Minnie Bagelman (April 6, 1923 – October 31, 1976) and Clara Bagelman (October 17, 1920 – November 22, 2014),NOTE: Claire Barry was not born in 1923, the year that had previously been cited as her year of birth, but in 1920, as all notices of her death give her age as 94, and her gravestone cites 1920 as her year of birth. best known under the stage names Merna and Claire Barry, were popular American

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

entertainers from the 1940s to the early 1970s.

Early years

Minnie and Clara were born in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, to

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

parents, Herman and Ester, from the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

s, respectively. Herman Bagelman was born in present-day Berdychiv, Ukraine. Minnie and Clara also had two younger sisters, Celia and Julia. When Minnie and Clara decided to entertain by singing in

, as The Bagelman Sisters, their father told them they would need to do it in the manner of the

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

and not with American accents. The young girls got their first break as singers on WLTH Radio's ''Uncle Norman'' show for children and were still then known as ''The Bagelman Sisters''. They cut their first recordings with

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

in the late 1930s, and made a name for themselves as

jazz singers. When the

Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezz ...

' version of the Yiddish song, "

Bei Mir Bistu Shein "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" ( , "To Me You're Beautiful") is a popular Yiddish song written by lyricist Jacob Jacobs and composer Sholom Secunda for a 1932 Yiddish language comedy musical, ''I Would If I Could'' (in Yiddish , "You could live, but ...

" (as "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön"), became a hit, musician and composer Sam Medoff, known professionally as Dick Manning, started his ''Yiddish Melodies in Swing'' radio program on New York's WHN. Before joining the radio show, the sisters made a change of their stage surname, from Bagelman to Barry. From 1937 until the mid-1950s they performed on the program, where they would sing jazz recordings in Yiddish. Their recordings included popular tunes, such as " Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", translated into Yiddish ("Trop'ns Fin Regen Oif Mein Kop"). They also performed in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

's Catskills resort hotels. They eventually toured with

Mickey Katz Meyer Myron "Mickey" Katz (June 15, 1909 – April 30, 1985) was an American musician and comedian. He was the father of actor Joel Grey and paternal grandfather of actress Jennifer Grey. Early life Meyer Myron Katz was born on Sawtell Court i ...

. During the height of their popularity, they made appearances on the ''

Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Nig ...

'', ''The

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, writer, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine's ob ...

Program'' and ''

The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

''. They were one of the few American acts to tour the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1959. Israel and

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

were common themes in their music, and the sisters entertained Israeli troops during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. The Barry Sisters "didn't look like the typical Yiddish theater stars or singers of that era", it was observed. "They looked glamorous. And they spared no expense for their orchestrations—they always had the best orchestrations possible." The sisters' 11th and final album, ''Our Way'', was issued in 1973.

Personal lives

Merna Barry, later Mrs. Emanuel Pine, was born on April 6, 1923, and died on October 31, 1976, aged 53 (not 51 as was misreported) from a brain tumor following a lengthy hospitalization in Manhattan's Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital. Claire Barry (later Mrs. Easton) was born on October 17, 1920, and died on November 22, 2014, aged 94, in

Aventura, Florida Aventura is a planned suburban city in northeastern Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, north of Miami and part of the Miami metropolitan area. The city is especially known for Aventura Mall, the third largest mall in the United State ...

, having survived her younger sister by 41 years. She was survived by a daughter, Joy Pargman.Notice of death of Claire Barry
forward.com; accessed November 26, 2014. Claire Barry Easton was featured in the 2002

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

radio show, ''The Yiddish Radio Project''.

Discography

* ''The Barry Sisters (10", Album)''; 1951 Banner Records LP 058 * ''The Barry Sisters''; Banner Records BAS-1009 (compilation of recordings originally released as 78 rpm records) * ''The Barry Sisters Sing…''; 1957

Cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

CLP-4001 (w/Abe Ellstein) * ''At Home with the Barry Sisters''; 1959

Roulette Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...

SR-25060 (w/Abe Ellstein) * ''Side by Side''; 1961 Roulette SR-25136 (w/Joe Reisman) * ''We Belong Together''; 1961 Roulette SR-25156;(w/Jerry Fielding) * ''Shalom''; 1961 Roulette SR-25157 (w/Joe Reisman) * ''The Barry Sisters in Israel'' (live); 1963 Roulette SR-25198 * ''The World of the Barry Sisters: Memorable Jewish Melodies''; Roulette SR-25258 * ''The Barry Sisters Sing Fiddler On The Roof''; 1964

ABC-Paramount ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! Records, Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquire ...

ABCS-516 * ''Something Spanish''; ABC-Paramount ABCS-578 (arranged and conducted by Chico O'Farrill) * ''A Time To Remember''; 1966 ABC-Paramount ABCS-597 * ''The Best Of The Barry Sisters''; 1966 Roulette RR-30748; * ''Jewish Favourites''; 1969 Saga Eros; * ''Our Way (Tahka-Tahka)''; 1973 Roulette/Mainstream/Red Lion MRL-393; 1973 (w/Jim Tyler, Jerry Graff) * ''Moishe Oysher With The Barry Sisters - A Gala Concert With Moishe Oysher And The Barry Sisters. Volume 2 (2xLP, Album)''; 1973 The Greater Recording Co., Inc. GRC-296;

References

External links

Freedman Catalogue discographyProfile
mtv.com; accessed November 26, 2014.

rainloresworldofmusic.net; accessed November 26, 2014. * Ikh Hob Dikh Tsu Fil Lib (I Love You Much Too Much) by {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry Sisters, The Jewish American musicians Jewish musical groups Jewish jazz musicians Jewish women singers American jazz singers American women jazz singers Sibling musical duos Yiddish-language singers of the United States RCA Victor artists Apex Records artists Yiddish theatre performers Cadence Records artists Musical groups established in the 1940s Musicians from the Bronx Jazz musicians from New York City 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers Female musical duos