The Chiffons

A black female vocal group, the Chiffons had several international hits in the early '60s. Barbara Lee, Patricia Bennett, and Judy Craig met and began singing together in high school. In 1960 manager/songwriter Ronald Mack got them a contract with Big Deal Records. After one small hit that year, a cover of the Shirelles' "Tonight's the Night," they were not heard from again until 1962, when fourth member Sylvia Peterson joined. Their three-year string of hits included the Mack-penned "He’s So Fine" (#1, 1963), which George Harrison was convicted of having unintentionally plagiarized in 1976 with his 1970 hit “My Sweet Lord.” (In 1975 the Chiffons recorded their version of “My Sweet Lord.”)

Other hits for the Chiffons included “One Fine Day” (#5, 1963), “Nobody Knows What’s Going On” (#49, 1965), and “Sweet Talkin’ Guy” (#10, 1966). In 1963 the group also recorded two songs as the Four Pennies (“My Block” and “When the Boy’s Happy”). After 1966 the group ceased to appear on the charts in the U.S., but a 1972 rerelease of “Sweet Talkin’ Guy” went to #4 in the U.K. Lee died of a heart attack in 1992. The soundtrack to the 1997 film One Fine Day contained the Chiffons’ track of the same name. The group continues to perform both with and without Craig, who first left the group in the ’70s.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)