The Andrews Sisters were the most successful female vocal group of the first 
half of the 20th century in the U.S. with 113 singles making it to the 
charts between 1938-1951, an average of more than eight per year. 

Their close-harmony style, intricate vocal arrangements and rhythmic ability 
mirrored the sound of the swing bands that were their chief competition in 
their heyday. But, in reality, they had no competition. No other female 
vocal group, and very few male ones, came close to their success from the 
late '30s to the early '50s, an era when first big bands and then solo 
singers dominated popular music. 

Although they were well-established by the time the U.S. entered World War II, 
their optimistic sound made them perfect boosters of the war effort, remained 
closely identified with the war years, remembered as wearing military uniforms 
and singing their signature song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."

Born in Mound, Minnesota, the children of a Greek immigrant father and a 
Norwegian immigrant mother who ran a restaurant in Minneapolis. They turned 
to singing as children, entertaining on local radio and in amateur revues, 
with Patty (February 16, 1918) taking the lead, Maxene (January 3, 
1916-October 21, 1995) singing high harmony, and LaVerne (born July 6, 
1911-May 8, 1967) singing the low harmony.

Patty, the youngest, was only seven when the group was formed, and just 
twelve years old when they won first prize at a talent contest at the local 
Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, where LaVerne played piano accompaniment for 
the silent film in exchange for free dancing lessons for herself and her 
sisters. Once the sisters found fame they settled in California, their 
parents lived with them in a Brentwood estate until their deaths.

With the U.S. entry into World War II, the Andrews Sisters began appearing 
frequently at military bases in the U.S. and later traveled overseas to 
entertain the troops. They encouraged U.S. citizens to purchase war bonds 
with their rendition of Irving Berlin's song Any Bonds Today?. They also helped 
actors Bette Davis and John Garfield found California's famous Hollywood 
Canteen, a welcome retreat for servicemen where the trio often performed, 
volunteering their personal time to sing for and dance with 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 like "Command Performance," "Mail Call," & "G.I. Journal." 
Perhaps only Bob Hope and his group did more to entertain the troops.

In 1943, they recorded on a series of hits, many of them with Bing Crosby. 
The million-selling "Pistol Packin' Mama," backed with "Vict'ry Polka," was 
a two-sided hit with Crosby in 1943-1944, then they topped the charts with 
their own "Shoo-Shoo Baby" in January 1944. Before the end of the year, they 
and Crosby had gone to #1 with the double-sided hit (There'll Be A) Hot Time 
in the Town of Berlin (When the Yanks Go Marching In)" and "Is You Is or Is 
You Ain't (Ma' Baby)," as well as Cole Porter's "Don't Fence Me In."

The Andrews Sisters premiered their own weekly network radio show, 
Eight-to-the-Bar Ranch, at the end of 1944 as the hits continued with the 
calypso song "Rum and Coca-Cola," which went to number one in February 1945, 
becoming the biggest hit of that year. The group's other Top Ten hits for 
1945 were "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" and "Along the Navajo Trail," both 
with Crosby, and "The Blond Sailor." 1946 found them in the Top Ten with the 
gold-selling "South America, Take It Away" (with Crosby), "Rumors Are 
Flying" (accompanied by guitarist Les Paul), and "Christmas Island" (backed 
by Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians). 1947 brought the Top Ten hits 
"Tallahassee" (with Crosby), "Near You," and "The Lady From 29 Palms." And 
in 1948, when they were ranked as the top recording artists of the year, the 
Andrews Sisters reached the Top Ten with "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, 
Bongo)" (with Danny Kaye), "Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)," 
"Underneath the Arches," and "You Call Everybody Darling."

The Andrews Sisters slowed down making recordings after 1948, as they began 
to focus on nightclub performing, but they continued to record for Decca 
through the end of 1953, at which point Patty Andrews left the group for a 
solo career. Maxene and LaVerne continued to perform as the Andrews Sisters. 

In June 1956, the three reconciled and they recorded for Capitol Records 
(1956-1959) and Dot Records (1961-1967) without commercial impact. In the 
fall of 1966, LaVerne Andrews retired from performing due to illness and was 
replaced by Joyce de Young. LaVerne died of cancer the following spring. 

The Andrews Sisters made their final appearance as a trio in July 1968, 
after which Maxene Andrews took a job at Lake Tahoe Paradise College of Fine 
Arts. Patty Andrews returned to her solo career and in 1971 appeared in a 
musical revue called Victory Canteen in Los Angeles, and was later expanded 
and retitled, Over Here!

Maxene and Patty Andrews had a falling out with the producers of Over Here!, 
and with each other, leading to the show's premature closing on January 4, 
1975, and the cancellation of a national tour. The two sisters remained 
estranged from then on, although they made occasional joint appearances and 
Patty visited the hospital when Maxene suffered a heart attack in 1982. Both 
sisters maintained solo careers into the 1990s. Maxene Andrews was on a 
vacation from her role in the off-Broadway musical Swingtime Canteen when 
she suffered another heart attack and died in the fall of 1995. 

Other Achievements:
* Between 75-100 million records sold from a little over 600 recorded tunes.
* 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.

Some of the trio's best-remembered and most popular hits were:
* "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön."
* "Beer Barrel Polka" aka: "Roll Out the Barrel").
* "Hold Tight-Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood, Mama?)."
* "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar."
* "I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time."
* "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (Of Company B)."
* "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)."
* "Pistol Packin' Mama" (w/ Bing Crosby).
* "Jingle Bells" (w/ Bing Crosby).
* "Rum and Coca-Cola."
* "Don't Fence Me In" (w/ Bing Crosby).
* "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" (w/ Bing Crosby).
* "South America, Take It Away" (w/ Bing Crosby).
* "Cuanto La Gusta" (w/ Carmen Miranda).
* "Blue Tail Fly aka: "Jimmy Crack Corn") (w/ Burl Ives).
* "Christmas Island" & "Winter Wonderland" (both with Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians),
* "Near You."
* "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)" (w/ Danny Kaye).
* "Rumors Are Flying" (w/ Les Paul).
* "I Can Dream, Can't I?" and "I Wanna Be Loved" (both w/Gordon Jenkins' orchestra & chorus, 
and both featuring extended solos by Patty).

LaVerne and Maxene Andrews are interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park 
Cemetery in Glendale, California with their parents, and room remains in the 
crypt for Patty if she chooses that as her final resting place.

Most of the Andrews Sisters' music has been restored and released in compact 
disc form, yet over 300 of their original Decca recordings, a good portion 
of which was hit material, has yet to be released by MCA/Decca in over 50 
years. Many of these Decca recordings have been used in such television 
shows and Hollywood movies as Homefront, ER, 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, Just Shoot Me, Mama's Family, War & Remembrance, 
Jakob the Liar, Lolita, The Polar Express, The Chronicles of Narnia, 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, 
Civilization (with Danny Kaye) was included in the 1940s-50s Atomic 
Age-inspired video game Fallout 3.

The Andrews Sisters were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.