1935
In 1935 the Brian Sisters had only recently arrived in Hollywood with their mother, Meda.
They were appearing in clubs, where their singing skills were well received. The only recording of them in this year is their first film, Our Gang Follies of 1936.
In 1935 the girls were 11, 8 and 7 (or thereabouts). To hear the perfect harmony and delivery of their singing together at such an early age must have been delightful.
We can only guess as to how good they were – much better in any case than in the film, where they were “told to sing with a sort of 'hick' accent.”" Oh, why did the film directors have such a desire to make the girls 'dumb down' their performance and sound worse than they were? The most extreme example of this was surely in High School (1940) when they had to sing without expression and with (deliberate) bad notes, in order to “sound more like a school group would sound”.
Take a look at their first film performance in Our Gang Follies of 1936. It earned them real money, as well as giving us the first hearing of their talents.
Forward to 1937