a studio in San Francisco, and put down vocals on 'The Spirit in the Sky" which became Norman Greenbaum's best-known hit, with it's catchy stomping chorus and uplifting spiritual lyrics. Their own material is harder to find, including their sole self titled album, but the song "Hang On In There" originally on Warner/Reprise is on in several compilations. In 2007 the participated in an induction ceremony for the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame Awards. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.