Charles River Editors - The Andrews Sisters: The Lives and Legacy of the Famous Singing Trio during the Swing Era

The Andrews Sisters in 1952

I wanted to become an Andrews sister. My wish was that they could become a quartet and Id be the fourth singer. - June Allyson, actress

The vaudeville era of the early 20 th century dominated American entertainment with an endless array of specialty acts. Thousands of performers emerged from familiar American lives to test their novel talents with a voracious public in search of the next fad. Violin concertos were played on bicycle pumps, and contortionists defied gravity and the limits of human anatomy. Animal acts of every variety sought to up the ante in bringing the exotic to the American stage. One thread held most of these oddities together. Whatever the talent, it was virtually obligatory in most cases that both humans and animals incorporate singing and dancing into the act. This was particularly true for women regardless of the talent level or genre of specialty.

Acts based on family groups became increasingly common, and the genre of sister acts caught fire in the 1920s. Many of these female sibling groups emerged from Midwestern farms and small towns outside the large cities, a phenomenon that is still in play as young women from the American heartland arrive in Las Vegas and Los Angeles on an annual basis to search for stardom. However, in the vaudeville era, the exotic and the odd were often prized above quality, and in the words of author Colleen Cowie, many performing girls were just pretty young things of negligible qualifications at best. The appetite for simple beauty and acts based on mindless themes extended to men as well and typified the sort of entertainment a family member might devise for shows in a typical American living room. Other sister groups may have possessed talent for their chosen genre, but they were dubious in the singing and dancing department. Some attained a successful career based on their lack of quality, such as the Cherry Sisters of Iowa whose concerts and literary offerings were met with hurled vegetables for over a decade. The Ross Sisters were extraordinary contortionists, but even the truly novel began to tire the sated audience by the following decade. Such a craving for this generally cheerful mass-produced home entertainment was in part a feature of the First World War and its aftermath. A fatigued public sought emotional rescue from international violence, money woes, and anxiety-ridden political standoffs. In many cases, the more banal and childlike the act, the more such a course of therapy was served. National acts arrived through a system of local halls and chain theaters such as those of the Pantages or Orpheum organizations. As a rule, appearances occupied a brief period in an evening performance, mixed in with a dozen or more fellow performers.

Nevertheless, one female singing group, a hometown trio from Minnesota, stepped into the waning years of sister acts with a quality that at least in their case revived a national interest in the genre. The public psychology that opened the door to the Andrews Sisters has been analyzed extensively through the decades, and their extraordinary success likely originated from multiple fascinations. Gary Giddins, noted biographer of Bing Crosby, is particularly qualified to venture his theory. Crosby worked extensively with the trio from the small town of Mound in the east central portion of the state. Giddins asserts that Patty, LaVerne, and Maxene Andrews created their unique sound in part through the development of a very bright harmonic sense, first achieved by the older sister, LaVerne. The trio mastered a virtuosic use of close, intricate harmonies, coupled with a precise and a seemingly telepathic rhythmic sense that could be honed for performance in a short period of rehearsal time. These qualities were enveloped in a timbral sheen reminiscent of multiple trumpets. At the root of it, the trio represented one of many thousands of families in which the children attempted to imitate the reigning stars. In this rare case, they did it better than anyone.

While building on the genre of boogie-woogie, generally a feature of the African American music scene, the home-grown trio tapped into the grief of the First World War, then rode the ensuing wave of nostalgia that typified WWII. They filled a wartime and post-war need for emotional restoration in the same way vaudeville had served in 1918. Establishing a national boogie-woogie fad as an alternative to the typical 4/4 swing of white society, the sisters coupled the repertoire with an inherent quality of optimism and celebrative Americanism. Unlike most fellow performers, they eschewed the endless theme of brooding romantic love and instead exhorted a country at war to raise its collective morale through a rare demonstration of musical zest.

As radio personalities, the Andrews Sisters became ubiquitous and iconic for a public that had clung to the apparatus through every manner of national catastrophe. Radio networks were operative throughout the day and night, but generally offered a diet of round-the-clock news, much of it grim. Eventually, the trio came to break the onslaught of national and international events with six to eight appearances each day. In these breaks, war-weary Americans were treated to snappy rhythms clothed in an overt musical patriotism to spur them on. In financial terms, the three sisters broke every record ever set by a female singing group, eventually rivaling Elvis Presley and The Beatles as commercial juggernauts. While Uncle Sam was recruiting troops destined for the European continent and Asia, teenagers were home doing the jitterbug. The Andrews Sisters, overthrowing the worn out and vacuous personality of the vaudeville model, took the step and rode it to fame and national adoration, adapting to current styles along the way.

The Andrews Sisters: The Lives and Legacy of the Famous Singing Trio during the Swing Era chronicles how the three sisters formed one of the most famous groups in music history. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Andrews Sisters like never before.