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When the Pointer Sisters Played Grand Ole Opry 50 Years Ago, the Staff Thought They Were Kitchen Help

Pointer Sisters' Ruth Pointer talks country hit "Fairytale" and their Grand Ole Opry performance.

“Anita and Bonnie wrote that song way before we were even recording,” Ruth Pointer, the sole surviving member of the original group, tells Billboard. '” Bonnie told the Youngstown, Ohio Vindicator in 1974 that the track — a breakup song inspired by Anita’s brief affair with a married radio disc jockey in San Francisco — was no novelty, “People think because we’re always trying something different we’re not sincere. The Pointers’ own band balked at recording “Fairytale,” according to Ruth, so the Pointers and producer David Rubinson went to Quadrophonic Studios in Nashville to cut the track, working with noted session players such as guitarist Bobby Thompson, Weldon Myrick on pedal steel, David Briggs on piano, Norbert Putnam on bass, Ken Buttrey on drums and Buddy Spicher on fiddle; Anita sang lead.

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