Although Barrett signed Ferguson as a solo artist, he was already in the process of creating a group called The Three Degrees with the line up of Fayette Pinkney, Shirley Porter and Linda Turner. By 1966, the line up had changed to be Fayette Pinkney, Helen Scott and Janet Harmon. However, Scott announced she would be leaving the group in order to get married. Having previously appeared with the group as a cover when one of the girls fell ill, Ferguson was asked by Pinkney and Harmon to become a permanent member. In 1967, Harmon left the group and was replaced by Valerie Holiday. Barrett signed them to several record labels, and by 1970, they were signed to Roulette Records and released their first album "Maybe", the title song of which reached #4 in the US R&B charts. The singles "I Do Take You" and "You're the Fool" followed as well as second album "So Much Love".