From the late 1930s and 1940s, the Andrews Sisters were known as the “queens of the jukebox,” selling over 30 million records and appearing in nearly 20 films. They were one of the most successful female groups ever, as accomplished with boogie-woogie as they were with sentimental ballads.
LaVerne (1915–67), Maxene (1918–95), and Patty (born 1920) were the daughters of Norwegian and Greek parents from Minneapolis, Minnesota. As early as 1932, the sisters were performing in the “RKO circuit”—vaudeville houses and theatres owned by RKO. The trio broke into the mainstream when, in 1937, they were discovered by the legendary record executive Jack Kapp of Decca. Their first hit was “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen,” a Yiddish song that they had performed in many Jewish-owned clubs in New York. Initially, Decca was reluctant to release the song in Yiddish, so the sisters’ manager Lou Levy (married to Maxene in 1941) convinced lyricist Sammy Cahn (1913–93) to write English words for it.
The sisters were greatly influenced by the Boswell Sisters who, in the 1920s, pioneered vocal group style and technique by combining close harmonies with jazz rhythms. For the Andrews Sisters, LaVerne sang alto. She knew the most about music, having had aspirations at one time to become a concert pianist. Maxene sang second soprano and was the most business-oriented one in the group. Patty, once the tap-dance champion of Minnesota, sang lead soprano and was the primary soloist for the group.
In 1940, the sisters released one of their biggest selling records “I’ll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time,” which they also performed in one of three movies that they starred in opposite the comedy duo Abbott & Costello. In 1941, they released another major hit, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B”—the song with which they are most closely associated.
During World War II, the trio toured the United Services Organisation (USO) circuit with jazz greats like Earl Hines, Dizzy GILLESPIE, and Charlie PARKER and the famous classical pianist Artur RUBINSTEIN. By 1943, they had appeared before more U.S. Army camps, Navy, Marine, and Air Force gatherings than any other trio in America, thus gaining the nickname “The Three Jive Bombers.” Throughout the 1940s, the trio made many successful recordings with fellow Decca artists, including Guy LOMBARDO (“Christmas Island,” 1947), Bing CROSBY (“Jingle Bells,” 1943), and Cole PORTER (“Don’t Fence Me In,” 1944).
The trio broke up in the mid-1950s due to a decreased public interest in their style and because of Patty’s desire to pursue a solo career. Although her solo career proved brief, Patty did have a big hit with “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” In the late 1950s, the trio reformed and, until La Verne’s death in 1967, sang in nightclubs. In 1973, Bette Midler’s popular recording of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” initiated renewed interest in the trio, and the following year Patty and Maxene starred in a Broadway musical entitled Over There, based on World War II nostalgia. In 1991, the Paul Taylor Dance Company premiered “Company B,” which was performed to recordings by the Andrews Sisters and included “Rum and Coca-Cola.” This became one of the most popular pieces in the company’s repertoire.
Rebecca Giacosie
SEE ALSO:
FURTHER READING
Andrews, Maxene, and Bill Gilbert. Over Here, Over There: The Andrews Sisters and the USO Stars in World War II (Thorndike, MA: Thorndike Press, 1994);
Ewen, David. All the Years of American Popular Music (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1977);
Garrod, Charles. The Andrews Sisters (Zephyrhills, FL: Joyce Record Club, 1992).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Andrews Sisters: 36 Unforgettable Memories;
Andrews Sisters Collectors Series;
The Best of the Andrews Sisters.