The Barry Sisters: Barrys, Barries, & Berries
In Which We Meet Three - or more - Alternate Sets of Barry / Barrie Sisters.
The Barry Sisters Sing Fiddler on the Roof is one of my favorite interpretations of what might be my single favorite work of musical theater. In honor of the 60th anniversary - Fiddler premiered on September 22, 1964 - here’s one of the great “cover albums” of this great score (on a par with the versions by Cannonball Adderley and Mickey Katz). In fact, I definitely have to do an entirely Fiddler-centric posting. As everyone knows, there is no “title song” to Fiddler on the Roof, but, as Sheldon Harnick told me, the music publisher requested one, so he and Jerry Bock cobbled one together from various other themes, including one from the opening number, “Tradition” and that song’s predecessor in the original demo, “We’ve Never Missed a Sabbath Yet.” Thus, the Barry Sisters are among the few who have recorded this faux-title song from Fiddler on the Roof.
Alas, we don’t have any video of Claire and Merna performing any of their exquisite arrangements of the Fiddler score. However, the team of Jane Lynch (we all love her as “Sophie Leonard” from Mrs. Maisel) and Kate Flannery recreate what must be the kitschiest - most inappropriately swinging - track from the Barry Sisters Fiddler album:
Paul Shapiro is a maverick tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader who has spent a rewarding career exploring the interconnections between jazz and Jewish vernacular music. He has put together several evenings of Yiddish swing, including an affectionate homage to the Barry Sisters performed by Cilla Owens and Eleanor Reissa. Both of these homages have a spirit and an energy that Claire and Merna would have enjoyed.
And, believe it or not, there are at least two different sets of “alternate” Barry Sisters - The first of whom are a minor mystery unto themselves.
The Barrie Sisters (aka “The Barries”), Los Angeles, 1944
This next group is a Trio, apparently of three sisters named Lee, Sharon, & Linda Barrie. I only know of two sets of recordings by this group, done in Los Angeles in 1944.
They first turn up in January 1944 on a Capitol Records session, providing vocal backing for Capitol co-founder Johnny Mercer on two songs. Apparently, because they didn’t want to confuse this trio with the already well-established East Coast duo, the group was credited simply as “The Barries.” (And, in fact, I’ve seen these sides reissued as “Johnny Mercer and the Berries.” Maybe he should have billed the collective as “Johnny Mercer and his Huckleberry Friends.”)
In early August 1944, this trio recorded five tracks for MacGregor Transcriptions, backed up by a considerably more famous instrumental trio led by the legendary King Cole Trio. For years, I assumed that these were the familiar Barry Sisters (Claire & Merna) and I assumed the label credit - “The Barrie Sisters” - was a misspelling. But no, it’s immediately apparent when listening that this is an entirely different group, not least because they’re a trio rather than a duo. Nat Cole was already enough of a star that there was a brief item about the session in Billboard, which mentions Nat and King Cole Trio - but not the vocal group
The Faux-“Barry Sisters” (Australia)
The third - but apparently not the last - group of “Barry Sisters” is from Australia, and they were also active at the same time as the “real” Barry Sisters. According to wiki, they were part of the same general collective of Aussie pop acts that gave us the Allen Brothers (one of whom was the soon-to-be-famous Peter Allen) and like the Allen Brothers, this was not their real name and they weren’t actual siblings. These Barrys are Dorothy Davidson (aka Dorothy Barry) and Lorna Whiteside (aka Lorna Barry). I have only found two clips of them, and, frankly, that’s enough. I hate to base my judgement on what not might be the best example of their work, but given the evidence here, they’re not going to make anybody forget Claire and Merna anytime soon. (If you asked me, they should have billed themselves as “The Shiksa Sisters.”)
And, consulting wiki one last time, I come across yet a fourth group with this name. “The Three Barry Sisters (active 1959–1960), an English trio that recorded two commissions of John Barry.” And that’s all, although now I expect I will come across two more groups of sisters that worked, respectively, with Barry Manilow and also Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill.
Very Special thanks to the fabulous Ms. Elizabeth Zimmer, for expert proofreading of this page, and scanning for typos, mistakes, and other assorted boo-boos!
TWO HIGHLY-RECOMMENDED FORTHCOMING EVENTS AT THE TRIAD ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 27
Private Event for SLOUCHING TOWARDS BIRDLAND subscribers!
(please RSVP me at wfriedwald@gmail.com)
Sunday October 27 - doors open @ 7:30PM, film to start at appx 8:00PM
The Triad Theater &
Will Friedwald's CLIP JOINT present
LIKE TOTALLY TOGA-LICIOUS!
THE BIG HALLOWEEN 2024 TOGA PARTY
featuring a screening of RICHARD LESTER's great 1966 film version of STEPHEN SONDHEIM'S classic Broadway musical, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM
starring ZERO MOSTEL, JACK GILFORD, MICHAEL CRAWFORD, PHIL SILVERS, & BUSTER KEATON
plus a mini Clip Joint Broadway mixtape of classic FORUM numbers from vintage 1960s variety shows.
no cover - but we will ask everyone to kick in a little $ (on a volunteer basis) to pay the projectionist
drinks available & encouraged (cash bar)
Proper ANCIENT ROMAN / TOGA attire recommended!
A matinee screening of the Twilight Zone episode “A Stop at Willoughby” (creator Rod Serling’s favorite episode) and the 1968 cult film The Swimmer (starring Burt Lancaster, based on John Cheever’s greatest short story) is at The Triad Theater, a cabaret-sized upstairs room on West 72nd street, sporting a brand new 4k projection system with 12.3 surround sound, on Sunday, October 27 at 2:00PM (note updated date & time) : for more info bit.ly/3MUMQ5k
Read Arlen’s article about “The Twilight Zone and The Swimmer”: bit.ly/47y8sxY
Sing! Sing! Sing! : My tagline is, “Celebrating the great jazz - and jazz-adjacent - singers, as well as the composers, lyricists, arrangers, soloists, and sidemen, who help to make them great.”
A production of KSDS heard Saturdays at 10:00 AM Pacific; 1:00PM Eastern.
To listen to KSDS via the internet (current and recent shows are available for streaming.) click here.
The whole series is also listenable on Podbean.com; click here.
SING! SING! SING!
October 5: The BOBBY SHORT Centennial “Afro-Centric”
download: <or> play online:
SLOUCHING TOWARDS BIRDLAND is a subStack newsletter by Will Friedwald. The best way to support my work is with a paid subscription, for which I am asking either $5 a month or $50 per year. Thank you for considering. (Thanks as always to Beth Naji & Arlen Schumer for special graphics.) Word up, peace out, go forth and sin no more! (And always remember: “A man is born, but he’s no good no how, without a song.”)
Note to friends: a lot of you respond to my SubStack posts here directly to me via eMail. It’s actually a lot more beneficial to me if you go to the SubStack web page and put your responses down as a “comment.” This helps me “drive traffic” and all that other social media stuff. If you look a tiny bit down from this text, you will see three buttons, one of which is “comment.” Just hit that one, hey. Thanks!
Slouching Towards Birdland (Will Friedwald's SubStack) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
The only Barry Sisters album I really like is more traditional. It's the one simply called "The Barry Sisters on Cadence. Semi modern versions of traditional Yiddish songs.