In the burgeoning music scene of San Francisco in the late 1960s, Bonnie, who sought a show business career, convinced June to join her to form a duo, “The Pointers - A Pair.” In 1969 Anita joined, thus the birth of “The Pointer Sisters.” The legendary impresario, Bill Graham, became their manager in the early 1970s. They began to tour and perform and provided background vocals for such artists as the flamboyant Sylvester, Taj Mahal, Grace Slick, Boz Scaggs, Cold Blood, Elvin Bishop and other Bay Area artists. In 1971 Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records heard them backing Elvin Bishop at the Whisky A-Go-Go in Los Angeles and signed them to a record deal. The resulting single, “Don’t Try To Take The Fifth,” failed to win an audience but The Sisters were enjoying themselves, and in 1972 the temptation to join them finally overwhelmed Ruth. Before they began to record their first album, the trio had become a quartet.

They agreed that they did not want to follow the current trend of pop music, but wanted to create an original sound that combined jazz, scat and be-bop music. In searching for a visual style they remembered the poverty of their childhood and their mother’s ability to improvise, and used their experience to assemble a collection of vintage 1940s clothes from various thrift shops, which would comprise their costumes and give them the distinctive look they were searching for.

The Pointer Sisters had yet to attain any level of success or direction in the early 70s when they came to the attention of Bay Area producer David Rubinson. This attention came as a result of them going to Houston to pursue their fame and fortune. When they got there everything fell through and they were left stranded with no money to return home. Bonnie had heard of the legendary David Rubinson, but had never met him; regardless, she decided to call him and ask for help. She picked up the phone, contacted him and said, “You don’t know us, and you’ve never heard us sing, but please trust us and help!” He obliged.

Back in Oakland, while going through a stack of albums looking for material to perform, they ran across an old Lee Dorsey album with Allen Toussaint’s uplifting and socially conscious song, “Yes We Can Can.” It was decided then, this would be their theme song and the message they wanted to tell the world, Yes We Can! In the studio they sang it around a single mic, with Anita handling lead and the ladies voices added over funky backing tracks laid down with the help of Rubinson’s contacts like Tower of Power’s guitarist Willie Fulton. Upon its release in March of ‘73, the record soon hit Number 11 on Billboard’s pop chart and Number 12 on the R & B chart.

In 1973, they released their self-titled debut album, featuring their cover of Allen Toussaint’s “Yes We Can Can” and Willie Dixon’s “Wang Dang Doodle,” backed by the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils. Both did well on the pop charts, and the group started gaining national recognition. They made their debut performance at the Troubador nightclub in Los Angeles in May 1973 and the reaction from the crowd was enthusiastic. Shortly after, they made their television debut on The Helen Reddy Show.

April 21, 1974 ♪ The Pointer Sisters recorded a live double album at the San Francisco Opera House,
making them the first contemporary act to ever perform there.

They won their first Grammy in 1975 for the country and western song “Fairytale,” written by Bonnie and Anita Pointer, who were also nominated as songwriters for Best Country Song. Prior to their Grammy award, the song had reached Number 13 on the pop charts and Number 37 on the country charts. Based on this success, the group was invited to Nashville, Tennessee to perform their country hit. No one in Nashville had ever seen them. When The Sisters strutted onto the stage the audience was set aback. A gentleman in the audience yelled out, “Hot damn, them girls is Black!” The Pointer Sisters made history as they achieved the rare distinction of becoming the first Black female singers to ever perform at the Grand Ole Opry, and Nashville fell in love with them. However, when they arrived at a Nashville mansion to a party honoring them, they were lead to the kitchen as they were thought to be the hired help.

In 1977, after Bonnie left, the group headed in a new direction both musically and in fashion. They went for a sleek, high-end look - Bob Mackie designed part of their wardrobe - and The Sisters embraced a new sound, recording the Bruce Springsteen song “Fire,” which reached Number 2 on the pop charts and was certified Gold in 1978.

We're the hotest thing out of Oakland since the Black Panthers.
Bonnie Pointer

June Pointer
It's hard to sing a love song,
with a bowl of fruit on you head.
Anita Pointer

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Allen Toussaint's Yes We Can Can As recorded by The Pointer Sisters Now's the time for all good men to get together with one another We got to iron out our problems and iron out our quarrels and try to live as brothers And try to find a peace within without stepping on one another And do respect the women of the world Remember you all had mothers We gotta make this land a better land than the world in which we live And we got to help each man be a better man with the kindness that we give I know we can make it (lead: I know that we can) I know darn well we can work it out Oh yes we can, I know we can can Yes we can can, why can't we? If we wanna yes we can can I know we can make it work I know we can make it if we try Oh yes we can, I know we can can Yes we can (Great gosh almighty) Oh yes we can, I know we can can And we gotta take care of all the children, the little children of the world 'cause they're our strongest hope for the future, the little bitty boys and girls We got to make this land a better land than the world in which we live And we got to help each man be a better man with the kindness that we give I know we can make it (lead: I know that we can) I know darn well we can work it out Oh yes we can, I know we can can yes we can can, why can't we? If we wanna, yes we can can (Repeat chorus) Ad-libs over chorus written by Anita Pointer: Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it's hard Oh, but we can make it ya’ll We gotta try a little harder, raise our children like we oughta So they’ll know just what it’s all about, don’t you know we can work it out Now’s the time – all the people come together as an equal There’s a need to take the burden off your brother, got to love one another There's so many needy, so many poor But love and understanding is the key to the door How can you sit there, like there’s nothing to do? Just like you don’t care, what the world’s coming to? Lord! It’s gonna be hard, like the people say, no matter how hard Where there’s a will, there’s a way We gotta tell the world, every boy and girl Gotta live as one, ‘til all the work is done, yeah