March is Women’s History Month. Despite obstacles and discrimination, many brilliant women have guided the course of popular music and inspired cultural movements both around the world and here in Minnesota. The Current is highlighting stories of women who made revolutionary contributions to our local music scene.

What comes to mind when you think of the Andrews Sisters? Maybe holiday classics like the Bing Crosby collaborations “Jingle Bells” and “Mele Kalikimaka” or the World War II-era hit “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.”  

The Andrews Sisters — LaVerne, Maxene, and Patty — grew up on the northside of Minneapolis and began singing together as children, huddled around the family piano in their Minneapolis home, or in their uncles’ house in the small town of Mound. LaVerne was the only one of the three who could read music and she would accompany her sisters on the piano and was the “instigator” of the three sisters singing together.  

The Andrews Sisters started their performance careers in the Twin Cities, and in 1931 won first place in a talent show at Minneapolis’s Orpheum Theatre. Vaudeville variety shows were a common way for young singers to reach audiences, and the three sisters joined Larry Rich’s traveling road show.

In 1937, the Andrews Sisters signed to the New York label Decca Records, and one of their first songs, a Yiddish tune called “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön,” immediately became a hit. The song was written for the musical I Could If I Would, and new lyrics from musician Sammy Cahn along with the Andrews Sisters’ tight vocal harmonies introduced the song to audiences across the country.

The Andrews Sisters also popularized the boogie-woogie beat with their 1940 song “Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar.” Boogie-woogie was mostly practiced in Black communities, but the Andrews Sisters’ use of the rhythm propelled it into the mainstream. Other groups started doing pieces with boogie-woogie, and it became a national fad.

The Andrews Sisters were on tour in December 1941 when President Roosevelt announced that the U.S. was entering World War II. They played a crucial role in the war effort, performing for troops at USO shows around the world and entertaining radio listeners across the U.S.

By the early ‘50s, the sisters were beginning to move apart. In 1952, Patty married the group’s pianist, Walter Weschler, who convinced Patty to leave the trio to pursue a solo career.

Despite the longevity of the Andrews Sisters’ music, it’s easy to lose sight of just how widespread their music was during their time. The Andrews Sisters had 46 Top 10 hits and a dozen number ones, and are Minnesota’s second-best-selling musicians — surpassed only by Prince.

And until recently, many fans assumed that the Andrews Sisters’ story ends here, but there’s another aspect of Maxene’s history. In addition to being her manager, goddaughter, and later her adopted daughter, Lynda Wells was also Maxene’s partner. Maxene never publicly came out as gay — she married music publisher Lou Levy in 1941 and the pair adopted two children, but they were divorced in 1951.

The Andrews Sisters’ career as a group came to an end in 1966 when LaVerne was diagnosed with cancer. She passed away in 1967. Maxene passed in 1995, and Patty died in January 2013. The Andrews Sisters left behind more than just a catalog of music — they helped invent new musical styles and lifted Americans’ spirits during some of the country’s darkest years.