Barry Sisters

Merna and Claire Barry were born in the Bronx, New York to Ashkenazi Jewish parents, Herman and Ester, from Russia and Austria, respectively. The young girls got their first break as singers on WLTH Radio's "Uncle Norman" show for children and were originally billed as The Bagelman Sisters. They made their first recordings with Victor Records in the late 1930s, making a name for themselves as Yiddish jazz singers.

When the Andrews Sisters' version of "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" became a hit, musician and composer Sam Medoff, also known as Dick Manning, started his "Yiddish Melodies in Swing" radio program on New York's WHN. Before joining the radio show, the sisters changed their stage name to the Barry Sisters.

From 1939 until the mid-1950s they performed on the program, where they would sing jazz recordings in Yiddish. Their recordings included popular tunes, such as "Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head" translated into Yiddish ("Trop'ns Fin Regen Oif Mein Kop").

They also performed in New York's Catskill Mountains resort hotels. They eventually toured with Mickey Katz. During the height of their popularity, they made appearances on the Ed Sullivan and Jack Paar TV shows and were chosen as one of the few American acts to tour the Soviet Union in 1959. The sisters also entertained Israeli troops during the Yom Kippur War. The Barry Sisters did not come from the Old World tradition of Second Avenue Theater. Instead they looked glamorous and used modern orchestrations for their music.

 


Total: 41

A Gala Concert with Moishe Oysher and The Barry Si...
A Time To Remember
A Vaibele A Tsnieh; Prost In Pushet
Abi Er Ken Tantzen; Shein Vie Die Levoone
Ai Digidai Polka; Sug Es Mir Nochamol
At Home with the Barry Sisters
Babylon; My Mama Told Me
Bei Mir Bistu Shein; Mein Yiddishe Meidele; Mein Y...
Channah From Havana; Wheel of Fortune; Wheel of Fo...
Freuliche Tag; Biz Ich Tanzen Valz Mid Dir
Freuliche Tag; Biz Ich Tanzen Valz Mit Dir
Golden Voices of Israel No 3
Hevaynu Sholem Alaychem
In Myna Oigen Bist Du Shain; Git Mir Oop Mazel-Tov
Jewish Nostalgy
Jewish Nostalgy
Kotarenna; Don't Keep Me Guessing
Labidig Yeedin (Frailachs); A Chazendil Uff Shabos
Music from the Yiddish Radio Project
Musicomedy Revve #1
Our Way
Pretty Bride (Sew, Sew, Sew, Sew); Ich Vill
Pretty Bride (Sew, Sew, Sew, Sew); Ich Vill
Shalom
Shalom - The Barry Sisters
Shloimele Malkele; Oy Mama
Side By Side
The Barry Sisters
The Barry Sisters - The Yiddish Swingsters Sing
The Barry Sisters In Israel
The Barry Sisters Sing
The Barry Sisters Sing
The Barry Sisters sing Fiddler on the Roof
The Barry Sisters Their Greatest Yiddish Hits
The Barry Sisters Their Greatest Yiddish Hits
The Best of the Barry Sisters
The Golden Years of Yiddish Music - Vol. 1
The World of Memorable Jewish Melodies
The World of Memorable Melodies
Tzi Shpeit; Nor Dee
Yiddish Masterpieces