Fayette Pinkney (The Three Degrees) - A Profile

Fayette Pinkney (10 Jan 1948 - 27 Jun 2009) was an original member of the Philadelphia group The Three Degrees from it's inception in 1963 with Linda Turner and Shirley Poole. The group was formed by veteran writer/producer Richard Barrett who was behind the success of Little Anthony & The Imperials, The Chantels and Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers in the 50s.

Pinkney was only 15 and still at school and remained with the group through their Philadelphia International heyday until 1976. Turner and Poole were replaced by Helen Scott and Janet Harmon before they released their first single "Gee Baby (I'm Sorry)" in 1963 (on which Pinkney sang lead vocals) and by 1966 Scott was replaced by Sheila Ferguson and Harmon by Valerie Holiday in 1967 and this was the trio who joined Gamble & Huff in 1973.

Their early recordings were on the Philly Swan label until it closed in 1967 whereupon they released a one-off single ("Contact") for Warner Bros / Seven Arts in 1968 (which later became a big tune on Northern Soul dancefloors), two singles on Metromedia in 1969 and another on Gamble & Huff's Neptune imprint in 1970 before signing to Roulette in 1970. Their first hit came from their debut album "Maybe" in Jun 1970 with the title track, a cover of The Chantels 1958 #2 hit, which reached #4 R&B and #29 Hot 100. They had also recorded a, more uptempo, version of it earlier in 1966 on Swan.

In the UK the group is regarded as one of the biggest girl groups of the 70s. They were the first all girl group to have a #1 hit since The Supremes in 1964 and achieved ten UK Top 40 pop hits (with five of them being top 10). Yet in the US, surprisingly, they achieved only two Hot 100 Top 10 hits with "T.S.O.P." (helped by the fact that it was used as the theme tune to the TV show 'Soul Train' which was syndicated nationally in 1973) and "When Will I See You Again" and only four Top 10 R&B hits, the two former records plus "Maybe" and the follow up to it "I Do Take You".

Barrett decided to take the group to CBS in 1976 at which point Pinkney left the group being replaced by the returning Helen Scott. She recorded a solo album "One Degree" in London in 1979 after which she changed direction. She worked as project coordinator for Opportunities Industrialization Center in North Philadelphia from 1979 to 1983 and then studied Psychology at Temple University and obtained a Masters Degree in Human Services from Lincoln University. She subsequently worked as an education co-ordinator at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania from 1989 to 1994, and from 2001 an intake counsellor at United Behavioral Health in Philadelphia.

Although not credited on the album, Pinkney was involved in the recording of David Bowie's "Young Americans" album at Sigma Sound Studios in 1974 on which Ava Cherry and Luther Vandross also provided backing vocals. Bowie wanted to use MFSB but they weren't available.

Pinkney died of acute respiratory failure after a short and sudden illness aged 61 in June 2009, she would have been 75 today.

Quite a comprehensive playlist of Three Degrees tunes was posted only a few weeks ago for, remaining member, Valerie Holiday's 75th birthday on 2 Dec 2020. So some different tracks have been selected, including a few more of the hits up to 1976 which were intentionally omitted, although there will inevitably be some overlap, but best to view/listen to both playlists. Just to spice it up a bit, included is a brand new cover of "Year Of Decision" by Brian Power & The Lewis Sisters). Videos include an award ceremony (presented by Helen Scott's nephew Ashley Scott), an interview with The Three Degrees and two solo performances by Fayette.

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