Apps

LaVerne Andrews — news, coverage & facts — IJR

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.

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. When LaVerne and Maxene 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 sued LaVerne for a larger share of their parents' estate. 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." The Andrews Sisters formally broke up in 1953.

LaVerne and Maxene 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 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.

Maxene and Patty's careers experienced a resurgence when Bette Midler covered "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" in 1972. The next year, the pair debuted on Broadway in the Sherman Brothers' nostalgic and successful World War II musical: Over Here!, which premiered at the Shubert Theatre. 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. It was written with the sisters in mind for the leads. The musical 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 due to a conflict with the show's producers over pay for the sisters. This also resulted 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.

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.Upon hearing the news of her sister's death, Patty became distraught. Several days later, Patty's husband, Wally, fell down a flight of stairs and broke both of his wrists. As a result, Patty did not attend either the California or New York memorial services for Maxene. 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."

Legacy

The Andrews 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 Supremes, the Beach Boys, the McGuire Sisters, the Lennon Sisters, the Pointer Sisters, the Manhattan Transfer, Barry Manilow, and Bette Midler. Their style was even emulated internationally; the Harmony Sisters, a popular Finland group that performed from the 1930s to the 1950s, was one such example.

Most of the Andrews Sisters' music has been restored and released in compact disc form. Over 300 of their original Decca recordings, a good portion of which was hit material, has yet to be released by MCA/Decca. Many of their Decca recordings have been used in such television shows and Hollywood movies as Homefront, ER, Agent Carter, 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. The sisters were again featured in a Fallout game in 2015, when their songs "Pistol Packin' Mama" and "Civilization" were featured in the game Fallout 4.

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 have said their name is a tribute to the Andrews Sisters. The National WW2 Museum's Victory Belles 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 songs sung by the Andrews Sisters and some of the more obscure ones, such as "Well Alright" and "South American Way".

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 North American premiere of the show was June 21, 2009, in their summer vacation enclave of Mound, Minnesota. In 2008, Mound dedicated "The Andrews Sisters Trail". The sisters spent summers in Mound 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.

In 2019, the Great American Songbook Foundation held an exhibition titled "The Andrews Sisters: Queens of the Jukebox," which led discussions about the lives and impact of the Andrews sisters' careers on the music industry alongside a collection of archival artifacts and historic memorabilia. The Songbook Library & Archives houses most comprehensive collection of Andrews Sisters memorabilia available today.

The Bronx Zoo acquired three young female Asian Elephants in October 1973, which they named Laverne, Maxine (a slightly different spelling), and Patty in honor of the trio. As of May 2026, 57-year old Patty still resides at the Bronx Zoo today, while the other two elephants, Laverne and Maxine, died in 1982 and 2018, respectively.

Setting records

The trio recorded 47 songs with 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", "Don't Fence Me In", "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. This did not stop concentration camp inmates from secretly singing it, this being most likely because 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 liner 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.

75–100 million records sold from a little over 600 recorded tunes

113 charted Billboard hits, 46 reaching Top 10 status (more than Elvis Presley or the Beatles)

17 Hollywood films (more than any other singing group in motion picture history)

record-breaking theater and cabaret runs all across America and Europe;

countless appearances on radio shows from 1935 to 1960 (including their own)

guest spots on every major television show of the 1950s and 1960s, including those hosted by Ed Sullivan, Milton Berle, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Carson, Joey Bishop, Art Linkletter and Jimmy Dean.

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

Discography

Don't Fence Me In (with Bing Crosby) (1946, Decca)

The Andrews Sisters (1946, Decca) (No. 5 on Billboard's albums chart)

A Collection of Tropical Songs (1947, Decca)

Selections from Road to Rio (with Bing Crosby) (1948, Decca)

Irving Berlin Songs (1948, Decca)

The Andrews Sisters in Hi-Fi (1957, Capitol)

Fresh and Fancy Free (1957, Capitol)

The Andrews Sisters Sing the Dancing '20s (1958, Capitol)

Near You... (1958, Vocalion)

Greatest Hits (1961, Dot)

Great Golden Hits (1962, Dot)

The Andrews Sisters Present (1963, Dot)

Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1963, Dot)

Great Country Hits (1964, Dot)

The Andrews Sisters Go Hawaiian (1965, Dot)

Favorite Hymns (1965, Hamilton)

The Andrews Sisters – Great Performers (1967, Dot)

Boogie Woogie Bugle Girls (1973, Paramount)

The Andrews Sisters in Over Here! (1974, Columbia)

In The Mood (Famous Twinset Series) (1974, Paramount)

Sixteen Great Performances (1980, MCA)

50th Anniversary Collection Volume One (1987, MCA)

Christmas With The Andrews Sisters (1988, Pickwick)

All-Time Favorites (10 Best Series) (1991, Cema)

Their All Time Greatest Hits (1994, MCA)

20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Andrews Sisters (2000, MCA)

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

"A Bushel and a Peck" (1950) (No. 22)

"A Hundred and Sixty Acres" (with Bing Crosby) (1948) (No. 23)

"A Penny a Kiss-A Penny a Hug" (1950) (No. 17)

"Aurora" (1941) (No. 10)

"Bella Bella Marie" (1948) (No. 23)

"Can't We Talk it Over?" (with Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra and chorus) (1950) (No. 22)

"Charley, My Boy" (with Russ Morgan and his orchestra) (1949) (No. 15)

"Chico's Love Song" (1939) (No. 11)

"Christmas Island" (with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians) (1946: No. 7; 1947: No. 20; 1949: No. 26)

"Ciribiribin (They're So in Love)" (with Bing Crosby & Joe Venuti and his orchestra) (1939) (No. 13)

"Coax Me a Little Bit" (1946) (No. 24)

"Corns for My Country" (1945) (No. 21)

"Cuanto La Gusta" (with Carmen Miranda) (1948) (No. 12)

"Down By the O-HI-O" (1940) (No. 21)

"Down in the Valley (Hear that Train Blow)" (1944) (No. 20)

"East of the Rockies" (1943) (No. 18)

"(Everytime They Play the) Sabre Dance" (with The Harmonica Gentlemen) (1948) (No. 20)

"Heartbreaker" (with The Harmonica Gentlemen) (1948) (No. 21)

"Here Comes the Navy" (1942) (No. 17)

"Hit the Road" (1940) (No. 27)

"How Lucky You Are" (1947) (No. 22)

"I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" (1946) (No. 17)

"I Hate to Lose You" (1948) (No. 14)

"Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?" (with Bing Crosby) (1950) (No. 24)

"I'll Pray For You" (1942) (No. 22)

"I'm Biting My Fingernails and Thinking of You" (with Ernest Tubb and The Texas Troubadors directed by Vic Schoen) (1949) (No. 30)

"I Wish I Had a Dime (For Ev'rytime I Missed You)" (1941) (No. 20)

"I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)" (1941) (No. 11)

"Jealous" (1941) (No. 12)

"The Blue Tail Fly (Jimmy Crack Corn)" (with Burl Ives, vocal and guitar accompaniment) (1948) (No. 24)

"Joseph! Joseph!" (1938) (No. 18)

"Lullaby to a Jitterbug" (1938) (No. 10)

"Merry Christmas Polka" (with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians) (1950) (No. 18)

"Mister Five By Five" (1942) (No. 14)

"Money Is the Root of All Evil (Take it Away, Take it Away, Take it Away)" (with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians) (1946) (No. 9)

"More Beer!" (1949) (No. 30)

"Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!" Decca 2840 (1940)

"On the Avenue" (with Carmen Cavallaro at the piano), Decca 24102 A (1947) (No. 21)

"One Meat Ball" (1945) (No. 15)

"Patience and Fortitude" (1946) (No. 12)

"Pennsylvania Polka" (1942) (No. 17)

"Pross Tchai (Goodbye-Goodbye)" (1939) (No. 15)

"Put That Ring On My Finger" (1945)

"Quicksilver" (with Bing Crosby) (1950) (No. 6)

"Rhumboogie" (1940) (No. 11)

"Get Your Kicks on Route 66" (with Bing Crosby) (1946) (No. 14)

"Says My Heart" (1938) (No. 10)

"Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat" (1940) (No. 10)

"Sha-Sha" (with Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra)(1938) (No. 17)

"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (with Russ Morgan and his orchestra) (1949) (No. 22)

"Shortenin' Bread" (1938) (No. 16)

"Sing a Tropical Song" (1944) (No. 24)

"Sleepy Serenade" (1941) (No. 22)

"Sleigh Ride" (1950)

"Sonny Boy" (1941) (No. 22)

"Sparrow in the Treetop" (with Bing Crosby) (1951) (No. 8)

"Straighten Up and Fly Right" (1944) (No. 8)

"Strip Polka" (1942) (No. 6)

"Sweet Marie" (with Carmen Cavallaro at the piano), Decca 24102 B (maybe 1947?) (No. ?)

"Tallahassee" (with Bing Crosby) (1947) (No. 10)

"Teresa" (with Dick Haymes) (1948) (No. 21)

"That's the Moon, My Son" (1942) (No. 18)

"The Blond Sailor" (1945) (No. 8)

"The Freedom Train" (1947) (No. 21)

"The House of Blue Lights" (with Eddie Heywood and his orchestra) (1946) (No. 15)

"The Lady from 29 Palms" (1947) (No. 7)

"The Nickel Serenade" (1941) (No. 22)

"The Pussy Cat Song (Nyow! Nyot Nyow!)" (Patty Andrews and Bob Crosby) (1949) (No. 12)

"The Three Caballeros" (with Bing Crosby) (1945) (No. 8)

"The Wedding of Lili Marlene" (with Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra and chorus) (1949) (No. 20)

"The Wedding Samba" (with Carmen Miranda) (1950) (No. 23)

"The Windmill Song" (with Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra) (1951) (No. ?)

"The Woodpecker Song" (1940) (No. 6)

"There's No Business Like Show Business" (with Bing Crosby and Dick Haymes) (1947) (No. 25)

"Three Little Sisters" (1942) (No. 8)

"Tico-Tico no Fubá" (1944) (No. 24)

"Ti-Pi-Tin" (1938) (No. 12)

"Too Young" (Patty Andrews with Victor Young and his orchestra) (1951) (No. 19)

"Torero" Capitol F 3965 (recorded on March 31, 1958)

"Tu-Li-Tulip Time" (with Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra) (1938) (No. 9)

"Winter Wonderland" (with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians) (1946) (No. 22)

"The Woody Woodpecker Song" (with Danny Kaye and The Harmonica Gentlemen) (1948) (No. 18)

"You Call Everybody Darling" (recorded in London with Billy Ternant and his orchestra) (1948) (No. 8)

"You Don't Have to Know the Language" (with Bing Crosby) (1948) (No. 21)

"You Don't Know How Much You Can Suffer" (1939) (No. 14)

"Your Red Wagon" (1947) (No. 24)

LaVerne Andrews

Comments

LaVerne Andrews

🎬 Filmography

Comments

LaVerne Andrews across IJR

Article

Article

Early life

Career

History

Interruption

As musical innovators

Many styles

Marriages, family, and deaths

Legacy

Filmography

Stage and radio shows

Setting records

Repertoire

Discography

Film, theatre, and television

Filmography

Soundtracks

Broadway

Dance

Television

🎬 Filmography

LaVerne Andrews across IJR