1975 in New York City, NY. The Andrews Sisters' Decca recording reached number six on the U.S. pop singles chart in the spring of 1941 when the film was in release. [52], The Andrews Sisters sing the title song as the opening credits roll and also perform two specialty numbers in the all-star revue Hollywood Canteen (1944). 20), "Money Is the Root of All Evil (Take it Away, Take it Away, Take it Away)" (with, "Pross Tchai (Goodbye-Goodbye)" (1939) (No. Female vocal trio who were one of the most popular and influential acts of the Big Band era. We hardly really knew it, and when we went in we had some extra time and we just threw it in, and that was the miracle of it. No other female vocal group, and very few male ones, came close to their success from the late '30s to the early '50s, an era when first big bands and then solo singers dominated popular music. Patty was only 11 when the trio caught the show business bug following a nervous first performance in a 1931 singing contest. The sisters performed their hits in service comedy films like Buck Privates and Private Buckaroo. She also had a cameo as herself along with many other stars in the 1970 film The Phynx. As the war ended, the Andrews Sisters became the stars of their own radio program, The Andrews Sisters Show. The sisters spent summers in Mound[1] with their uncles Pete and Ed Solie, who had a grocery store there. Its cast album charted, as did another Andrews Sisters compilation (In the Mood on Paramount). Stricken with cancer, LaVerne retired from the act in 1966 and died the following year. She then married Walter Weschler, the trio's pianist, in 1951. The ashes of LaVerne and Maxene Andrews are interred in the Columbarium of Memory of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California,[29] close to the ashes of their parents. The Andrews Sisters. They also recorded morale-boosting "Victory Discs" for distribution to Allied forces, one of which featured their signature hit, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. "[31], They found instant appeal with teenagers and young adults who were engrossed in the swing and jazz idioms, especially when they performed with nearly all of the major big bands, including those led by Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Joe Venuti, Freddie Slack, Eddie Heywood, Bob Crosby (Bing's brother), Desi Arnaz, Guy Lombardo, Les Brown, Bunny Berigan, Xavier Cugat, Paul Whiteman, Ted Lewis, Nelson Riddle, and mood-master Gordon Jenkins, whose orchestra and chorus accompanied them on such successful soft and melancholy renditions as "I Can Dream, Can't I?" Following the collapse of their father's Minneapolis restaurant, the sisters went on the road to support the family. ". mattymath. 3.11. Bands with femenine names. They were from Minneapolis, Minnesota.Their names were LaVerne (July 6, 1911 - May 8, 1967), Maxene (January 3, 1916 - October 21, 1995) and Patty Andrews (February 16, 1918 - January 30, 2013). The Westonka Historical Society has a large collection of Andrews Sisters memorabilia. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Andrews-Sisters, The Vocal Group Hall of Fame - The Andrews Sisters, the Andrews Sisters - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). [1] The sisters have sold an estimated 80 million records. As the troops headed overseas, the sisters were drafted into service in their own way, playing more USO tours than any other entertainer besides Bob Hope. During the war, they entertained the Allied forces extensively in Africa, and Italy, as well as in the U.S., visiting Army, Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard bases, war zones, hospitals, and munitions factories. Patty Andrews, a soprano, was lead singer for the trio, Maxene sang second soprano, and LaVerne took the lowest line. Our mother died (in 1948) and then our father (in 1949). After winning a Minneapolis talent contest when they were still children, they went on to tour vaudeville, too. Later in life, according to her adopted daughter, Maxene entered a thirteen-year relationship with her manager Lynda Wells and they later spent many years as life partners. In Give Out, Sisters (1942), they posed as rich society matron types out to better their careers while featuring their big hit "Pennsylvania Polka." But, in a sense, they had no competition. They can be seen singing "You Don't Have to Know the Language" with Bing Crosby in Paramount's Road to Rio with Bob Hope, that year's highest-grossing movie. In late1947, CBS Radio signed the sisters as regulars on "Club Fifteen" (they appeared three times a week for five years with alternating hosts Bob Crosby and crooner Dick Haymes.In 1942, Universal decided it was the right time to spruce them up and give them a bit more on-screen persona by featuring them front-and-center in what turned out to be an unfortunate string of poorly-produced "quickies." They recorded for Capitol Records (1956-1959) and Dot Records (1961-1967) without commercial impact. Patty not only sang lead; she was clearly the star of the group. She was 14 when they began to perform in public. This was a follow-up to Patty's success in Victory Canteen, a 1971 California revue. The 2011 video game L.A. Noire features the song "Pistol Packin' Mama", where the sisters perform a duet with Bing Crosby. 1 on the charts in 1955. Patty and Maxene never did fully reconcile. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" is a World War II jump blues song written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince which was introduced by The Andrews Sisters in the Abbott and Costello comedy film, Buck Privates (1941). The Andrews Sisters - Artist Details. Critic William Ruhlmann observed that the Andrews 1941 hit Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was. No trained actresses by any margin, the girls emanated a down-home naturalness and appeal with a comedic flair that attracted audiences coast-to-coast.In later films, the girls played everything from "lonely hearts" club managers in Always a Bridesmaid (1943), to elevator operators in How's About It? Maxene's was kind of high, and I was between. Weschler, her husband of nearly 60 years, had died on August 28, 2010, at the age of 88. The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. 2. "With that," Maxene said, Patty "started to cry. All of a sudden, all hell broke loose.". Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The sisters have sold an estimated 80 million records. Over Here! The next year, the pair debuted on Broadway in the Sherman Brothers' nostalgic World War II musical: Over Here!, which premiered at the Shubert Theatre to rave reviews. Laverne died of cancer at age 55 in 1967; Maxene of a heart attack at age 79 in 1995; Patty from natural causes at age 94 in 2013. [64], They recorded 47 songs with crooner Bing Crosby, 23 of which charted on Billboard, thus making the team one of the most successful pairings of acts in a recording studio in show business history. Their first professional engagement came in December 1932 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Patty Andrews, the last of the Andrews Sisters, died at her home in Los Angeles in January 2013; she was 94 years old. In 1972, Bette Midler introduced "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" to a new generation of music fans with her own hit version. Their next big hit was "I Can Dream, Can't I?," a gold single on which Patty sang lead with her sisters providing backup; it hit number one in January 1950. Patty Andrewss first marriage, to the movie producer Marty Melcher, lasted two years and ended in divorce in 1949. Maxine was only four when she first appeared on her first radio broadcast in Minneapolis. Then in one year, our dream world ended. In Private Buckaroo (1942), they put on a show for servicemen singing, among others, the huge hit "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree with Anyone Else But Me". (Mr. Melcher later married Doris Day.) Female vocal trio who were one of the most popular and influential acts of the Big Band era. Offstage, the sisters well-publicized feuds kept them in the gossip pages. There's nothing I would do to change things if I couldYes, I would. During their first weeks with the label, the sisters made the rather idiosyncratic choice to record a jazz-influenced rendition of the Yiddish song Bei mir bist du schon. The recording was released after Christmas 1937; by New Years Eve it had become the most popular song on New York radio stations, and it went on to become the first million-selling record by a female singing group. The Andrews Sisters also seem to have given little thought to the meaning of the lyrics. In November 1933, they joined a vaudeville troupe for six months, traveling around the Midwest. Journal. Their first picture, Argentine Nights, paired them with another enthusiastic trio, the Ritz Brothers. 20211 () e so foolish as to wear them right inside the store. RYM artists in order they were added. LaVerne had founded the original group, and often acted as the peacemaker among the three during the sisters' lives, more often siding with her parents, to whom the girls were extremely devoted, than with either of her sisters. Their first appearance co-starred the zany and sometimes corny antics of The Ritz Brothers in an unflattering ditty called Argentine Nights (1940). The sisters were LaVerne Sofia Andrews (b. July 6, 1911, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.d. They consisted of real life sisters LaVerne Andrews, Maxene Andrews, and Patty Andrews. And in 1948, when they were ranked as the top recording artists of the year, the Andrews Sisters reached the Top Ten with "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)" (with Danny Kaye), "Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)," "Underneath the Arches," and "You Call Everybody Darling.". They boasted an exuberant, close-harmony style well-suited to cheery novelty songs, and their intricate vocal . [citation needed]. As teenagers, the Andrews Sisters formed a singing act and began performing in vaudeville reviews throughout the Midwest. Her singing was." Their reign is all the more remarkable given that they swam against the current of contemporary music trends while making it seem effortless. In a 1974 interview with The New York Times, Patty explained what that was like: When our fans used to see one of us, theyd always ask, Where are your sisters? Every time we got an award, it was just one award for the three of us. This could be irritating, she said with a touch of exasperation: Were not glued together.. The group's renditions of swing tunes in close harmony sold millions of copies; the act was also hugely popular in live performance and in film. Patty Andrews married agent Marty Melcher in 1947 but left him in 1949, when he pursued a romantic relationship with Doris Day. The group sang with various bands and for several radio broadcasts while they were struggling during the mid-1930s to establish their reputation. In the audio of this story, as in a previous Web version, we identify "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" as a Yiddish folk tune. Their million-sellers with Crosby included "Pistol Packin' Mama",[65] "Don't Fence Me In",[34] "South America, Take It Away", and "Jingle Bells". By the time she was six she was entertaining at veterans hospitals, for the Mayor of Minneapolis and at Daughters of American Revolution luncheons. They also helped actress Bette Davis and actor John Garfield found California's famous Hollywood Canteen, a welcome retreat for servicemen where the trio often performed, volunteering their personal time to sing and dance for the soldiers, sailors, and Marines (they did the same at New York City's Stage Door Canteen during the war). 1947 brought the Top Ten hits "Tallahassee" (with Crosby), "Near You," and "The Lady From 29 Palms." It was the last major tour for the sisters and was cut short owing to a conflict with the show's producers over pay for the sisters, resulting in the cancellation of an extensively scheduled road tour. "I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time," their Top Ten hit of 1941, was featured in their film Buck Privates. a perfect example of the way in which the Andrews Sisters adapted their vocal lines to the sound of a horn chart. LaVerne Andrews died of cancer in 1967 and Maxene Andrews died in 1995 after suffering a heart attack. Most of the Andrews Sisters' music has been restored and released in compact disc form. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne. Her father, Peter, was a Greek immigrant who changed his name from Andreos to Andrews when he came to America. Patty remained in seclusion in her Northridge home near Los Angeles with husband Wally for years. They also appeared in 16 films, including alongside Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Buck Privates and with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in Road to Rio. A failed radio performance in 1937 turned out to be the sisters big break. The Andrews Sisters, with Patty singing soprano, sold tens of millions of records in the 1930s and '40s. (1942), and Swingtime Johnny (1943). Patty was the star of the sibling act. The collection is remastered in superb sound with surprising presence and vivid detail, the material is priceless, and . A final salute to the Andrews Sisters came in 1991 in the form of Company B, a ballet by the choreographer Paul Taylor subtitled Songs Sung by the Andrews Sisters. The work, which featured nine of the trios most popular songs, including Rum and Coca-Cola and, of course, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, underscored the enduring appeal of the three sisters from Minneapolis. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. It reached the Top 10, and its success led to several new compilations of the Andrews Sisters own hits. [17], Maxene and LaVerne tried to continue the act as a duo and met with good press during a 10-day tour of Australia, but a reported suicide attempt by Maxene in December 1954[21] put a halt to any further tours (Maxene spent a short time in the hospital after swallowing 18 sleeping pills, an occurrence that LaVerne told reporters was an accident). The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January 3, 1916 October 21, 1995), and mezzo-soprano Patricia "Patty" Marie Andrews (February 16, 1918 January 30, 2013). Their All-Time Greatest Hits Review. They got their start in the Depression-era early 1930s, and their first big hit, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen", was recorded . With their precise harmonies and perfectly . [31], Upon hearing the news of her sister's death, Patty became distraught. ", Paying tribute to Patty, singer Bette Midler said: "When I was a kid, I only had two records and one of them was the Andrews Sisters. 1951 Radio Annual, p.12 (Radio Daily Corp., New York, 1950), "Songs That Won The War Vol. [6], They started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the Boswell Sisters, who were popular in the 1930s. [citation needed], Buck Privates, with Abbott and Costello, featured the Andrews Sisters' best-known song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. They hired Patty and lured Maxene back into show business as well. That year, they scored a Top Ten hit on the Billboard chart with "Ferryboat Serenade (La Piccinina)." [67], Edward Habib in the CD program notes for Songs That Won the War Vol. They toured extensively during the 1960s, favoring top nightclubs in Las Vegas, California, and London, England.[23]. While touring, they often treated three random servicemen to dinner when they were dining out. [27] Over Here! Then he dragged his legs towards the exit. Their recording of Bei Mir Bist Du Schn became a favorite of the Nazis, until it was discovered that the song's composers were of Jewish descent. 1946 Andrews Sisters and Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians. When Decca settled with the union in 1943, they embarked on a series of hits, many of them with Bing Crosby. [63] The western-themed "The Andrews Sisters' Show" (subtitled "Eight-to-the-Bar Ranch"), co-hosted by Gabby Hayes, began in 1944 and featured a special guest every week. The American premier of the show was June 21, 2009, in their summer vacation enclave of Mound, Minnesota. After LaVerne died, Maxene and Patty continued to perform periodically until 1968, when Maxene became the Dean of Women at Tahoe Paradise College,[25] teaching acting, drama, and speech at a Lake Tahoe college and working with troubled teens, and Patty was once again eager to be a soloist.[26]. "There was no such thing as being married at that time," she said. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 2 The Hollywood Canteen states that the Andrews Sisters' radio transcription of Elmer's Tune was "so popular it even played on German radio," noting that "the opposition embraced the Andrews Sisters and their songs in the same way the Allied Forces adopted Lili Marlene. Modeling their act on the commercially successful Boswell Sisters, they joined a traveling revue and sang at county fairs and in vaudeville shows. Sisters Patty, LaVerne, and Maxene broke onto the popular song charts back in 1937 with a version of a Yiddish musical theater tune, "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" ("To Me, You Are Beautiful"). The song was co-written by Linda Perry. The group's other Top Ten hits for 1945 were "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" and "Along the Navajo Trail," both with Crosby, and "The Blond Sailor." 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