Patti
Andrews (1918 - 2013)
Maxine Andrews (1916 - 1995)
Laverne Andrews (1911 - 1967)
Some
more statistics on The Andrews Sisters:
They had been performing together for 13 years
before they had their first hit -- Bei Mir
Bist Du Schoen -- in 1938. It propelled
them into the top ranks of entertainers:
From 1938 to 1951, The Andrews Sisters had
more than 100 songs hit the Top 40 -- 8 of
which reached #1 on the charts. They
excelled in every area of show business --
records, radio, live performances, TV, and
theater.
People
old enough to remember World War II know that
The Andrews Sisters were wildly
patriotic. They ceaselessly toured Armed
Forces camps both domestically and
overseas.
They appeared regularly at the Hollywood
Canteen for servicemen:
At
the Stage Door Canteen in NYC:
They
starred in the movie "Hollywood Canteen" in
1944:
And
recorded V-discs (music for armed forces radio
stations).
One
of their biggest hits -- “Boogie Woogie Bugle
Boy (of Company B)” -- was featured in the
Abbot & Costello comedy “Buck Privates”
and was nominated for an Oscar:
Boogie
Woogie Bugle Boy (of Company B)
Here
are two of their gigantic wartime hits,
which were faves of the millions of men in
uniform who were yearning for the girls they
left behind:
Don't
Sit Under the Apple Tree
Apple
Blossom Time
But
uptempo and swing numbers were more The
Andrews Sisters' metier:
Beat
Me, Daddy, Eight to the Bar
They
were among the first to embrace and
promote calypso:
Rum
and Coca-Cola
In
1951, after a quarter of a century spending
day and night together, Patty left the group
to go solo.
She and Maxine were often at odds, and
Laverne -- as the perennial peacemaker --
could only do so much to calm the
waters. But they reunited later in the
1950’s and appeared as a trio until Laverne
died in 1967.
Just
before LaVerne's death, the trio appeared on
The Sammy
Davis Show in what turned out to be
a Great Pop Culture Moment:
The
Andrews Sisters and the Supremes -
Together!
7
years later, the surviving Andrews Sisters -
Patti and Maxine - appeared in a Broadway
musical comedy set during World War II:
“Over
Here” was a great popular
success. Here’s a clip of two numbers
in the show from the Tony Awards telecast
that year. In the first part of the
number, look for a 20-year-old John Travolta
dressed as a soldier dancing his heart
out.
A
personal note:
We saw “Over
Here.”
At the end of the curtain calls, as the
audience was putting on their coats and
heading for the exit, Patti and Maxine came
back on stage and yelled out:
“Hey! Where ya goin'? Come on
back!”
We all dutifully headed back to our seats,
took off our coats -- and watched Patti and
Maxine perform a 30-minute medley of their
biggest Andrews Sisters hits.
It
was thrilling.
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