The Petites (1) (Chicago)




Personnel:

Pati Pettit

Mary Pettit

Alice Pettit

Claudia "Pettit" Prince

Bob Pettit



Discography :

1958 - Marguerite / Blessed Are They (Spinning 6003)
1958 - Sweetie Pie / Who kicked The light Plug Out Of The Socket (Spinning 6005)
1960 - Get You'r Daddy's Car Tonight / Sun Showers (Columbia 41662)
1961 - Making Miracle / A Little love (Columbia 42053)

Biography :

The ‘Pettit Family’ began singing together in the late 1940s in Northwest Iowa. It started with the four oldest children singing, accompanied by their mother Marie. The quartet consisted of Alice, Bob, Pati and Mary. Marie taught Alice and Bob to sing harmony while Pati and Mary sang the melody. Mary sang all the solos and, at the early age of five or six, was considered a gifted singer. Their sister Claudia joined them at the age of three, singing melody with Pati and Mary.

The Pettit Family                                                        

The Pettit Family sang all around Iowa for many years. With Gammack, who had become a mentor to the children, serving as their talent scout, the five songbirds performed on "The Arthur Godfrey Show" in New York. Even though they placed second to a harmonica player from Pennsylvania, their May 1958 television appearance turned into an audition for George Gobel and his television show, "The George Gobel Show." After signing a $30,000 contract, "The Petites" moved to Los Angeles in August 1958, and became "regulars" on the variety show from Sept. 23 until April 1959.

Front row from left: Pati, Mary and Alice Pettit. Middle row: Claudia (Pettit) Prince. Back row: Bob Pettit.

They had the privilege of performing on the show with many stars such as Paul Lynde, Bea Arthur, Joe Flynn. The show’s head writer was Norman Lear. During the Gobel Show era, Columbia Records signed them, through Frank DeVol, who was head of orchestrations on the Gobel Show. The siblings cut some records as “The Petites”; enjoying some success and lots of air play with their records of “Blessed Are They”, “Sun Showers” and “Get Your Daddy’s Car Tonight.” Johnny Grant, now known as the ‘Honorary Mayor of Hollywood’ was a disc jockey at KMPC Radio and one of their greatest fans.

By 1961, with the marriages of Alice and Pati, the trio of Bob, Mary and Claudia continued to sing professionally in cities such as San Francisco, Reno, Lake Tahoe, New York and Las Vegas. When Bob was drafted for six months in the Army National Guard, singer Judy Gardner joined Mary and Claudia, who had by then taken on her older sister Pati's name, as one of the three "Petites." The trio signed a one-year contract with Jerry Colonna and toured the country.









Songs :

     
Marguerite                      Blessed Are They                     Sweetie Pie

  
Who kicked The light Plug Out Of The Socket           Get You'r Daddy's Car Tonight

     
Sun Showers             Making Miracle                   A Little love

….