Since the 50-year limit on copyrights in Europe has led to a flurry of Andrews Sisters releases beginning in the early '90s, it's worth pointing out that the British Jasmine label is not just another fly-by-night outfit cobbling together a bunch of old 78s. The four-disc Golden Age of the Andrews Sisters, with a running time of more than four-and-three-quarters hours, contains more tracks -- 101 -- than any previously released Andrews Sisters compilation. The sound quality is good, if not as good as the legitimate American reissues on MCA, and the 12-page CD booklet contains basic annotations. That said, the selection is somewhat eccentric. Essentially, this is a "the best and the rest" collection: the first two discs contain all of the Andrews Sisters' Top Ten hits, as ranked in Joel Whitburn's book of chart reconstructions, Pop Memories. For the most part, they are in chronological order, though a handful of tracks that reached numbers ten through 12 are bunched at the end. Discs three and four contain another three chart entries among their 51 tracks, but otherwise ignore the 60 additional Andrews Sisters recordings listed in Whitburn that peaked between numbers 12 and 30 in favor of utterly obscure material; B-sides and records that never sold well enough to earn a chart ranking. This hits-and-misses approach leaves out lots of good and well-remembered Andrews Sisters recordings. It also makes room for some interesting ones, including the sisters' versions of the show tunes "Guys and Dolls" and "Wunderbar" and the swing standard "Sing, Sing, Sing," plus two performances from the soundtrack to Private Buckaroo. (Of course, keeping to the 50-year limit, none of their recordings from after 1951 are included.) This not the ideal Andrews Sisters compilation, but it is far more extensive than any their American copyright holders have produced.
The first two discs in this set present all of their Top Ten recordings (based on the Billboard magazine), whilst the other two discs showcase many songs that have not been heard for some considerable time.
Disc 1
01. Bei Mir Bist Du Schon
02. Tu-Li-Tulip Time
03. Lullaby To A Litle Jitterbug
04. Hold Tight, Hold Tight
05. The Beer Barrel Polka
06. Well, All Right
07. Yodelin' Jive (with Bing Crosby)
08. Say Si Si
09. The Woodpecker Song
10. Ferryboat Serenade
11. Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar
12. Scrub Me Mama, With A Boogie Beat
13. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
14. I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time
15. Aurora
16. The Shrine of St. Cecilia
17. Three Little Sisters
18. Strip Polka
19. Pistol Packin' Mama (with Bing Crosby)
20. Victory Polka (with Bing Crosby)
21. Shoo-Shoo Baby
22. Straighten Up And Fly Right
23. Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't Ma Baby (with Bing Crosby)
24. (There'll Be A) Hot Time In The Town Of Berlin (with Bing Crosby)
25. Don't Fence Me In (with Bing Crosby)
Disc 2
01. Run And Coca-Cola
02. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive (with Bing Crosby)
03. The Three Caballeros (with Bing Crosby)
04. Along The Navajo Trail (with Bing Crosby)
05. The Blond Sailor
06. Money Is The Root Of All Evil
07. South America Take It Away (with Bing Crosby)
08. Rumours Are Flying
09. Christmas Island
10. Tallahassee
11. Near You
12. The Lady From 29 Palms
13. Civilisation Bongo, Bongo, Bongo (with Danny Kaye)
14. Toolie Oolie Doolie
15. Underneath The Arches
16. You Call Everybody Darling
17. I Can Dream, Can't I?
18. Quicksilver (with Bing Crosby)
19. I Wanna Be Loved
20. Sparrow In The Treetop (with Bing Crosby)
21. Rhumboogie
22. I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)
23. Chico's Love Song
24. Jealous
25. Says My Heart
Disc 3
01. Tuxedo Junction
02. Lily Belle
03. Tica-Ti, Tica-Ta
04. A Zoot Suit (For My Sunday Gal)
05. You're A Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
06. Stars Are The Windows Of Heaven
07. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
08. Jing-A-Ling, Jing-A-Ling
09. Rancho Pillow
10. Hohokus, N.J.
11. Beatin', Bangin', 'n Scratchin' (with Danny Kaye)
12. Jack Of All Trades
13. Atlanta, G.A.
14. Coax Me A Little Bit
15. There'll Be A Jubilee
16. Put 'Em In A Box, Tie 'Em With A Ribbon (with Danny Kaye)
17. Avocado
18. I'm Gonna Paper All My Walls With Your Love Letters
19. I've Just Got To Get Out Of The Habit
20. Yipsee-I-O (with Carmen Miranda)
21. Underneath The Linden Tree
22. I Didn't Know The Gun Was Loaded
23. Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
24. Pack Up Your Troubles (with Dick Haymes)
25. How Many Times
Disc 4
01. Run, Run, Run
02. Great Day (with Dick Haymes)
03. Them That Has, Gets
04. Old Don Juan
05. The Money Song
06. For All We Know
07. Clancy Lowered The Boom (with Dan Dailey)
08. Satins And Lace (with Red Foley)
09. Don't Blame Me
10. A Man Is Brother To A Mule
11. What Did I Do? (with Dick Haymes)
12. Guys And Dolls
13. The Mambo Man
14. I'll Pray For You
15. Sing, Sing, Sing
16. Piccolo Pete
17. How Lucky You Are
18. Lying In The Hay
19. The Windmill Song
20. The Bride And Groom Polka
21. East Of The Sun
22. Wunderbar (with Dick Haymes)
23. The Wedding Of Lilli Marlene
24. Zing Zing, Zoom Zoom
25. Six Jerks In A Jeep
26. Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)
