The Andrew Sisters

The Andrews Sisters (Left to right- Maxine, Patty, and LaVerne) pose in uniform for a photo in 1944 New York City

Biography

It would be extremely hard to go throught his website without mentioning this epitomal group. The Andrew Sisters were the trio group to define the war years era. The group consisted of three sisters, LaVerne, Maxine, and Patty, all from Mound, MN. They idolized the popular Broswell Sisters and strove to be like them in their music. It was not until the '30s when the group finally took off after the death of the vaudevillian acts that so captivated the nation in the past 50 years. They achieved success with Decca Recording Co. in 1937 with their famous hit, "Bei Mir Bist du Shoen", an old Yiddish classic. Their success continued into the war years and hit its zenith there. While at Decca, the Andrew Sisters worked closely with Bing Crosby to put out number one hits such as the 1943 hit, "Victory Polka", and the 1944 hit, "There'll be a Hot Time in Berlin". Both songs exemplified the war effort in their music and their morale mission they had to accomplish to keep men fighting and keep the war effort strong. The group soon had a number of hits, twenty-fold. They continued touring until the '60s and then disbaneded. The last of the group, Patty, past away in 2013.

According to Joseph Laredo, the author of the booklet for the 20^th Century Masters Collection: The Andrew Sisters, “Their sunny, optimistic brand of vocal harmony especially endeared them to the servicemen of World War II…..and made their records the aural equivalent of morale-boosting pinup photos”. This group was one of the hallmarks of the war years era of music. Their upbeat rhythms and tempos kept troops happy and giddy while the outside world seemed desolate and despairing. Without this significant group who impacted the war and the music of that time, we would not have been able to accomplish such goals as D-Day or the hellish fighting in the Ardennes, one could only speculate.