Some of their accomplishments include selling over 90 million records, recording about 700 songs and earning nine gold records. BLOCK: Well, we have a brief footnote to that news. Patty was only ten at the time. LaVerne denied the suicide attempt to reporters. They hired Patty and lured Maxene back into show business as well. Unfortunately, the close harmony on songs like "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" didn't reflect their family dynamic. Active. It was like God had given us voices to fit our parts. 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). The trio's last Top Ten hit was "Sparrow in the Tree Top," another pairing with Bing Crosby, in 1951. Entertainers. 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. 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? They were remarkable. [40] Levy was the sisters' manager from 1937 to 1951. The Andrews Sisters made their final appearance as a trio in July 1968, after which Maxene Andrews took a job at Lake Tahoe Paradise College of Fine Arts. [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. They were the Benny Goodman and the Glenn Miller and the Artie Shaw bands combined into vocal harmony.". Lou died in 1995.[39]. This was a follow-up to Patty's success in Victory Canteen, a 1971 California revue. The group was also inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. The Andrews SistersAlbum - Golden HistLP abc Records UK (33 1/3)Song ListLista Piosenek Side oneStrona Pierwsza(A)0:00 Will be with you in apple blossom tie . They appeared in more than a dozen films during the next seven years sometimes just singing, sometimes also acting. The million-selling "Pistol Packin' Mama," backed with "Vict'ry Polka," was a two-sided hit with Crosby in 1943-1944, then they topped the charts with their own "Shoo-Shoo Baby" in January 1944. [46][47], In 2008 and 2009, the BBC produced The Andrews Sisters: Queens of the Music Machines, a one-hour documentary on the history of the Andrews Sisters from their upbringing to the present. THE ANDREWS SISTERS were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. starred Maxene and Patty (with Janie Sell filling in for LaVerne and winning a Tony Award for her performance) and was written with both sisters in mind for the leads. The youngest of the sisters, Patricia Marie Andrews was just 19 when the trio became an overnight sensation crooning "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen," a tune originally written for the Yiddish theater. The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Patty started her own solo act in 1980, but did not receive the critical acclaim her sister had for her performances, even though Patty was considered to be the "star" of the group for years. The girls vocalized perfectly and stepped in swinging time for two other Bud Abbott - Lou Costello comedies, In the Navy (1941) and Hold That Ghost (1941).Box-office sellouts on stage and in personal appearances across the nation, they were given their own radio show in late 1944, which continued through 1946, featuring such weekly guest stars as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Carmen Miranda, Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Rudy Vallee, and many other prominent celebrities. Her sisters were Lavern Sophie born July 6, 1911, died 1967 (cancer); Maxene Angelyn born Jan. 3, 1916, died October 1995 of a heart attack while on vacation at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 3.11. [5][42], Joyce DeYoung Murray, who replaced LaVerne from late 1966 to 1968, died in March 2014 at the age of 87. 5000 Greatest songs ever list by artist. [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). Read about our approach to external linking. As music biographer Michael Freedland said, "The Andrews Sisters were swing personified. The Andrews Sisters typically appeared as themselves in films, and often Patty took the romantic lead. That year, they scored a Top Ten hit on the Billboard chart with "Ferryboat Serenade (La Piccinina)." Nicknamed Americas Wartime Sweethearts, they became great favourites of American troops overseas, performing in USO (United Service Organizations) shows. The Andrews Sisters' harmonies and songs are still influential today, and have been copied and recorded by entertainers such as Patti Page, Bette Midler, Christina Aguilera, Pentatonix, and others. After the Belasco band broke up that summer, they were signed to Decca Records on their own. Instrumental to the sisters' success over the years were their parents, Olga and Peter, their orchestra leader and musical arranger, Vic Schoen (19162000), and Jack and David Kapp, who founded Decca Records. The Andrews Sisters sold more than 75 million records and entertained World War II troops in Africa and Europe. After winning a Minneapolis talent contest when they were still children, they went on to tour vaudeville, too. Most of the Andrews Sisters' music has been restored and released in compact disc form. It was there they were discovered by Larry Rich, who offered them a job with his traveling revue. Stricken with cancer, LaVerne retired from the act in 1966 and died the following year. They delivered an optimistic, upbeat war campaign that instilled hope, joy and allegiance through song, comedy, and lively movement. Other songs closely associated with the Andrews Sisters include their first major hit, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schn (Means That You're Grand)" (1937), "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel)" (1939), "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" (1940), "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else but Me)" (1942), and "Rum and Coca Cola" (1945), which helped introduce American audiences to calypso. 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. May 8, 1967, Brentwood, California), Maxene Angelyn Andrews (b. January 3, 1916, Minneapolisd. All have reinvented themselves in Andrews Sisters' style at one time or another. Patty and Maxene reclaimed some success when they starred in the Broadway musical Over Here! Patty Andrews had a strong desire to stand out and didn't like that her career identity seemed permanently tied to the Andrews Sisters. Decca had recorded the Boswell Sisters successfully until they broke up in 1935, and the label was on the lookout for a similar group. The influence of the Andrews Sisters looms large over the last half-century of music: Their catalog, some 1,800 songs, has been thoroughly mined by other artists. The trio was awarded 19 gold records representing sales of almost 100 million copies. 14), Patty Andrews appeared in season two, episode six, of, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 05:28. Patty, the youngest, was a soprano and sang lead; Maxene handled the high harmony; and LaVerne, the oldest, took the low notes. The National WW2 Museum's Victory Belles are proud to pay tribute to the Andrews Sisters performing their music daily in the Stage Door Canteen in New Orleans. GAB Archive/Redferns/Getty Images Over Here! Their singing voices are heard in two full-length Walt Disney features: "Make Mine Music",[53] in a segment which featured animated characters Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet; and "Melody Time", in the segment Little Toot (both of which are available on DVD today). Well, All Right! Lynda Wells, a niece, confirmed the death. 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. Patty continued to perform solo, and Maxene joined the staff of a private college in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Patricia Marie Andrews was born on Feb. 16, 1918, in Minneapolis. [54][55][56] The trio headlined at the London Palladium in 1948[57] and 1951. "She just seemed to effuse that warmth and personality and charm and smile and vigor more so than the other two sisters. October 21, 1995, Boston, Massachusetts), and Patricia Marie (Patty) Andrews (b. February 16, 1918, Minneapolisd. They returned to the hit parade in April 1939 with their recording of the novelty song "Hold Tight, Hold Tight." Her father was a Greek Catholic immigrant and her mother a Lutheran from Norway who ran the pure food caf, a Greek caf in Minneapolis which was located adjacent to the Orpheum Theater. Although they were fired soon after their first night on the program Saturday Night Swing Club, they were signed to a recording contract by a Decca Records executive who had heard the broadcast. (which shot to number one on Billboard and remained in the Top 10 for 25 weeks), "I Wanna Be Loved", "There Will Never Be Another You", and "The Three Bells", which was an English version of the French 1946 rendition by dith Piaf & Les Compagnons de la chanson; along with several solo recordings with Patty, including a cover version of Nat King Cole's "Too Young", "It Never Entered My Mind", "If You Go", and "That's How A Love Song Is Born". After that, the sisters pursued solo careers into the 1990s. As music biographer Michael Freedland said, "The Andrews Sisters were swing personified. Well, All Right! "[50] This Don Raye-Hughie Prince composition was nominated for Best Song at the 1941 Academy Awards ceremony. (Tonight's The Night) was a song recorded by the Andrews Sisters in 1939 arranged with Vic Schoen. [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. Its cast album charted, as did another Andrews Sisters compilation (In the Mood on Paramount). Greek father Peter was a restaurateur in the Minneapolis area; their mother Ollie was a Norwegian homemaker. [19] The English lyrics were written by Mitchell Parish. [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). [6], They started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the Boswell Sisters, who were popular in the 1930s. The Andrews Sisters were vibrant figures in the entertainment industry for about 30 years, and they still appeal to both the young and old. )," "Well, All Right," "Hold Tight, Hold Tight" (with Jimmy Dorsey ), "Oh, Johnny! Their hit recording "Sincerely" spent more than two months at No. Patty not only sang lead; she was clearly the star of the group. In 1969, Patty appeared in Lucille Ball's third series Here's Lucy, in the sixth episode of the second season, titled "Lucy and the Andrews Sisters". Maxene and Patty went through painful divorces (Maxene split with the group's manager Lou Levy; Patty lost agent and husband, Martin Melcher to singer Doris Day), and lost their parents within a year of each other, as did their mentor Jack Kapp of Decca Records. The Andrews Sisters (from left, Maxene, Patty and LaVerne) in the 1940s. Some radio stations were reluctant to play the record because it mentioned a commercial product by name, and because the lyrics were subtly suggestive of local women prostituting themselves to U.S. servicemen serving at the then naval base on Trinidad. The Andrews Sisters were a popular harmonizing singing group consisting of three sisters, Patty Andrews, Maxene Andrews and Laverne Andrews. It is claimed that the sisters have sold more than 90 . 80 . She was a warm and wonderful lady who shared her talent and wisdom with others. Disbanded . 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