Fairytale (Pointer Sisters Song) - History

History

Recorded at Quadraphonic Studios in Nashville TN, "Fairytale" with its C&W flavor represented an extreme stylistic departure for the Pointer Sisters and was not chosen as its parent album's advance single, that distinction being afforded in March 1974 to "Steam Heat", an exemplar of the group's typical swing era sound which failed to chart. The June 1974 follow-up single release originally featured "Fairytale" - pared down from the 5:07 length of the album track - as the B-side to a remake of the Vibrations' 1968 R&B hit "Love in Them There Hills" but after the last-named track failed to attract interest at Pop- or R&B-formatted radio stations its intended B-side "Fairytale" was pitched to C&W-formatted radio stations, a left-field maneuver which paid off with a debut on the Billboard C&W chart dated 27 July 1974; as the Pointer Sisters' label Blue Thumb had no C&W division "Fairytale" was promoted in the C&W market by ABC Dot Records which like Blue Thumb was part of the Famous Music group.

The Pointer Sisters began a series of promotional appearances in Nashville with a 16 August 1974 performance at Fairgrounds Speedway and on 25 October 1974 the Pointer Sisters performed "Fairytale" at the Grand Ole Opry, marking the inaugural Opry appearance by an African-American vocal group (the personnel for the Pointer Sisters' Opry performance - which also featured "Shaky Flat Blues" - was Anita, Ruth and Bonnie Pointer; the absence of fourth member June Pointer being attributed to physical and nervous exhaustion). Ultimately "Fairytale" had achieved only moderate C&W hit status peaking at #39 on the Billboard C&W chart dated 5 October 1974 but this was sufficient success to effect a crossover to Pop radio with "Fairytale" debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 - also dated 5 October 1974 - to ascend to a #13 peak that December. Internationally "Fairytale" reached #30 in Australia and #42 in Canada, also reaching #41 on the Canadian C&W chart.

The Pointer Sisters had introduced "Fairytale" in performance in their 21 April 1974 concert at the San Francisco Opera House; their live version was featured on the Live at the Opera House album released September 1974.

Bonnie Pointer would play down the idea of a C&W hit by the Pointer Sisters being a novelty: "People think because we're always trying something different we're not sincere. Like country music. For us it's no joke...Our folks came from Arkansas and we grew up singing country songs. It's part of us." "Fairytale" would win the Pointer Sisters the Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for the year 1974, marking the first awarding of a Grammy to an all-female vocal group, and Bonnie and Anita Pointer would also receive a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Country Song as the writers of "Fairytale".

In December 1975 the Pointer Sisters recorded five more tracks at Quadrophonic Studios intending to complete an album of all-C&W songs; however only one track was released: "Live Your Life Before You Die" which upon its January 1975 single release only became a minor Pop hit (#89) (although it would garner the Pointer Sisters another Best Country Group Performance Grammy nomination) and the follow-up studio album to That's a Plenty: the June 1975 release Steppin', in fact showed the group moving in a more emphatically R&B direction than previously. Anita Pointer did score a #2 C&W hit in 1986 dueting with a Earl Thomas Conley on "Too Many Times".

Elvis Presley recorded "Fairytale" on 10 March 1975 at RCA's Hollywood studios.