American Songbook Blogs

January 3, 1916 – October 21, 1995

The middle sister of the iconic trio, the Andrews sisters had their first hit in 1937, after years of “paying their dues” having formed their trio as young children. That first hit was “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen,” which vaulted the three sweet girls from Minnesota to fame and fortune. With Patty singing lead, Maxene soprano and La Verne alto, the Andrews Sisters recorded some of the most popular–and a few of the campiest–songs of the swing era, including “Roll Out the Barrel,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” “Straighten Up and Fly Right” and “I’ll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time.” The group sold an estimated 80 million records and received numerous accolades, including induction into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.

For a time, they had their own radio show and performed and recorded with Bing Crosby, Gene Krupa, Danny Kaye, Al Jolson, Carmen Miranda, Guy Lombardo and Glenn Miller, among others. Their screen credits included several Abbott and Costello comedies and a 1944 Warner Bros. wartime morale booster called “Hollywood Canteen.”

Along with Hope and Crosby, the Andrews Sisters headlined tours of American military installations and operations around the world. One of their most memorable concerts was in a dirigible hangar in Naples, Italy, in 1945, where the commanding officer asked the sisters to interrupt their songfest to make an announcement to the 5,000 assembled GIs. On the slip of paper he passed to the three women was the news that the war in Japan was over. Wow! Happy Birthday Maxine!