History They started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the
Boswell Sisters, who had been popular until their breakup in 1936. After singing with various dance bands and touring in
vaudeville with
Leon Belasco (and his orchestra) 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"), originally a
Yiddish tune, the lyrics of which
Sammy Cahn had translated to English and "which the girls harmonized to perfection." They followed this success with a string of best-selling records over the next two years and, by the 1940s, had become a household name. 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 '' In the years just before and during
World War II, the Andrews Sisters were at the height of their popularity, and the group still tends to be associated in the public's mind with the war years. They had numerous hit records during these years, both on their own and in collaboration with fellow
Decca Records artist
Bing Crosby. Some of these hits had service or military related themes, including "
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", "Three Little Sisters", "
Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else but Me)", "
A Hot Time In the Town of Berlin" and "
Rum and Coca-Cola". The sisters performed their hits in service comedy films, such as
Buck Privates and
Private Buckaroo. 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. 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. The sisters' 1945 hit "
Rum and Coca-Cola" became one of their most popular and best-known recordings, but also inspired some controversy. 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 naval base on
Trinidad. The song was based on a Trinidadian
calypso, and a dispute over its provenance led to a well-publicized court case. The sisters later told biographers that they were asked to record the tune at short notice and were unaware either of the copyright issue or of the implications of the lyrics.
Interruption An ad in the 1951
Radio Annual showed photos of the Andrews as children, as contemporary singers, and as old women in the then-future year of 1975, although the act would not make it that long. In the 1950s, Patty Andrews decided to break away from the act to be a soloist. She had married the trio's pianist, Walter Weschler, who became the group's manager and demanded more money for Patty. Patty attributed 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." 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). LaVerne and Maxene did appear together on
The Red Skelton Show on October 26, 1954, singing the humorous "Why Do They Give the Solos to Patty" as well as lip-synching "Beer Barrel Polka" with Skelton in drag filling in for Patty. This, however, did not sit well with Patty, and a cease-and-desist order was sent to Skelton. The sisters' private relationship was often troubled, and Patty blamed it on Maxene: "Ever since I was born, Maxene has been a problem, and that problem hasn't stopped," she said. 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 left 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 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. They toured extensively during the 1960s, favoring top nightclubs in
Las Vegas,
California, and
London, England. Eldest sister LaVerne died in 1967 at the age of 55 after a year-long bout with
cancer, during which she was replaced by singer Joyce DeYoung (May 24, 1926 – March 7, 2014). DeYoung fulfilled concert appearances, including an appearance on
The Dean Martin Show on November 30, 1967, but she did not record with Maxene and Patty. 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 29, 1966. After LaVerne died, Maxene and Patty continued to perform periodically until 1968, when Maxene became the Dean of Women at Tahoe Paradise College, teaching acting, drama, and speech, and working with troubled teens; and Patty was once again eager to be a soloist. 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". The episode has Patty enlisting the help of Lucy, her daughter Kim (played by Lucie Arnaz), and her son Craig (Desi Arnaz Jr.) to perform a medley of Andrews Sisters hits for the Andrews Sisters Fan Club reunion. Lucy played LaVerne, Kim (Lucie Arnaz) played Maxene, and Craig (Desi Arnaz Jr.) played Bing Crosby. She also had a cameo as herself, along with many other stars, in the 1970 film The Phynx''.
Comeback Maxene and Patty'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 stars, including
John Travolta,
Marilu Henner,
Treat Williams, and
Ann Reinking. 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.
Over Here! lasted only a year, and its end marked the last time the sisters would ever sing together. Patty continually distanced herself from Maxene, until her death, and would not explain her motives regarding the separation. 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 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 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 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. The
1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake had shaken the area that 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 their remaining years, with Maxene dying in 1995. 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.
Bob Hope said of Maxene's death, "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."
As musical innovators 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
Gordon Jenkins.
Many styles While the sisters specialized in
traditional pop,
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. Their versatility allowed them to pair with many different artists in the recording studios, producing
Top 10 hits with the likes of Bing Crosby (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. == Marriages, family, and deaths ==