The Andrews Sisters

The Andrews Sisters

Andrews Sisters 1952

From top: LaVerne, Patty, Maxene
Background information
Born LaVerne: July 6, 1911
Maxene: January 3, 1916
Patty: February 16, 1918
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Origin Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Died LaVerne: May 8, 1967 (aged 55), Los Angeles, California
Maxene: October 21, 1995 (aged 79), Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Patty: January 30, 2013 (aged 94), Los Angeles
Genres Swing, boogie-woogie
Years active 1925–1951, 1956-1967
Website www.cmgww.com/music/andrews

The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxine Angelyn "Maxene" (January 3, 1916 – October 21, 1995), and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" (February 16, 1918 – January 30, 2013).[1] Throughout their long career, the sisters sold well over 75 million records (the last official count released by MCA Records in the mid-1970s). Their 1941 hit "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" can be considered an early example of rhythm and blues[2][3] or jump blues.

The Andrews Sisters' harmonies and songs are still influential today, and have been covered by entertainers such as Bette Midler, Christina Aguilera, and others. The Puppini Sisters chose their name as a tribute to the Andrews Sisters. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.[4] Writing for Bloomberg, Mark Schoifet said the sisters became the most popular female vocal group of the first half of the 20th century. They are still widely acclaimed today for their famous close harmonies.

Early life

The sisters were born to Peter Andreos (changed to "Andrews" upon arriving in the US) and Olga (née Sollie); their father was a Greek and their mother a Lutheran from Norway. Patty, the youngest and the lead singer of the group, was only seven when the group was formed, and just 12 when they won first prize at a talent contest at the local Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, where LaVerne played piano accompaniment for the silent film showings in exchange for free dancing lessons for herself and her sisters. Following the collapse of their father's Minneapolis restaurant, the sisters went on the road to support the family.[5]

Career

They started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the Boswell Sisters who were popular in the 30s. After singing with various dance bands and touring in vaudeville with the likes of Ted Belasco, and comic bandleader Larry Rich, they first came to national attention with their recordings and radio broadcasts in 1937, most notably via their major Decca record hit, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" (translation: "To Me, You Are Beautiful"),[6] originally a Yiddish tune, the lyrics of which Sammy Cahn had translated to English and "which the girls harmonized to perfection."[7] They followed this success with a string of best-selling records over the next two years and they became a household name by the 1940s.[8]

Instrumental to the sisters' success over the years were their parents (Olga and Peter), their orchestra leader and musical arranger, Vic Schoen (1916–2000), and Jack and David Kapp, who founded Decca Records.

World War II

The Andrews Sisters singing 'Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)' in the 1942 film Private Buckaroo

During World War II they entertained the Allied forces extensively in America, Africa and Italy, visiting Army, Navy, Marine and Coast Guard bases, war zones, hospitals, and munitions factories.[9] They encouraged U.S. citizens to purchase war bonds with their rendition of Irving Berlin's song Any Bonds Today?. 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). While touring, they often treated three random servicemen to dinner when they were dining out. 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. Journal."[10]

Career interruption

The Andrews Sisters broke up. Patty traces the breakup to the deaths of their parents: "We had been together nearly all our lives," Patty explained in 1971. "Then in one year our dream world ended. Our mother died (in 1948) and then our father (in 1949). All three of us were upset, and we were at each other's throats all the time."[1]

When Maxene and LaVerne learned of Patty's decision from newspaper gossip columns rather than from their own sister, it caused a bitter two-year separation, especially when Patty decided to worsen matters by suing LaVerne for a larger share of their parents' estate.[11] 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[12] 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' private relationship was often troubled and Patty blamed it on Maxene: "Ever since I was born, Maxene has been a problem," she said.[13]

The trio reunited in 1956 and signed a new recording deal with Capitol Records, for whom Patty was already a featured soloist. By this point however, rock-and-roll and doo-wop were dominating the charts and older artists were being pushed by the wayside. The sisters recorded a dozen singles through 1959, some of which attempted to keep up with the times by incorporating rock sounds. None of these achieved any major success. In addition, they produced three hi-fi albums, including a vibrant LP of songs from the dancing 1920s with Billy May's orchestra. In 1962, they signed with Dot Records and recorded a series of stereo albums until 1964, 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. They toured extensively during the 1960s, favoring top nightclubs in Las Vegas, Nevada, California, and London, England.

Eldest sister LaVerne died in 1967 at the age of 55 after a year-long bout with cancer[14] during which she was replaced by singer Joyce DeYoung. DeYoung fulfilled concert appearances including an appearance on The Dean Martin Show on November 30th 1967, but she never recorded with Patty and Maxene. 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 last appearance together as a trio was on The Dean Martin Show on September 27, 1966.

After LaVerne died, Maxene and Patty continued to perform periodically until 1968, when Maxene decided she would become the Dean of Women at Tahoe Paradise College,[15] 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.[16]

In 1969, Patty appeared in Lucile Ball's third series Here's Lucy, in the sixth episode of the second season, titled "Lucy and the Andrews Sisters", and played a cameo along with many other stars in the 1970 film The Phynx. Performing with Patty for the Andrews Sisters Fan Club reunion, Lucy played Laverne, Kim (Lucie Arnaz) played Maxine, and Craig (Desi Arnaz, Jr.) played Bing Crosby.

Comeback

Patty and Maxine's careers experienced a resurgence when Bette Midler covered "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" in 1973. 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. This was a follow-up to Patty's success in Victory Canteen, a 1971 California revue. Over Here! 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. It launched the careers of many now notable theater, film, and television icons, including John Travolta, Marilu Henner, Treat Williams and Ann Reinking. It was the last major hurrah for the sisters and was cut short owing to a conflict with the show's producers initiated by Patty's husband and a lawsuit he filed against the show's composers, the Sherman Brothers, squashing an extensively scheduled road tour.[17]

Patty continually distanced herself from Maxene, until her death, would not explain Patty's motives regarding the separation, although people close to both sisters, including family members believed that Patty's husband, Wally Weschler was to blame. Maxene appealed to Patty for a reunion, personally if not professionally, both in public and in private, but to no avail. Maxene suffered a serious heart attack while performing in Illinois in 1982 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, from which she successfully recovered. Patty visited her sister while she was hospitalized. Now sometimes appearing as "Patti" (but still signing autographs as "Patty") she re-emerged in the late 1970s as a regular panelist on The Gong Show. Maxene had a very successful comeback as a cabaret soloist in 1979 and toured worldwide for the next 15 years, recording a solo album in 1985 entitled "Maxene: An Andrews Sister" for Bainbridge Records. Patty started her own solo act in 1981, 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 critics' major complaint was that Patty's show concentrated too much on Andrews Sisters material, which did not allow Patty's own talents as an expressive and bluesy vocalist to shine through.

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. An earthquake shook the area that very morning and the ceremony was nearly cancelled, which caused Patty to joke, "Some people said that earthquake this morning was LaVerne because she couldn't be here, but really it was just Maxene and me on the telephone." Besides this, and a few brief private encounters, they remained somewhat estranged for the last few years.

Shortly after her Off-Broadway debut in New York City in a show called Swingtime Canteen, Maxene suffered another heart attack and died at Cape Cod Hospital on October 21, 1995, making Patty the last surviving Andrews Sister. Not long before she died, Maxene told music historian William Ruhlmann, "I have nothing to regret. We got on the carousel and we each got the ring and I was satisfied with that. There's nothing I would do to change things if I could...Yes, I would. I wish I had the ability and the power to bridge the gap between my relationship with my sister, Patty."[18] Upon hearing the news of her sister's death, Patty became very distraught. Several days later, Patty's husband Wally fell down a flight of stairs and broke both wrists. Patty did not attend her sister's memorial services in New York, nor in California. Said Bob Hope of Maxene's passing, "She was more than part of The Andrews Sisters, much more than a singer. She was a warm and wonderful lady who shared her talent and wisdom with others."[18]

Marriages, family, and deaths

LaVerne Andrews married Lou Rogers,[14] a trumpet player in Vic Schoen's band, in 1948, and remained with him until her death on May 8, 1967, from cancer (he died in 1995).[19] LaVerne and Maxene Andrews are interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, close to their parents.[20]

Maxene Andrews married music publisher Lou Levy in 1941. They separated in 1949. Levy was the sisters' manager from 1937 to 1951. She died on October 21, 1995, from a heart attack while in Cape Cod..[21]

Patty Andrews married agent Marty Melcher in 1947 and left him in 1949, when he pursued a romantic relationship with Doris Day. She then married Walter Weschler, the trio's pianist, in 1951. Patty died of natural causes at her home in Northridge, California, on January 30, 2013 at the age of 94. Wechsler, her husband of nearly 60 years, died on August 26, 2010, at the age of 88.[5] Patty is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery with her husband.She is survived by her foster daughter Pam DuBois .[1]

Joyce DeYoung Murray (born May 24th, 1926), who briefly replaced LaVerne in the late 60's, died on March 7th 2014 at the age of 87.

Legacy

Until the advent of the Supremes, the sisters were the most imitated of all female singing groups and influenced many artists, including Mel Tormé, Les Paul and Mary Ford, The Four Freshmen, The McGuire Sisters, The Manhattan Dolls, The Lennon Sisters, The Pointer Sisters, The Manhattan Transfer, Barry Manilow, and Bette Midler. Even Elvis Presley was a fan.

Most of the Andrews Sisters' music has been restored and released in compact disc form, yet over 300 of their original Decca recordings, a good portion of which was hit material, has yet to be released by MCA/Decca in over 50 years. Many of these Decca recordings have been used in such television shows and Hollywood movies as Homefront, ER, The Brink's Job, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Swing Shift, Raggedy Man, Summer of '42, Slaughterhouse-Five, Maria's Lovers, Harlem Nights, In Dreams, Murder in the First, L.A. Confidential, American Horror Story, Just Shoot Me, Gilmore Girls, Mama's Family, War and Remembrance, Jakob the Liar, Lolita, The Polar Express, The Chronicles of Narnia, Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!). Comical references to the trio in television sitcoms can be found as early as I Love Lucy and as recently as Everybody Loves Raymond. In 2007, their version of "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" 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. The 2010 video game Mafia II features numerous Andrews Sisters songs, with 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy', 'Strip Polka' and 'Rum And Coca-Cola'. The 2011 video game L.A. Noire features the song Pistol Packin' Mama, where the sisters perform a duet with Bing Crosby.

Christina Aguilera used the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" to inspire her song "Candyman" (released as a single in 2007) from her hit album Back to Basics. The song was co-written by Linda Perry. 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. The trio has said their name is a tribute to The Andrews Sisters. 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. The Manhattan Dolls, a New York City-based touring group, performs both the popular tunes sung by the Andrews Sisters and some of the more obscure tunes such as "Well Alright" and "South American Way" as well.

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 American premier of the show was June 21, 2009, in their birthplace of Mound, Minnesota. In 2008, Mound dedicated "The Andrews Sisters Trail". The sisters spent summers in Mound[1] with their uncles Pete and Ed Solie, who had a grocery store there. Maxene Andrews always said that the summers in Mound created a major sense of "normalcy" and "a wonderful childhood" in a life that otherwise centered on the sisters' careers. The Westonka Historical Society has a large collection of Andrews Sisters memorabilia.[22]

Musical innovators

When the sisters burst upon the music scene in the late 1930s, they shook a very solid musical foundation, producing a slick harmonic blend by singing at the top of their lungs while trying—successfully—to emulate the blare of three harmonizing trumpets,[23] with a full big band racing behind them. Some bandleaders of the day, such as Artie Shaw, along with his musicians, resented them for taking the focus away from the band and emphasizing the vocals instead. They were in as high demand as the big bandleaders themselves, many of whom did not want to share the spotlight and play backup to a girl trio.

Nevertheless, 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?" (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 inspirational "The Three Bells", which was an English version of the French 1946 rendition by Edith 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".

"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" can be considered an early recording of rhythm and blues or jump blues.

Many styles

While the sisters specialized in swing, boogie-woogie, and novelty hits with their trademark lightning-quick vocal syncopations, they also produced major hits in jazz, ballads, folk, country-western, seasonal, and religious titles, being the first Decca artists to record an album of gospel standards in 1950. Their versatility allowed them to pair with many different artists in the recording studios, producing Top 10 hits with the likes of Bing Crosby[24] (the only recording artist of the 1940s to sell more records than The Andrews Sisters), Danny Kaye, Dick Haymes, Carmen Miranda, Al Jolson, Ray McKinley, Burl Ives, Ernest Tubb, Red Foley, Dan Dailey, Alfred Apaka, and Les Paul. 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. Some of the trio's late-1930s recordings have noticeable Boswell Sisters vocal influences.

Films

Maxene, Patty, and LaVerne appeared in 17 Hollywood films. Their first picture, Argentine Nights, paired them with another enthusiastic trio, the Ritz Brothers.[25] Universal Pictures, always budget-conscious, refused to hire a choreographer, so the Ritzes taught the sisters some eccentric steps. Thus, in Argentine Nights and the sisters' next film, Buck Privates, the Andrews Sisters dance like the Ritz Brothers.

Buck Privates, with Abbott and Costello, featured the Andrews Sisters' best-known song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."[26] This Don Raye-Hughie Prince composition was nominated for Best Song at the 1941 Academy Awards ceremony.

Universal hired the sisters for two more Abbott and Costello comedies and then promoted them to full-fledged stardom in B musicals. What's Cookin', Private Buckaroo, and Give Out, Sisters (the latter portraying the sisters as old women) were among the team's popular full-length films.

The Andrews Sisters sing the title song as the opening credits roll and also perform two specialty number in the all-star revue Hollywood Canteen (1944). 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. Their singing voices are heard in two full-length Walt Disney features: "Make Mine Music"[27] in a segment which featured animated characters Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet;[28] and "Melody Time", in the segment Little Toot, both of which are available on DVD today).[29]

Stage and radio shows

The Andrews Sisters were the most sought-after entertainment property in theater shows worldwide during the 1940s and early 1950s, always topping previous house averages. The trio headlined at the London Palladium in 1948 and 1951 to sold-out crowds. They hosted their own radio shows for ABC and CBS from 1944 to 1951, singing specially written commercial jingles for such products as Wrigley's chewing gum, Dole pineapples, Nash motor cars, Kelvinator home appliances, Campbell's soups, and Franco-American food products. 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.

Setting records

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 million-sellers with Crosby included "Pistol Packin' Mama",[30] "Don't Fence Me In",[24] "South America, Take It Away", and "Jingle Bells".

The sisters' popularity was such that after the war they discovered that some of their records had actually been smuggled into Germany after the labels had been changed to read "Hitler's Marching Songs". Their recording of Bei Mir Bist Du Schön became a favorite of the Nazis, until it was discovered that the song's composers were of Jewish descent. 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.

Edward Habib in the CD program notes for "Songs That Won the War Vol. 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."

Along with Bing Crosby, separately and jointly, The Andrews Sisters were among the performers who incorporated ethnic music styles into America's Hit Parade, popularizing or enhancing the popularity of songs with melodies originating in Brazil, Czechoslovakia, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Trinidad, many of which their manager chose for them.

The Andrews Sisters became the most popular female vocal group of the first half of the 20th century.[31]

Early comparative female close harmony trios were the Boswell Sisters, the Pickens Sisters, and the Three X Sisters.

Repertoire

Discography (hit records)

Year Single Chart positions
US US
R&B		 US Country
1938 "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" 1 - -
"Nice Work If You Can Get It" 12 - -
"Joseph, Joseph" 18 - -
"Ti-Pi-Tin" 12 - -
"Shortenin' Bread" 16 - -
"Says My Heart" 10 - -
"Tu-li-Tulip Time" 9 - -
"Sha-Sha" 17 - -
"Lullaby To a Jitterbug" 10 - -
1939 "Pross-Tchai (Goodbye)" 15 - -
"Hold Tight, Hold Tight" 2 - -
"You Don't Know How Much You Can Suffer" 14 - -
"Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel)" 4 - -
"Well All Right (Tonight's the Night)" 5 - -
"Ciribiribin (They're So In Love)"(with Bing Crosby) 13 - -
"Yodelin' Jive"(with Bing Crosby) 4 - -
"Chico's Love Song" 11 - -
1940 "Say Si Si (Para Vigo Me Voy)" 4 - -
"The Woodpecker Song" 6 - -
"Down By the O-Hi-O" 21 - -
"Rhumboogie" 11 - -
"Ferryboat Serenade" 1 - -
"Hit the Road" 27 - -
"Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" 2 - -
1941 "Scrub Me, Mama, With a Boogie Beat" 10 - -
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" 6 - -
"I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)" 11 - -
"(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time" 5 - -
"Aurora" 10 - -
"Sonny Boy" 22 - -
"The Nickel Serenade" 22 - -
"Sleepy Serenade" 22 - -
"I Wish I Had a Dime (For Every Time I Missed You)" 20 - -
"Jealous" 12 - -
1942 "The Shrine of St. Cecilia" 3 - -
"I'll Pray For You" 22 - -
"Three Little Sisters" 8 - -
"Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" 16 - -
"Pennsylvania Polka" 17 - -
"That's the Moon, My Son" 18 - -
"Mister Five By Five" 14 - -
"Strip Polka" 6 - -
"Here Comes the Navy" 17 - -
1943 "East of the Rockies" 18 - -
"Pistol Packin' Mama"(with Bing Crosby) 2 3 1
"Victory Polka"(with Bing Crosby) 5 - -
"Jingle Bells"(with Bing Crosby) 19 - -
"Shoo-Shoo Baby" 1 - -
1944 "Down In the Valley" 20 - -
"Straighten Up and Fly Right" 8 - -
"Tico Tico" 24 - -
"Sing a Tropical Song" 24 - -
"Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby"(with Bing Crosby) 2 - -
"A Hot Time In the Town of Berlin"(with Bing Crosby) 1 - -
"Don't Fence Me In"(with Bing Crosby) 1 9 -
1945 "Rum and Coca Cola" 1 3 -
"Accentuate the Positive"(with Bing Crosby) 2 - -
"The Three Caballeros"(with Bing Crosby) 8 - -
"One Meat Ball" 15 - -
"Corns For My Country" 21 - -
"Along the Navajo Trail"(with Bing Crosby) 2 - -
"The Blond Sailor" 8 - -
1946 "Money Is the Root of All Evil" 9 - -
"Patience and Fortitude" 12 - -
"Coax Me a Little Bit" 24 - -
"South America, Take It Away"(with Bing Crosby) 2 - -
"Get Your Kicks On Route 66"(with Bing Crosby) 14 - -
"I Don't Know Why" 17 - -
"House of Blue Lights" 15 - -
"Rumors Are Flying"(with Les Paul) 4 - -
"Winter Wonderland"(with Guy Lombardo) 22 - -
"Christmas Island"(with Guy Lombardo) 7 - -
1947 "Tallahassee"(with Bing Crosby) 10 - -
"There's No Business Like Show Business"(with Bing Crosby and Dick Haymes) 25 - -
"On the Avenue" 21 - -
"Near You" 2 - -
"The Lady From 29 Palms" 7 - -
"The Freedom Train"(with Bing Crosby) 21 - -
"Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)"(with Danny Kaye) 3 - -
"Jingle Bells"(with Bing Crosby)(re-entry) 21 - -
"Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town"(with Bing Crosby) 22 - -
"Christmas Island"(with Guy Lombardo)(re-entry) 20 - -
"Your Red Wagon" 24 - -
"How Lucky You Are" 22 - -
1948 "You Don't Have To Know the Language"(with Bing Crosby) 21 - -
"Teresa"(with Dick Haymes) 21 - -
"Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)" 3 - -
"I Hate To Lose You" 14 - -
"Heartbreaker" 21 - -
"Sabre Dance" 20 - -
"Woody Woodpecker"(with Danny Kaye) 18 - -
"Blue Tail Fly"(with Burl Ives) 24 - -
"Underneath the Arches" 5 - -
"You Call Everybody Darling" 8 - -
"Cuanto La Gusta"(with Carmen Miranda) 12 - -
"160 Acres"(with Bing Crosby) 23 - -
"Bella Bella Marie" 23 - -
1949 "Christmas Island"(with Guy Lombardo)(re-entry) 26 - -
"The Pussy Cat Song (Nyow! Nyot! Nyow!)"(Patty Andrews w/Bob Crosby) 12 - -
"More Beer!" 30 - -
"I'm Bitin' My Fingernails and Thinking of You"(with Ernest Tubb) 30 - 2
"Don't Rob Another Man's Castle"(with Ernest Tubb) - - 6
"I Can Dream, Can't I?" 1 - -
"The Wedding of Lili Marlene" 20 - -
"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon"(with Russ Morgan) 22 - -
"Charley, My Boy"(with Russ Morgan) 15 - -
1950 "Merry Christmas Polka"(with Guy Lombardo) 18 - -
"Have I Told You Lately That I Love You"(with Bing Crosby) 24 - -
"Quicksilver"(with Bing Crosby) 6 - -
"The Wedding Samba" (with Carmen Miranda) 23 - -
"I Wanna Be Loved" 1 - -
"Can't We Talk It Over" 22 - -
"A Bushel and a Peck" 22 - -
"Mele Kalikimaka"(with Bing Crosby) - - -
1951 "A Penny a Kiss, a Penny a Hug" 17 - -
"Sparrow in the Tree Top"(with Bing Crosby) 8 - -
"Too Young"(Patty Andrews) 19 - -
1955 "Suddenly There's a Valley"(Patty Andrews) 69 - -

Other songs

Highest chart positions on Billboard; with Vic Schoen and his orchestra, unless otherwise noted:

LP albums

Film and theatre

(partial list)

Filmography

Soundtracks

Broadway

Dance

As Muppets

They were parodied on "Sesame Street" as the Androoze Sisters, named Mayeeme (Audrey Smith), Pattiz (Maeretha Stewart), and Lavoorrnee (Kevin Clash).

See also

List of best-selling music artists

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Last surviving Andrews Sisters member Patty Andrews dies at 94". Fox News. 2013-01-30. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  2. ↑ boogie-woogie. CollinsDictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company, Updated in 2009 CITED IN "Boogie-Woogie", FreeDictionary.com.
  4. ↑ "Vocal Group Hall of Fame - The Andrews Sisters". Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Associated Press file photo. "Patty Andrews, last of the famed sisters, dies". StarTribune.com. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  6. ↑ SHOLOM SECUNDA The Story of Bei Mir Bist du Schön
  7. ↑ Nimmo, H. Arlo (2004). The Andrews Sisters: A Biography and Career Record. McFarland. p. 328. ISBN 9780786432608. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  8. ↑ Jill Serjeant (January 30, 2013). "Last of 1940s hitmakers Andrews Sisters dies in California". "Reuters". Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  9. ↑ Andrews, Maxene and Bill Gilbert. Over Here, Over There: The Andrews Sisters and the USO Stars in World War II. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp, 1993.
  10. ↑ Adam Bernstein (January 30, 2013). "Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters, dies at 94". "Washington Post". Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  11. ↑ Bob Beverage, Ron Peluso. "Christmas of Swing" (PDF). "HistoryTheater.com". p. 4. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  12. ↑ Los Angeles Times article (PDF) December 22, 1954.
  13. ↑ Natalie Finn (January 30, 2013). "Patty Andrews Dies, Singer Was Last Surviving Member of the Andrews Sisters". "E Online.com". Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Los Angeles Times article (PDF) May 9, 1967.
  15. ↑ St Petersburg Times August 10, 1968
  16. ↑ St. Petersburg Times August 10, 1968.
  17. ↑ "Andrews Sisters in pay dispute". St. Petersburg Times. December 27, 1974. p. 6–D.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Sforza, John (2004). Swing It!: The Andrews Sisters Story. United States of America: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 171, 289. ISBN 9780813190990.
  19. ↑ Arto Nimmo, H (2004). The Andrews Sisters: A Biography and Career Record. p. 409. ISBN 9780786432608.
  20. ↑ "The Andrews Sisters - Bio". "IMDb". Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Maxene Andrews, One of Singing Sisters, Dies at 79 : Performers: Former L.A. resident suffers a heart attack in Cape Cod. She also had successful solo careers as a singer and educator. - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 1995-10-23. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
  22. ↑ Westonka Historical Society
  23. ↑ "Patty Andrews, last surviving member of Andrews sisters, remembered for rallying troops". The Washington Post. The Associated Press. January 31, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Gilliland, John (1994). Pop Chronicles the 40s: The Lively Story of Pop Music in the 40s (audiobook). ISBN 978-1-55935-147-8. OCLC 31611854. Tape 1, side B.
  25. ↑ Los Angeles Times article PDF May 15, 1940.
  26. ↑ "Songs That Won The War Vol. 4 The Home Front" CD program notes by Edward Habib
  27. ↑ Los Angeles Times article (PDF) Hedda Hopper. June 30, 1946.
  28. ↑ Bjorkman, James. "Make Mine Music (1946) - Disney Tries a New Package". Animated Film Reviews. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  29. ↑ Bjorkman, James. "Melody Time (1948) - A Delicious Overdose of 1940s Culture". Animated Film Reviews. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  30. ↑ Gilliland 1994, tape 1, side A.
  31. ↑ Schoifet, Mark (January 30, 2013). "Patty Andrews, Last Survivor of Wartime Sister Trio, Dies at 94". Bloomberg (BusinessWeek). Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  32. ↑ "Biography for The Andrews Sisters". IMDb.com. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 33.5 "The Andres Sisters". IMDb. Retrieved February 3, 2013.

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