Swing It!: The Andrews Sisters Story

by John Sforza

Overview

In the years before and after World War II, there were no bigger voices than those of the Andrews Sisters. Maxene, LaVerne, and Patty charted more top ten Billboard hits than Elvis or the Beatles and went on to become the top-selling female vocal group of all time, selling approximately 100 million records. They recorded such instant hits as "Beer Barrel Polka," "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Don't Fence Me In," and "I Can Dream, Can't I?" They dominated the music scene for fifteen years with some 600 recordings, appearances in seventeen films, cabaret performances, and countless radio and television appearances.

Swing It! is the first published biography of this incredibly popular trio. The book includes many rarely published photos and features extensive career data, including a detailed discography, filmography, and listing of their radio and television appearances between 1938 and 1967. The Andrews Sisters had their big break with the 1937 release of the Yiddish tune "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon (Means that You're Grand)," which sold 350,000 copies in one month and established the trio as successful recording artists. The sisters are now probably best remembered for their work entertaining troops in World War II. They traveled across the U.S. and to Italy and Africa, and their recording of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" for the film Buck Privates became synonymous with the war effort. Part of the reason for the success of the Andrews Sisters was their ability to perform so many different types of music. They repeatedly achieved major hits with melodies derived from many different countries, becoming the first and most prominent artists of their time to bring ethnic-influenced music to the forefront of America's hit parade. The Andrews Sisters separated for two years in the 1950s as the strain of constantly living, working, and playing together for over four decades took its toll. They reunited in 1956 and continued to perform together until LaVerne's death from cancer in 1967.

The Andrews Sisters remain the most successful and enduring female vocal group in the history of show business. Theirs are the voices that defined an era.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813184272
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	10/21/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction	1
1	We'll Hit the Big Time	16
2	"That's Us! That's Us!"	23
3	They Made the Company Jump	50
4	Three of a Kind	65
5	Voices of an Era	71
6	We've Got a Job to Do	82
7	Riding High	94
8	Success Abroad	112
9	A Love Song Is Born	122
10	Disharmony	136
11	The Last Mile Home	146
12	The Love We Used to Know	156
Appendix A	Top-Thirty Hits (Compiled from Billboard)	175
Appendix B	Top-Ten Hits (Compiled from Variety)	181
Appendix C	Most Played Jukebox Records of World War II	183
Appendix D	Gold Records	185
Appendix E	On the Air	189
Appendix F	The Small Screen	195
	Notes	197
	Filmography	207
	Discography	217
	Bibliography	267
	Index	269
	Song Index	279

Editorial Reviews

Sforza gives us an excellent biography of the Andrews Sisters and in doing so marvelously evokes the exciting times in which they performed.

Ohio) Times (Kettering-Oakwood

The first book about the Andrews Sisters, and Sforza has done a commendable job.

Choice

Fascinating and renews a desire to hear those voices once more.

Rainbo Electronic Reviews

A colorful and flattering portrait of a vital part of American popular culture in the World War II era. [Swing It!] chronicles [the Andrews sisters'] professional career in great detail but also addresses the sisters' frequent personal feuds.

People

An invaluable record of the pop-music business before rock, before huge arena shows, before albums on LPs and CDs, before performers were expected to write their own material, a time when musical talents of performers were more important than those of the electronic geniuses that record them.

Seattle Times

A book that will be cherished by music lovers and connoisseurs of general American history alike.

Kentucky Daily News Bowling Green

The author has unearthed a barrelful of information that heretofore had never been assembled.... A biography to savor.

Rapport

In such affectionate books as Swing It! the melody and memory linger on.

Times Literary Supplement

This is an excellent biography and career study of three talented women who became symbols of WWII but whose careers spanned many decades.

Great Old Movies

A serious view of the quintessential girl singing group of the Big Band era and beyond.

Celebrity Profiles

You'll become a fan after reading this book.

Big Band Jump Newsletter

"You'll become a fan after reading this book." — Big Band Jump Newsletter

"A book that will be cherished by music lovers and connoisseurs of general American history alike." — Daily News Bowling Green, Kentucky

"A serious view of the quintessential girl singing group of the Big Band era and beyond." — Celebrity Profiles

"The first book about the Andrews Sisters, and Sforza has done a commendable job." —

"Sforza gives us an excellent biography of the Andrews Sisters and in doing so marvelously evokes the exciting times in which they performed." — Times (Kettering-Oakwood, Ohio)

"Admirably thorough in detailing the group's recording career." — Library Journal

"A colorful and flattering portrait of a vital part of American popular culture in the World War II era. [ Swing It!] chronicles [the Andrews sisters'] professional career in great detail but also addresses the sisters' frequent personal feuds." — People

"Fascinating and renews a desire to hear those voices once more." — Rainbo Electronic Reviews

"The author has unearthed a barrelful of information that heretofore had never been assembled.... A biography to savor." — Rapport

"An invaluable record of the pop-music business before rock, before huge arena shows, before albums on LPs and CDs, before performers were expected to write their own material, a time when musical talents of performers were more important than those of the electronic geniuses that record them." — Seattle Times

"In such affectionate books as Swing It! the melody and memory linger on." — Times Literary Supplement

"This is an excellent biography and career study of three talented women who became symbols of WWII but whose careers spanned many decades." — Great Old Movies

From the Publisher