The Paris Sisters were a 1960s girl group consisting of three sisters from San Francisco, Albeth, Sherrell, and Priscilla Paris. They had gotten their start in the Fifites by emulating the sound of another sibling trio, The Andrews Sisters, but the songs they cut with producer Phil Spector are what they’re best remembered for.

Predating his bombastic Wall of Sound productions, Spector crafted intimate showcases for Priscilla’s breathy, girlish voice. With Priscilla closely miked, Albeth and Sherrell were usually relegated to providing (very quiet) background harmony to these sparse, restrained arrangements. Of the ten or so tunes The Paris Sisters recorded with Spector, “I Love How You Love Me” was the breakthrough, a #5 hit in 1961.

Pure perfection captured on tape, “I Love How You Love Me” has been covered many times, and in 1999, “folktronica” singer-songwriter Beth Orton did so as a B-side to her “Stolen Car” UK single. Thirty-eight years after the original Paris Sisters’ recording, it was both surprising and lovely that Orton had chosen this particular song to re-do. Well, maybe not entirely surprising, as her 1996 debut, Trailer Park, did feature a cover of The Ronettes’ “I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine,” indicating an appreciation of Spector’s girl groups and a knack for revisiting the heartbreak of such classics.

Last Tuesday, Sony-BMG issued a deluxe “Legacy Edition” of Trailer Park, completely remastered with a bonus disc of 13 non-album tracks from that period of Orton’s career. Those extras include “I Love How You Love Me.” Hear here:

Today, I can appreciate the magic of The Paris Sisters’ “I Love How You Love Me,” but the 5-year-old me much preferred the uptempo B-side, selecting the singable “All Through The Night” on my dad’s jukebox over and over and over again, watching the Gregmark label spin around.

Purchase Beth Orton’s cover of “I Love How You Love Me” (The Paris Sisters cover) via iTunes, Amazon MP3.