Stovall Sisters

Stovall Sisters – Family Gospel Group. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Lillian, Netta, and Joyce Stovall were the three youngest of Della Stovall, a mother of ten. In the 1950s, the young sisters sang in churches as the Little Wonders before transforming into the Valley Wonders as teenagers. After a relocation to Oakland, California, in 1964, the sisters finished high school and added secular music to their repertoire. Although they made some Gospel recordings as the Sisters Three and the Stovall Family, they became very busy with performing popular music in night clubs. Following a recording session backing keyboardist and singer William Truckaway (an artist on Reprise), the Stovall Sisters met Truckaway’s friend Erik Jacobsen, who had produced the Loovin’ Spoonful. This meeting led to the Stovall Sisters singing backing vocals for Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” (1969), which was produced by Jacobsen on Reprise Records. The high and strong vocal harmonies by the Stovall Sisters provide a strong Gospel presence within the context of a psychedelic rock song. In the end, this spiritual gem reached #3 on the U.S. charts and went to #1 in Great Britain and Canada.