Sandpipers

The Sandpipers were an all-female vocal trio that included sisters Charlyne and Debbie Kilpatrick, and Sally Hirst. They began in 1964, after singing in the glee club at Warrington Middle School, and from there graduated to doing shows at NAS and the officers wives clubs.

Their 1965 performance at a fashion show caught the attention of Tom Smith, general manager of country radio station WNVY. They, along with local band The Phatons, soon opened for country music star Red Foley at the Municipal Auditorium. That show was followed by weekend employment at the Sahara Club, where they teamed-up with a little-known band called the Allman Joys, later known as the Allman Brothers Band. They travelled with the Allmans for two weeks for shows at fraternity parties in Tallahassee and Hattiesburg, then to New York's Greenwich Village where they were offered a recording contract. In all, the Sandpipers spent six months touring with the Allman Joys.

By the early 1970's, the ladies had musically gone their own separate ways and were no longer performing regularly as a group. In the '70's, Debbie Kilpatrick sang at the Gold Nugget club, Charlyne Kilpatrick sang with local band ZigZag, and Sally Hirst sang with several bands, married and travelled the world.

The trio reunited in 1989 for a performance with local band Clarke and Company at Jubilee Restaurant on Pensacola Beach, and also in 2003 with the Reunion Band, whom Charlyne has been singing with since 2002.(First photo courtesy of the Pensacola News-Journal)