In Give Out, Sisters (1942), they posed as rich society matron types out to better their careers while featuring their big hit "Pennsylvania Polka." They recorded two versions so I'll post both up!\r\rSongs:\rWell, All Right! Patty sang in shows and on cruise ships while Maxene continued soloing and did quite well for a time in such musical shows as "Pippin" and "Swing Time Canteen" (the latter as late as 1995).Plagued by heart problems (she suffered a massive heart attack in 1982), Maxene died of a second coronary on October 21, 1995. ", 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. The frizzy-bobbed trio were introduced as a sort of specialty act with the songs "Hit the Road," "Oh, He Loves Me" and "Rhumboogie." Over 300 of their original Decca recordings, a good portion of which was hit material, has yet to be released by MCA/Decca. It was like God had given us voices to fit our parts. Patty (1920), Maxene (1917), and LaVerne (1915) grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. . By the time she was six she was entertaining at veterans hospitals, for the Mayor of Minneapolis and at Daughters of American Revolution luncheons. Decca had recorded the Boswell Sisters successfully until they broke up in 1935, and the label was on the lookout for a similar group. Patty also led them through more than a dozen movies, like Hollywood Canteen. 1 on the charts in 1955. 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? In 2007, their version of "Bei Mir Bist Du Schn" was included in the game BioShock, a first-person shooter that takes place in an alternate history 1960, and later in 2008, their song "Civilization" (with Danny Kaye) was included in the Atomic Age-inspired video game Fallout 3. by Bruce Eder. The sisters were LaVerne Sofia Andrews (b. July 6, 1911, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.d. [29], The two sisters did reunite, albeit briefly, on October 1, 1987, when they received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, even singing a few bars of "Beer Barrel Polka" for the Entertainment Tonight cameras. In the post-war years, they appeared in Paramount's The World Turns Backward (1947) and teamed with Bing Crosby on "You Don't Have to Know the Language." The revue was then expanded into a book musical and Maxene Andrews was brought in for what became Over Here!. In 1951 she married Wally Weschler, who had been the sisters pianist and conductor and who later became her manager. 1946 Andrews Sisters and Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians. Still, it did not stop concentration camp inmates from secretly singing it, this being most likely since the song was originally a Yiddish song "Bei Mir Bistu Shein", and had been popularized within the Jewish community before it was recorded as a more successful "cover" version by the Andrews sisters. This was a follow-up to Patty's success in Victory Canteen, a 1971 California revue. Genre. 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. The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. Patty was the star of the sibling act. They were the Benny Goodman and the Glenn Miller and the Artie Shaw bands combined into vocal harmony." The harmonies ended up being closer than the Andrews Sisters were Keystone Features/Getty Images The sisters grew up singing together in Minnesota. Female vocal trio who were one of the most popular and influential acts of the Big Band era. In 1987, the group was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star for their recording work. When Patti sued her sisters, demanding proper settlement of their mother's estate, Maxene made the headlines on December 21, 1954, with a suspected suicide attempt because of the conflict. There were rumblings amid the group. [38], LaVerne Andrews married Lou Rogers,[24] a trumpet player in Vic Schoen's band, in 1948. As the war ended, the Andrews Sisters became the stars of their own radio program, The Andrews Sisters Show. ". She was born in Mound, Minnesota on 16 February 1918, the daughter of Peter Andreos (changed to 'Andrews' upon arriving in the US) and Olga Sollie. Well, All Right! And just a few years ago, Christina Aguilera's "Candyman" gave a clear tip of the hat to the tune and its makers. 20211 () e so foolish as to wear them right inside the store. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia (July 6, 1911 - May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn (January 3, 1916 - October 21, 1995), and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" (February 16, 1918 - January 30, 2013). "The Andrews Sisters played an enormous part in that popularity." The Andrews Sisters were on tour in December 1941 when President Roosevelt announced that the U.S. was entering WWII. Patty was the youngest of the sisters whose hits included Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. The Andrews Sisters. The Andrews sisters items and images on display were donated in 2010 by Maryland resident Robert Boyer, a fan who had amassed the largest known collection of memorabilia related to the group, including publicity photos, personal snapshots, news clippings, recordings, movie posters, correspondence, magazines and recordings in various formats. "Then in one year our dream world ended. The sisters specialised in swing and played with some of the top band leaders of the era, including Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey. They began singing together as children; by the time they were teenagers they made up an accomplished vocal group. The previous year, Patty Andrews had appeared in a West Coast musical called Victory Canteen, set during World War II. 18), "The Pussy Cat Song (Nyow! Several days later, Patty's husband Wally fell down a flight of stairs and broke both wrists. Maxene arrived on January 3, 1916, and Patty was born February 16, 1918. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: It's an only-in-America tale of how three Minnesota sisters of Norwegian-Greek heritage came to have a huge hit with a . The 2011 video game L.A. Noire features the song "Pistol Packin' Mama", where the sisters perform a duet with Bing Crosby. [40] Levy was the sisters' manager from 1937 to 1951. 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). The Andrews Sisters (from left, Maxene, Patty and LaVerne) in the 1940s. What's Cookin'?, Private Buckaroo, Give Out, Sisters (in which they disguise themselves as old women as part of the zany plot) and Moonlight and Cactus were among the team's popular full-length films. Omissions? When LaVerne Andrews died of cancer in 1967, no suitable replacement could be found, and Patty and Maxene soon went their separate ways. In November 1933, they joined a vaudeville troupe for six months, traveling around the Midwest. With their precise harmonies and perfectly . In 1940, signed to Universal Pictures, they made the first of a series of low-budget "B" movies, Argentine Nights. They recorded a series of Victory Discs (V-Discs) for distribution to Allied fighting forces only, again volunteering their time for studio sessions for the Music Branch, Special Service Division, of the Army Service Forces, and they were dubbed the "Sweethearts of the Armed Forces Radio Service" for their many appearances on shows such as "Command Performance", "Mail Call", and "G.I. Patty not only sang lead; she was clearly the star of the group. The Sollie family disapproved of Olga's marriage, but the relationship was repaired once their first child, LaVerne, was born July 6, 1911. [58] They hosted their own radio shows for ABC and CBS from 1944 to 1951,[59] singing specially written commercial jingles for such products as Wrigley's chewing gum,[60] Dole pineapples,[61] Nash motor cars, Kelvinator home appliances,[62] Campbell's soups, and Franco-American food products. The picture was the highest-grossing film of that year. Although LaVerne read music and was, in fact, an accomplished pianist, the trio learned by sense memory, pure instinct and a strong ear. [17] She had married the trio's pianist, Walter Weschler, who became the group's manager and demanded more money for Patty. The order of their births is also the order of their deaths and the length of their life times. Patty Andrews's spokesman, Alan Eichler, said she died from natural causes at her Los Angeles home. The groups renditions of swing tunes in close harmony sold millions of copies; the act was also hugely popular in live performance and in film. [5] All three attended Franklin Junior High School and North High School, both in Minneapolis. He had no other alternative but to as k the cashier to keep them in case the lost gl oves were found. They also appeared in a number of films, supporting Abbott and Costello in Buck Privates, In the Navy, and Hold That Ghost (all 1941), and appearing in their own series of musical comedies, which included Private Buckaroo (1942), Whats Cookin? After selling more than 75 million records, the Andrews Sisters broke up in 1953 when Patty decided to go solo. Patty died of natural causes at her home in Northridge, California, on January 30, 2013, at the age of 94. "There was no such thing as being married at that time," she said. The Andrews Sisters were an American singing group in the 1930s, the 1940s and the 1950s. The girls reunited in 1956 and worked constantly for the next decade in recording studios (Capitol and Dot), on stages throughout the world (frequently in England), and in countless guest-star television spots.LaVerne's serious illness in 1966, however, promptly ended the trio permanently. Updates? "[50] This Don Raye-Hughie Prince composition was nominated for Best Song at the 1941 Academy Awards ceremony. As Maxene Andrews recalled. Anyone can read what you share. The girls' musical talents were quickly identified and they started performing on the road as youngsters, entering assorted kiddie contests and often winning for their efforts. She was 94. Peter Andrews did not think it honorable to have his daughters in show business and decided they should go back to school and become secretaries. Maxene denied it, and LaVerne maintained that Maxene . Read about our approach to external linking. 13. She was 79. The preeminent singing sister act of all time with well over 75 million records sold by which the swinging big-band era could not be better represented were the fabulous Andrews Sisters: the blonde melodic mezzo Patty Andrews, the brunette soprano Maxene Andrews and the red-headed contralto Laverne Andrews.With their precise harmonies and perfectly syncopated dance moves, the girls reached heights of worldwide fame still unattained by any group which followed. Video1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat, How 10% of Nigerian registered voters delivered victory, Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales, The Indian-American CEO who wants to be US president, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip. Comical references to the trio in television sitcoms can be found as early as I Love Lucy and as recently as Everybody Loves Raymond. The London-based trio the Puppini Sisters uses their style harmonies on several Andrews Sisters and other hits of the 1940s and 1950s as well as later rock and disco hits. Retrieved May 10, 2021. Their first appearance co-starred the zany and sometimes corny antics of The Ritz Brothers in an unflattering ditty called Argentine Nights (1940). ecoute_00. Some of their accomplishments include selling over 90 million records, recording about 700 songs and earning nine gold records. In the audio of this story, as in a previous Web version, we identify "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" as a Yiddish folk tune. "With that," Maxene said, Patty "started to cry. All of a sudden, all hell broke loose.". The group sang with various bands and for several radio broadcasts while they were struggling during the mid-1930s to establish their reputation. 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. Corrections? [35][36] In personal appearances, on radio and on television, they sang with everyone from Rudy Vallee, Judy Garland, and Nat "King" Cole, to Jimmie Rodgers, Andy Williams, and The Supremes. 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. The defining sister act of all time with well over 75 million records sold by which the swinging big-band era could not be better represented were the fabulous Andrews Sisters: Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne. Patty decided to go solo, a decision the other two learned, not from her, but from newspapers. They broke up in 1967 after the death of LaVerne, but their music is still played over certain radio . The group was among the inaugural inductees to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame upon its opening in 1998. An overnight sensation upon release wherein it sold more than a million copies, their contract was immediately revised by Decca and throughout the rest of the decade, they recorded smash after smash -- "The Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel! Their father, Peter Andreos/Andrews, was Greek. [45] The sisters were again featured in a Fallout game in 2015, when their songs "Pistol Packin' Mama" and "Civilization" were featured in the game Fallout 4. Unfortunately, while the adhesive harmonies of The Andrews Sisters were intricately close, their personal harmonies were more discordant.Second only to perhaps Bob Hope in commitment and extensive USO touring, the girls' profound influence extends even today with such current pop idols as Bette Midler, The Pointer Sisters, Barry Manilow, The Manhattan Transfer and Christina Aguilera. After that, the sisters pursued solo careers into the 1990s. [citation needed], While the sisters specialized in traditional pop,[32] swing, boogie-woogie, and novelty hits with their trademark lightning-quick vocal syncopations, they also produced major hits in jazz, ballads, folk, country, seasonal, and religious titles, being the first Decca artists to record an album of gospel standards in 1950. 1951 Radio Annual, p.12 (Radio Daily Corp., New York, 1950), "Songs That Won The War Vol. 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. Although they were well-established by the time the U.S. entered World War II, their optimistic tenor made them perfect boosters of the war effort, and in later years they remained closely identified with the war years, remembered as wearing military uniforms and singing their signature song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.". They appeared in more than a dozen films during the next seven years sometimes just singing, sometimes also acting. 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. Their second daughter, Anglyn, died at eight months of age on March 16, 1914. [18] Patty attributed the breakup to the deaths of their parents: "We had been together nearly all our lives," Patty explained in 1971. Patty was the star of the sibling act. Their first professional engagement came in December 1932 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Other hits followed, and in 1940 they were signed by Universal Pictures. "She just seemed to effuse that warmth and personality and charm and smile and vigor more so than the other two sisters. [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 sisters have sold an estimated 80 million records. They were remarkable. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Patty Andrews, Singer With Her Sisters, Is Dead at 94, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/arts/music/patty-andrews-singer-with-the-andrews-sisters-dies-at-94.html. 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). [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). 1932 in Minneapolis, MN. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. with Vic Schoen and his orchestra, unless otherwise noted: From top: Maxene (top left), LaVerne (top right), and Patty (center) in October 1943. The Tragic Real-Life Story Of The Andrews Sisters, The Andrews Sisters: A Biography and Career Record. As teenagers, the Andrews Sisters formed a singing act and began performing in vaudeville reviews throughout the Midwest. Minneapolis Tribune, October 9, 1938, pg 21. The collection is remastered in superb sound with surprising presence and vivid detail, the material is priceless, and . Patty, the youngest, became the lively melodic leader, engulfed by the warm harmonies of LaVerne and Maxene.The old Yiddish song "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon" was translated into English for them by Sammy Cahn and the girls walked off with their first huge hit in late 1937 (and paid a flat fifty dollars and no royalties!). Patty and Maxene continued for a while, with singer Joyce DeYoung rounding out their trio. As Maxene blamed Patty's husband, Walter Weschler, as an instigator in separating her from Patty, the estrangement remained permanent until Maxene's death in 1995.The two sisters did reunite briefly when they earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987. [citation needed], Buck Privates, with Abbott and Costello, featured the Andrews Sisters' best-known song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. [54][55][56] The trio headlined at the London Palladium in 1948[57] and 1951. Eldest sister LaVerne died in 1967 at the age of 55 after a year-long bout with cancer[24] during which she was replaced by singer Joyce DeYoung (May 24, 1926 March 7, 2014). They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. In 1962, they signed with Dot Records and recorded a series of stereo albums until 1967, both re-recordings of earlier hits which incorporated up-to-date production techniques, as well as new material, including "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", "Still", "The End of the World", "Puff the Magic Dragon", "Sailor", "Satin Doll", "Mr. Bass Man", the theme from Come September, and the theme from A Man and a Woman. Ethnicity: *father - Greek. 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. [27] Over Here! Patty Andrews, the last of the Andrews Sisters, the jaunty vocal trio whose immensely popular music became part of the patriotic fabric of World War II America, died on Wednesday at her home in Los Angeles. The sisters began performing in the early 1930's when the Depression wiped out their father's business. They were popular during the swing and boogie-woogie eras. They also recorded morale-boosting "Victory Discs" for distribution to Allied forces, one of which featured their signature hit, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. The Andrews Sisters fame peaked during World War II. A failed radio performance in 1937 turned out to be the sisters big break. But Wells says that their status as companions, and Maxene's health issues as she got older, led Maxene to adopt her as a daughter. "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). They got their start in the Depression-era early 1930s, and their first big hit, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen", was recorded . ", The trio became synonymous with the war effort. According to Patty Andrews, "We had a recording date, and the song was brought to us the night before the recording date. 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. [1] The sisters have sold an estimated 80 million records. 1946 found them in the Top Ten with the gold-selling "South America, Take It Away" (with Crosby), "Rumors Are Flying" (accompanied by guitarist Les Paul), and "Christmas Island" (backed by Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians). 3.50. Offstage, the sisters well-publicized feuds kept them in the gossip pages. )", "I Wish I Had a Dime (For Every Time I Missed You)", "I'm Bitin' My Fingernails and Thinking of You", 75100 million records sold from a little over 600 recorded tunes, record-breaking theater and cabaret runs all across, countless appearances on radio shows from 1935 to 1960 (including their own), guest spots on every major television show of the 1950s and 1960s, including those hosted by, "A Penny a Kiss-A Penny a Hug" (1950) (No.