The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note , while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array (like - C3, G3, E4) expanding the harmonic range past the octave. Close harmony or voicing can refer to both instrumental and singing group, consisting of sisters LaVerne Sophia Andrews (contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C (G5), although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C (E3) or the second B♭ above middle C (B♭5); July 6 July 6 is the 187th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 178 days remaining until the end of the year, 1911 1911 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar) – May 8 May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 237 days remaining until the end of the year, 1967 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar), Maxene Angelyn Andrews (soprano A soprano is a singing voice with a vocal range from approximately middle C (C4) to "high A" (A5) in choral music, or to "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C) or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody. For other styles of; January 3 January 3 is the third day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 362 days remaining until the end of the year . The Perihelion, the point in the year when the Earth is closest to the Sun, occurs around this date, 1916 1916 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar) – October 21 October 21 is the 294th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 71 days remaining until the end of the year, 1995 1995 was a common year that started on a Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The year 1995 was the 1995th year in the Anno Domini/Common Era and the 6th year of the 1990s), and Patricia Marie (a.k.a. Patty) Andrews (mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (meaning "medium" or "middle" "soprano" in Italian) is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3-A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4); lead; born February 16 February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 318 days remaining until the end of the year, 1918 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar)). All were born in Minnesota Nearly sixty percent of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area known as the "Twin Cities", the center of transportation, business and industry, education and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; to a Greek Greece (English: /ˈɡriːs/ ; Greek: Ελλάδα, Elláda, IPA: /eˈlaða/ ( listen); Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellás, IPA: /helːás/), also known as Hellas and officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: /eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia/), is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on immigrant father and a Norwegian American Predominantly Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod mother.[citation needed]
Early history
Patty, the youngest and the lead singer The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. Lead vocalists may also play one or more instruments (most commonly rhythm guitar, piano, keyboards or bass guitar). They are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they of the group, 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 Minneapolis (pronounced /ˌmɪniˈæpəlɪs/ ), nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States. Its name is attributed to the city's first schoolteacher, who combined mni, the Dakota word for water,, where LaVerne played piano accompaniment for the silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. In entertainment silent films the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, showings in exchange for free dancing lessons for herself and her sisters. Once the sisters found fame and settled in California California's geography ranges from the Pacific coast to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, to Mojave desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood–Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. California is the most, their parents lived with them in a Brentwood Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States; it should not be confused with Brentwood, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California or the Brentwood area of Victorville, California estate until their deaths, and several cousins from Minnesota Nearly sixty percent of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area known as the "Twin Cities", the center of transportation, business and industry, education and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; followed them west. The sisters returned to Minneapolis at least once a year to visit family and friends and/or perform.
They started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the Boswell Sisters The Boswell Sisters were a close harmony singing group, consisting of sisters Martha Boswell , Connee Boswell (original name Connie) (December 3, 1907 – October 11, 1976), and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell (May 20, 1911 – November 12, 1988), noted for intricate harmonies and rhythmic experimentation. They attained national prominence in the. After singing with various dance bands and touring in vaudeville Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included popular and classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female with the likes of comic bandleader Larry Rich, also known as Dick Rich (Dick Rich was actually one of Larry's younger brothers), Ted Mack, and Leon Belasco, 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),[1] originally a Yiddish Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages. It is written in the Hebrew alphabet tune, the lyrics of which Sammy Cahn Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He and his collaborators began a series of hit recordings with Frank Sinatra during the singer's tenure at Capitol Records, had translated to English and which the girls harmonized to perfection. It sold a million copies, making them the first female vocal group to achieve a Gold Record Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped a certain number of copies award. They followed this success with a string of best-selling A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties . The New York Times Best Seller list is records over the next two years and they became a household name by 1940.
Record setting hits
The Andrews Sisters became the best-selling female vocal group in the history of popular music, setting records that remain unsurpassed to this day:
- between 75-100 million records sold from a little over 600 recorded tunes
- 113 charted Billboard Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It is often considered to be one of the 'holy grails' of the entertainment industry, and the official trade publication of the music industry; it is typically regarded as one of the most relevant and unbiased sources of hits, 46 reaching Top 10 The Top Forty or Top 50 is a music industry shorthand for the currently most-popular songs in a particular genre. When used without qualification, it typically refers to the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music songs of the previous week. Top 40 became the dominant radio format of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s status (more than Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presleya was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King" or the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. From 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). Rooted in skiffle)
- 17 Hollywood Hollywood is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California - situated west-northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonym of American cinema, and is often interchangeably used to refer to the greater Los films (more than any other singing group in motion picture Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects 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 Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of a TV variety show called The Ed Sullivan Show that was broadcast from 1948 until 1971. Its 23-year run made The Ed Sullivan Show one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S. broadcast history, Milton Berle Milton Berle was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater (1948–55), in 1948 he was the first major star of US television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr. Television to millions during TV's golden age, Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with it in 1943. "Mr. C.", as he was nicknamed, sold millions of records for Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and pioneered a weekly, Frank Sinatra Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Dean Martin Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Mambo Italiano", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?". Nicknamed the "King of Cool", he, Sammy Davis, Jr. Primarily a dancer and singer, Davis was a childhood vaudevillian, and became internationally famous for his performances on Broadway and Las Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack", Johnny Carson John William “Johnny” Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years (1962–1992). Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. He was awarded the Presidential, Joey Bishop Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin. Bishop appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series as well as hosting a talk show, Art Linkletter Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born radio and television personality and the host of two long-running United States television shows: House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years. Linkletter was famous for interviewing children on House Party and Kids, and Jimmy Dean.
Some of the trio's best-remembered and most popular hits were:
- "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön",
- "Beer Barrel Polka Beer Barrel Polka, also known as Roll Out the Barrel, is a song which became popular worldwide during World War II. The music was originally composed by the Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda in 1927. Eduard Ingriš wrote the first arrangement of the piece, after Vejvoda came upon the melody and sought Ingriš' help in refining it. At that time, it (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",
- "In the Mood "In the Mood" is a song popularized by the American bandleader Glenn Miller in 1939, and one of the best-known arrangements of the big band era. Miller's rendition topped the charts one year later and was featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade. The song is an anomaly to chart purists. "In The Mood" was released in the",
- "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 Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. His career stretched more than half a century from 1926 until his death in 1977. Crosby's unique bass-baritone voice made him the best-selling recording artist until well into the rock era, with over half a billion records in circulation),
- "Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and copyrighted under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" on September 16, 1857. Despite being inextricably connected to Christmas, it is not specifically a Christmas song" (w/ Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. His career stretched more than half a century from 1926 until his death in 1977. Crosby's unique bass-baritone voice made him the best-selling recording artist until well into the rock era, with over half a billion records in circulation),
- "Rum and Coca-Cola",
- "Don't Fence Me In" (w/ Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. His career stretched more than half a century from 1926 until his death in 1977. Crosby's unique bass-baritone voice made him the best-selling recording artist until well into the rock era, with over half a billion records in circulation),
- "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 (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).
World War II
During World War II, they entertained the Allied forces extensively in America, Africa and Italy, visiting Army, Navy, Marine and Coast Guard bases, war zones, hospitals, and munitions factories.[2] 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 troupe did more to entertain the troops.
Setting Records
They recorded 47 songs with crooner 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", among other yuletide favorites.
The sisters' popularity was such that after the war they discovered 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. Still, it did not stop concentration camp inmates from secretly singing it.
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 Israel, Italy, Spain, France, Ireland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Sweden, Brazil, Mexico, and Trinidad, many of which their manager chose for them.
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Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:42:00 GM
Andrews. was born in Tacoma in 1910 and was raised with her three . sisters. and one brother on her father's farm near Quilcene. The trees on the Olympic Peninsula were bigger then than they are now, she said. ...
