Boswell Sisters
Encyclopedia
The Boswell Sisters were a close harmony
singing group, consisting of sisters Martha Boswell
(June 9, 1905 – July 2, 1958), 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 USA
in the 1930s.
The sisters were raised by a middle-class family on Camp Street in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana
. Martha and Connie were born in Kansas City, Missouri
. Helvetia was born in Birmingham, Alabama
. (Connee's name was originally spelled Connie until she changed it in the 1940s.)
They came to be well known in New Orleans while still in their early teens, making appearances in local theaters and radio
. They made their first record for Victor Records
in 1925. However, the Boswell Sisters did not attain national attention until they moved to New York City
in 1930 and started making national radio broadcasts. After a few recordings with OKeh Records
in 1930, they made numerous recordings for Brunswick Records
from 1931-1935. These Brunswick records are widely regarded as milestone recordings of vocal jazz. Connee's reworkings of the melodies and rhythms of popular songs, together with Glenn Miller's
arrangements, and New York jazz musicians (including The Dorsey Brothers
, Benny Goodman
, Bunny Berigan
, Fulton McGrath
, Joe Venuti, Arthur Schutt
, Eddie Lang
, Joe Tarto
, Manny Klein
, Dick McDonough
, and Carl Kress
), made these recordings unlike any others. Melodies were rearranged and slowed down, major keys were changed to minor keys (sometimes in mid-song) and rhythmic changes were par for the course. They were among the very few performers who were allowed to make changes to current popular tunes as during this era, music publishers and record companies pressured performers not to alter current popular song arrangements. Connee also recorded a series of more conventional solo records for Brunswick during the same period.
The name of their 1934 song "Rock and Roll
" is an early use of the term. It is not one of their hotter numbers; it refers to "the rolling rocking rhythm of the sea". By contrast, "Shout, Sister, Shout" (1931), written by Clarence Williams in 1929, does tend to foreshadow the rock genre, being described in one music magazine of 2011 as "by no means as archaic as its age". The Boswell Sisters chalked up 20 hits during the 1930s including the number one record "The Object of My Affection" in 1935. During the early 1930s the Boswell Sisters, Three X Sisters
, and Pickens Sisters were the talk of early radio female harmonizing. The Andrews Sisters started out as Boswell Sisters imitators. Young Ella Fitzgerald
loved the Boswell Sisters and in particular idolized Connee, after whose singing style she patterned her own.
In 1936, the group signed to Decca, but after just three records they broke up. The last recording was February 12, 1936. Connie Boswell continued to have a successful solo career as a singer for Decca. She later changed the spelling of her name from Connie to Connee in the 1940s, reputedly because it made it easier to sign autographs. Connee sang from a wheelchair - or seated position - during her entire career, due to an accident she suffered as a young child. When she tried to get involved with the overseas USO tours during World War II, she was not given permission to travel overseas due to her disability.
Current groups The Pfister Sisters, Stolen Sweets, and Boswellmania, or the Italian trio Sorelle Marinetti continue to imitate the sisters' recordings. The Ditty Bops
have covered Boswell sisters songs in concert.
In 2001, The Boswell Sisters, a major musical based on their lives, was produced at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California
. The play starred Michelle Duffy, Elizabeth Ward Land, and Amy Pietz
and was produced by the same team that produced Forever Plaid
. The show was a hit with audiences and a critical success, but failed to be picked up for a much hoped-for Broadway run.
The Boswell Sisters were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
in 1998. At a ceremony covered by the Pfister Sisters, the Boswells were inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
in 2008.
Close harmony
Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open harmony or voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note , while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array expanding the harmonic range past the octave...
singing group, consisting of sisters Martha Boswell
Martha Boswell
Martha Boswell Lloyd was the eldest of the legendary Boswell Sisters. Her younger sisters were Connee and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell....
(June 9, 1905 – July 2, 1958), Connee Boswell
Connee Boswell
Constance Foore "Connee" Boswell was an American female vocalist born in Kansas City but raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. With her sisters, Martha and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell, she performed in the 1930s as The Boswell Sisters and became a highly influential singing group during this period via...
(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 USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the 1930s.
The sisters were raised by a middle-class family on Camp Street in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. Martha and Connie were born in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. Helvetia was born in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. (Connee's name was originally spelled Connie until she changed it in the 1940s.)
They came to be well known in New Orleans while still in their early teens, making appearances in local theaters and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
. They made their first record for Victor Records
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
in 1925. However, the Boswell Sisters did not attain national attention until they moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1930 and started making national radio broadcasts. After a few recordings with OKeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
in 1930, they made numerous recordings for Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
from 1931-1935. These Brunswick records are widely regarded as milestone recordings of vocal jazz. Connee's reworkings of the melodies and rhythms of popular songs, together with Glenn Miller's
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
arrangements, and New York jazz musicians (including The Dorsey Brothers
The Dorsey Brothers
The Dorsey Brothers were a studio group fronted by musicians Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. They started recording under their name in 1928 with a series of studio recordings for the OKeh label...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Bunny Berigan
Bunny Berigan
Rowland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan was an American jazz trumpeter who rose to fame during the swing era, but whose virtuosity and influence were shortened by a losing battle with alcoholism that ended in his early death at age 33. He composed the jazz instrumentals "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues"...
, Fulton McGrath
Fulton McGrath
Fulton "Fidgy" McGrath was an American jazz pianist and songwriter.McGrath played with Red Nichols early in the 1930s, then joined the band of The Dorsey Brothers, in addition to working extensively as a studio musician and in radio orchestras...
, Joe Venuti, Arthur Schutt
Arthur Schutt
Arthur Schutt was an American jazz pianist and arranger.Schutt learned piano from his father, and accompanied silent films as a teenager in the 1910s...
, Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the Father of Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.-Biography:...
, Joe Tarto
Joe Tarto
Joe Tarto was an American jazz tubist and bassist.Tarto played trombone from age 12 before settling on tuba as a teenager. He played in an Army band in World War I, where he was wounded, and received his release in 1919...
, Manny Klein
Manny Klein
Manny Klein was a jazz trumpeter most associated with swing.He began with Paul Whiteman in 1928 and was active throughout the 1930s playing with several major bands of the era including the Dorseys and Benny Goodman. In 1937, he moved to California and worked with Frank Trumbauer's orchestra...
, Dick McDonough
Dick McDonough
Dick McDonough was an influential American jazz guitarist and composer. His major recordings included "Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jibe" with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra with Johnny Mercer, "Stage Fright" with Carl Kress, "Chasin' a Buck", "Feelin' No Pain", recorded in 1927 with Red Nichols, and...
, and Carl Kress
Carl Kress
Carl Kress was an American jazz guitarist.-Musical career:Kress began his career with Paul Whiteman in 1926, and thereafter launched a successful career as a studio guitarist...
), made these recordings unlike any others. Melodies were rearranged and slowed down, major keys were changed to minor keys (sometimes in mid-song) and rhythmic changes were par for the course. They were among the very few performers who were allowed to make changes to current popular tunes as during this era, music publishers and record companies pressured performers not to alter current popular song arrangements. Connee also recorded a series of more conventional solo records for Brunswick during the same period.
The name of their 1934 song "Rock and Roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
" is an early use of the term. It is not one of their hotter numbers; it refers to "the rolling rocking rhythm of the sea". By contrast, "Shout, Sister, Shout" (1931), written by Clarence Williams in 1929, does tend to foreshadow the rock genre, being described in one music magazine of 2011 as "by no means as archaic as its age". The Boswell Sisters chalked up 20 hits during the 1930s including the number one record "The Object of My Affection" in 1935. During the early 1930s the Boswell Sisters, Three X Sisters
Three X Sisters
The Three X Sisters were an American all-girl harmony singing trio, initially known as The Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce. They were on stage singing together as early as 1922, and formed their trio in 1924, which was composed of Pearl Santos , Violet Hamilton , and Jessie Fordyce .The trio...
, and Pickens Sisters were the talk of early radio female harmonizing. The Andrews Sisters started out as Boswell Sisters imitators. Young Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
loved the Boswell Sisters and in particular idolized Connee, after whose singing style she patterned her own.
In 1936, the group signed to Decca, but after just three records they broke up. The last recording was February 12, 1936. Connie Boswell continued to have a successful solo career as a singer for Decca. She later changed the spelling of her name from Connie to Connee in the 1940s, reputedly because it made it easier to sign autographs. Connee sang from a wheelchair - or seated position - during her entire career, due to an accident she suffered as a young child. When she tried to get involved with the overseas USO tours during World War II, she was not given permission to travel overseas due to her disability.
Current groups The Pfister Sisters, Stolen Sweets, and Boswellmania, or the Italian trio Sorelle Marinetti continue to imitate the sisters' recordings. The Ditty Bops
The Ditty Bops
The Ditty Bops is an American band from Los Angeles, California. Though previously with Warner Brothers, they now self-produce. They are noted for their tight vocal harmonies and playful style. They are headed by Abby DeWald and Amanda Barrett...
have covered Boswell sisters songs in concert.
In 2001, The Boswell Sisters, a major musical based on their lives, was produced at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. The play starred Michelle Duffy, Elizabeth Ward Land, and Amy Pietz
Amy Pietz
Amy Pietz is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Pietz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the adopted daughter of Nancy, a nurse, and Arnold Pietz, a truck driver. She trained throughout her childhood in ballet and prepared to go professional, but eventually decided not to due to...
and was produced by the same team that produced Forever Plaid
Forever Plaid
Forever Plaid is an off-Broadway musical revue written by Stuart Ross in New York in 1990 and now performed internationally. The show is a revue of the close-harmony "guy groups" that reached the height of their popularity during the 1950s. Personifying the clean-cut genre are the Plaids...
. The show was a hit with audiences and a critical success, but failed to be picked up for a much hoped-for Broadway run.
The Boswell Sisters were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame was organized to honor outstanding vocal groups throughout the world. It is headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes a theater and a museum....
in 1998. At a ceremony covered by the Pfister Sisters, the Boswells were inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame is an IRS certified 501 non-profit organization based in the state capitol of Baton Rouge, La., that seeks to preserve Louisiana's rich music culture and heritage and to further educate its citizens and people worldwide about the state’s unique role contributing...
in 2008.