Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The Andrews Sisters: Together Again

Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of the legendary sister singing trio, The Andrews Sisters, passed away on Wednesday at Northridge, California from natural causes at the age of 94.

Mezzo-soprano Patty, along with sisters contralto LaVerne (who passed away in 1967) and soprano Maxine (who passed away in 1995), recorded numerous hits during the 1930s and 1940s, behaps their best remembered was "The Boogie Woogie Boy ."


Other hits included "Bie Mir Bist Du Schon (1937)," "Hold Tight, Hold Tight (1939)," "Beer Barrell Polka (1939)," "Ferryboat Serenade (1940)," "Scrub Me, Mama, With A Boogie Beat (1941)," "(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time (1941)," "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (1942)," "Shoo-Shoo Baby (1943)," "Rum and Coca-Cola (1945)," and "I Can Dream, Can't I (1949)."

The girls recorded many hit songs with Bing Crosby, including "Pistol Packin' Mama" from 1943 and "Don't Fence Me In" from 1944.

They also appeared in many motion pictures during the 1940s, including "Buck Privates" and "In The Navy" (both with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, both 1941) and "Private Buckaroo" (1942).

Save for a period in the early-to-mid 1950s, when Patty performed as a single act, the sisters were active as a threesome from the mid-1920s until shortly before LaVerne's passing.

Speaking of "Private Buckaroo," here are the girls performing one of their most famous hits "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" in this excerpt from the 1942 Universal picture, along with Harry James and his orchestra, and an unwanted Shemp Howard (from his days in-between stints with The Three Stooges).

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