The Forester Sisters: This four-member sister ensemble -- featuring siblings Christy, June, Kathy and Kim Forester -- has a nice family harmony sound, and a reasonably rootsy approach that places them somewhere between the Sweethearts Of The Rodeo and The Judds. They did quite well on the charts, with their last Top Ten entry coming in 1991, after which they fell from site, moving into the Christian country field instead. Here's a quick look at their work...
The Forester Sisters "Greatest Hits" (Warner Brothers, 1989)
(Various producers)
A nice sampling of their work from 1985-89; probably the best introduction to their work. This 10-song retrospective skimps a little bit, but it still has some nice stuff on it. Too commercial at times, but catchy on the good tracks.
The Forester Sisters "The Forester Sisters" (Warner Brothers, 1985)
The Forester Sisters "Perfume, Ribbons & Pearls" (Warner Brothers, 1986)
The Forester Sisters "You Again" (Warner Brothers, 1987)
The Forester Sisters "Sincerely" (Warner Brothers, 1988)
The Forester Sisters "All I Need" (Warner Brothers, 1988)
The Forester Sisters "Family Faith" (Heartland, 1988)
The Forester Sisters "Come Hold Me" (Warner Brothers, 1990)
The Forester Sisters "Talkin' 'Bout Men" (Warner Brothers, 1991)
(Produced by Robert Byrne & Alan Schulman)
A surprisingly strong, surprisingly rootsy album. They look all gussied up and yuppified on the album cover, but the music's pretty solid. On upbeat numbers, like "Men" and "Too Much Fun," they have a nice, perky simplicity and while their family harmony falters on some of the slower numbers, and some songs are pretty drippy... On others songs, though,, they summon some real emotional depth. "That Makes One Of Us" and "You Take Me For Granted" are really first-rate, good old-fashioned country heartsongs. It's refreshing to hear some modern country gals who aren't completely mired in the same old cloying touchie-feelie emotional tropes, and who play real country music, at least about half the time. Worth checking out.
The Forester Sisters "I Got A Date" (1992)
The Forester Sisters "A Christmas Card" (Warner Brothers, 1992)
(Produced by Jim Ed Norman)
Not bad... Their sweet family harmonies are bent towards a not-completely-predictable set of holiday tunes; most, like "White Christmas" and "Carol Of The Bells" are kind of the same-old same-old, more sugary, string-drenched, too-perfect Christmas tunes. Other tracks are quite lovely: the album's opener, Vaughn Horton's "An Old Christmas Card," is off the beaten track and the delivery is heartfelt; their version of "Silent Night" starts out really nice, as well. I mean, with a Jim Ed Norman album you sort of know what you're getting into, but this isn't as over-the-top and saccharine as his projects often are. It's not my kinda country, but if you're into holiday records, this is a pretty good choice. (For more Christmas records, see my Hillbilly Holiday section.)
The Forester Sisters "Sunday Meetin' " (JCI, 1994)
The Forester Sisters "More Than I Am" (1996)
The Forester Sisters "Greatest Gospel Hits" (Warner, 1997)
The Forester Sisters "New Star Shining" (2002)
