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YOU'RE THE ONE - Part.1&2Little Sister - 1970 Collection SingleLittle Sister's BiographyThe short-lived female R&B trio Little Sister was best known for its associations with Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart. Not only did Stone organize the trio, its principal member was his sister, Vaetta "Vet" Stewart (hence the group's name). Stewart, Mary Rand, and Elva Melton began singing together as touring backup for Sly & the Family Stone in the late '60s and providing backing vocals on several of their albums. In 1970, Stone produced a series of church-inflected soul tracks for them on his Stone Flower imprint. Two of them became Top Ten R&B hits: "You're the One, Pt. 1" and "Somebody's Watching You," the latter of which the Family Stone had previously recorded on their Stand! album. "You're the One" was the bigger hit, but the funky "Somebody's Watching You" had greater sonic impact: charting in early 1971, it was said to be the first significant pop hit to use programmed drums, and its percolating rhythm-bed presaged that of the Family Stone's own massive hit "Family Affair" later that year. Lacking both management and Sly Stone's continued attention and involvement, the group disbanded shortly thereafter with no fanfare.HistoryFormationWhile still in high school, Vaetta Stewart and her friends Mary McCreary and Elva Mouton had a gospel group called The Heavenly Tones and performed at various venues around the Oakland/San Francisco area. When Vaetta's older brother Sylvester took on the name Sly Stone and formed Sly & the Family Stone with their brother Freddie, and friends Larry Graham, Cynthia Robinson, Jerry Martini, and Greg Errico, The Heavenly Tones were recruited directly out of high school to become Little Sister, Sly & the Family Stone's background vocalists.The group performed background vocals on a number of the Family Stone's biggest early hits, including "Everyday People" and "Stand!" Besides Little Sister's background vocals, Sly, Freddie, Larry Graham, and middle sister Rose Stone were heard singing backgrounds on the tracks as well.Hit singlesDuring the interim period between the releases of the Family Stone albums Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, Sly Stone negotiated a production deal with Atlantic Records, resulting in his own imprint, Stone Flower. Stone Flower released four singles, including one by R&B artist Joe Hicks, one by 6IX, and two by Little Sister: "You're The One" and "Somebody's Watching You", a cover of a song from Stand!. The Little Sister version of "Somebody's Watching You" was the first major record to have a rhythm track created with a drum machine.Both Little Sister 45s reached the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 and the Billboard R&B Top 10 ("You're the One" made it to #4, and "Somebody's Watching You" made it to #8), but for unclear reasons Sly ceased production of further Little Sister recordings, and Little Sister were relegated to background vocal work for the rest of its existence.Later periodDuring the post-1971 period of Sly & the Family Stone, Little Sister began singing nearly all of the background vocals itself, as Sly began singing nearly all of the lead vocals himself.Little Sister was dissolved when the Family Stone did, in 1975, after the band's fortunes slowly fell due to Sly Stone's drug abuse problems. After the group's dissolution, Mary McCreary married singer/songwriter Leon Russell.Members• Vet Stone • Mary McCreary • Elva Mouton Vet Stone (born Vaetta Stewart on May 2, 1950 in Vallejo, California) is an African-American soul singer, the lead singer in Sly & the Family Stone's background group Little Sister (the group name derives from the fact that she is the "little sister" of frontman Sly Stone. Little Sister had a #8 R&B hit of its own in 1970 entitled "You're the One".Today, Vet Stone is the lead figure in a band called Family Stone (formerly called Phunk Phamily Affair), which serves to carry on the legacy of Sly & the Family Stone. The band includes Cynthia Robinson and Rose Stone's daughter Lisa Stone among its members, and is being produced by Sly Stone.DiscographySingles•1970:You're The One [Part.2]" (US #22, R&B #4) •1970: "Somebody's Watching You" b/w "Stanga" (US #32, R&B #8) •1971: "Stanga" b/w "Stanga" (radio promo release only) (US #44 R&B) Similar Artists:Honey Cone, Brenda & the Tabulations, Ike & Tina Turner, Freda Payne, Jean Knight, The Chi-Lites, Chairmen of the Board