·ori.'t ~ lern rdition, Chil..'a~, In. Week of April30-May 6, 1933 \II l8 Identifying Those Theme Songs By Sigmund Spaeth, Kate Smith, Radio's -- 'r-· . Happiness Girl By Frank H. Lovette ,--_fc---~--·-;ff;~,tBard \1 Each Listener a Sleuth on "Crime Clues" Program, hy Stewart Sterlins' dn·~\td ) ollng \\ omen in r;ldiu, She m;lkc.':'I and designs her own clothing. She likes night dubs and danLing, of which Jane is not ::.0 fond. Ilelen is an ardent sportswoman. Iler golf IS the ell\Y of her friend.;. She knows as ffilllh about personalities and goings~on in the ,",ports world as do most men.. Patti. petite and just turned SC\"Clltecn, is the baby of the family. II(;r life is a husy one. i·un Iming =:lnd vi\"a.:iolls, Patti is the center of levity in any gathering. Iler only fault, according to jane and lielen, is that she puns. rktwecn rehearsals she is tutored from two to four hours each day. Her hobby is coHecling unu,",ual breeds of goldfish. She keeps them in glass tanks in every room of the house. Although the sisters have been singing together for years, their careers are ever up­ permost. immediately upon arising jane starts preparations for the next broadcasts. Later, when she has chosen the songs and made the arrangements, Ilelen and Patti join her and they rehearse. They spend from two to fiye hours on each program. Although they havc broadcast hunJred~ of times, Mrs. Pickens has witnessed their pro~ grams less than a dozen times. She would rather "tune in," she said. The Pickens Sisters made their debut ;tt :I church social. They were frightened, and Patti, still a baby. lhreatened to run off the ~13g('. Jane made her first money tcaching neighbor­ JANE, PATTI AND HELEN PICKENS hood childred to play the ukulele. When they J heir personalt'ties arc as different as their features arc altke .•• 'itarted to school they werc in constant de­ mand. But it neYer occurred to them that the 'iccret of their success was contained in the$(> early performances, and in their unconscious obsen·ancc of the musk of the plantation qcgroes. C(3hpee Little Ihey Iward thc I'\egrocs imitating \:triotb GIRLS instruments. They heard thelll singing their own ballads and spirituals, around the cabin.;, and at camp meetings. When they returned hOllle they \\'oul<1 ~inA" them. Word of their talent soon got around the. fPom neighborhood-and they \\ere :J~ked to appe:lr GEORGIA ,tt community gatherings, Even then they .::ould imitate more tban a score of musical jn~ llfS I;, ~l SU';LC:'>::' ... tory l'ightccn months c;trumcnts, while today, in their MBC hroadcasts, they en· ahout three little Cl5he Pickens SiSters Made ,t go. Producers tertain listeners with illterprdations of almost any instru Fl"irls who livl.'d on were looking for ment one can name. a sleepy old planta­ hig namcs. Jane, lIelen and Patti are lingui~ts of ability. Tllt'ir tion way £10\\ n Up Cl5heir Minds to Break Jane would musical arrangements include interpolations in several UJ\outh in Georgi.\. not be bamed. She languages. Patti is an excellent mimic. She does a swell These little girls, whose names Into R.adio and Cl5hey Did obtained a con­ l:lke~off on Greta Garbo, who is her favorite actress, <Ire jane, IIclen and Patti, were leact to make some Only \'hcn they make public appearances do Jant'. determined that when they grew recordings. The Patti and Ilelen dress alike, Patti prefers green, Helen up, they would go to New· York :;isters were sum­ maroon, while Jane almost always wears black and \vhite. and make good. jane wanted to By B,arry J. Holloway moned. They need­ Their likes in literature are equally as divergent. Patti, be an opera ~inger, Ilelen a dress ed little rehearsal, !he punster, pursu~s P. G, Wodehouse. Jane reads every­ designer, while Patti, the youngest of the lhrc~, \\anted 10 for had l.llf'y not harmoniLed logt:Lher since cradle days? thing of G<l.ls\',-orthy and ranks Shakespeare as her favor­ go into the movies. The records were good, and an official of the Na­ ite play\\right 'Ielen says \V. II. Hudson is her favorite They were the daughters of a cotton planter, who with lional Broadcasting Company happened to hear one or :lUthor and Eugene O'Neil her favorite playwright his \vife, ~hared a hankering for music, Since first lIelen, them. That was enough-.tnl! I he rest of ! he qory is radio jane, as we :-.aid before, is responsible for the unique the eldest of the three, could remember, there had been history. harmonies \\hich the Pickens Sisters sing. mu.:;ic ill their home, If it was not their father, who oflen To develop from almost unkno\YTl YOllng \'omen, ('ad1 Jane says she just sits down to the pian(}----plays o',("r appeared as a concert pianist, and their mother, who sang, with a different 'ambition in life, to big names \\hidt bring the piece or music ,;e\'era! timcs-and then goes to work it would be music by some of the negroes about their smiles of pleasant anticipation in any horne wherC' there in =:l systematic \\·ay. She thinks of each song as a little \\ork, or before the cabin doors after nightfall. i::> a radio, has been their lot. symphony, in .':'lome cases :llmost following set rules. She So it was only natural as Jane. Helen and Patti grew Jane, Helen and Patti, \"'ho hegan singing three part "tarts by introducing her theme. then builds it up, modu~ to womanhood they were better than average singers. Jane harmony \\'hile little more than infants, ne\l.'r realized that Iating it as she goes along, bringing in different instru­ was the first to go away to study music. Site went to the this ~imple di\'er~ion around home \\·ould prO\'e the means ments. f t is the,~c instrumental efIects that the sisters do Curtis Conservatory in Philadelphia. In a short time she of realizing their ambition-- to go to :\'e\\' York alld make vocally. She actually divides the piece into movements, was followed by Ilelen. Patti was too young to leave her good. - ending with a summary which ties all the variations to­ mother. I hey made good but lIot ;\':i :l!l opel';\ :.lIlger, a movie gelher in a brilliant finish. Jane made such progress that she made her debut \\ith ;lCtress and a dress designer. as JallC', Palli :.lIld llcIen What Jane's future might hm·c been had she kept to the Philadelphia Grand Opera company while still in her often had dreamed of doing, the straight and Harrow path or rormal music education, teens. Iler instructors recommended that ~he study ill They are a happy f.1mily, those Pickel\~ Sist~rs. \Vilh may llC\·cr he known, Jane, howewr, has no regrets. Europe. their mother they occupy a comrortable apartm{'Jlt on Park "Singing popular music i:i fun. and one is not bound by So .fane \Vcnt to Paris and became a .stuaent at henue in Manhattan. I:\·en there, far from the warmth tradition a-; in c1a,;sical Illu~ic, Il is not necessary to sing: L'Ecole des Arts. llelen went <llong-hut to study dress of life on a Georgia plantation, 01' the ea:.y :.ocial life of something ~ certain way bec~use it has always been done designing. their old home in Atlanta, one senses the spirit of a ram­ that W<l.y," jane says. Artcr mOTlths of study abroad .Jane and llelen re­ bling old house surrounded by IlwgnoJia trees and colton Because Ja1le, I h.'len and Patti, ::Ilways hright and. turned to the L;nited St~ltcs, .Jane to go ilt opera, and llelen fields. cheerful, look on their work as fun instead of labor, or to open a dress shop. The crash had wrecked \Vall Street. Whell Jane, I klcn and Patti became c::.tabli .. hcd, .\lrs. :-.omething whidl mu~t be gotten out of the way, they Opera singers were not in demand, and few women were Pickens joined them-110t that she is a the~ltrical mother, have maintained ::In unusual freshness which they impart having gowns specially designed. but rather tbat shc loycs her daughters and is not happy to !\BC listeners. Many think it is this quality that has It took Jane twenty-four hours to size up the situa­ away (rom them. With her she brought lIne old furniture, made them one of radio's foremost trios. tion. She gathered her sisters about her. "Why not radio~" books, and eYCl1 a servant. all of which \\ere reminders And statistics compiled from fan mail tend to prove !)he asked them. of the girls' childhood days. These ::.he installed in her that \vhen lhese three harmonizers go on the' <l.ir they are "Your career in opera.~" tbey reminded her llew home. Even now it is difficult to persuade the sisters not forgotten by the land or their origin "Thc cottOn market is bad-hang opera," jane. the to dine ollt-especially if the cook is preparing some old Por away down yonder in Georgia. \... here peaches anJ ('ver decisi\'e, replied. familiar Southt::rn dish for dinner. (lAton predol11inat~, where pulchritude abounds and music So then and there the now f:Jmous Pickens Sisters trio Although Jane, Helen and Patti (ould be picked out i~ almost perpetually in the air, the Georgia crackers are oflicially came into existence.