Treat Her Like A Lady – Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: R&B(#20) and Pop(#3) ; 1971

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

The Cornelius family included 15 children, three of which – Edward, Carter, and Rose – formed a gospel group called the Split Tones. The trio toured extensively around their home base of Dania, Florida before making the move to secular music. The timing was good for family singing acts, as the 1970 charts were full of records by groups such as the Jackson 5, the Carpenters, and the 5 Stairsteps. Edward had written what sounded like a hit, yet, when Treat Her Like A Lady hit the street on Platinum Records, it vanished without a trace. The following spring United Artists gave Lady a second shot and this time it started to climb. Lady took six long weeks to move into the Top 40. In another four weeks the Cornelius siblings joined the Carpenter, Osmond, Gibb, and Partridge family members in the Top 10 with their unique brand of sweet funk-edged soul.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2023 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Lyrics Written by:

• Eddie Cornelius

Award:

• The song “Treat Her Like A Lady” by Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose received a gold disc for selling over one million copies (1971)