Customer Reviews

Are You Hep to Jive

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Some critics dismiss Calloway as a mere pop artist, but it would be a mistake to underestimate his talent, influence, or the infectious joy of his high-style recordings with their superficially loose-sounding tone but musically meticulous construction. And ARE YOU HEP TO THE JIVE offers a superior collection of Calloway at the peak of his powers during the 1930s and 1940s.

Calloway lyrics are always full of fun hep-cat, zoot-suit jive and performed with such vigor that you'll catch yourself saying "Solid, Man!" before you know it--and the musicians that back him can really swing and then some. There may be a few quibbles about the selections in this collection, but ARE YOU HEP TO THE JIVE does a masterful job of assembling the best of Calloway on a single disk, all the way from such laugh-out-loud, up-tempo pieces as "Papa's In Bed With His Britches On" to the bluesy signature tune "Minne the Moocher." And the recordings are clean, sharp, and quality too. In my opinon this is THE best Calloway anthology going, a tremendous amount of fun, sure to please old fans and convert newcomers to the Calloway swinging, jazzy jive. Recommended!

If you've never heard of Cab Calloway, or even if you are quite familiar with him; this CD is for you if you don't have it yet.

This CD collection is packed with some of the most toe-tapping, sing-along, swinging songs you could ever hope to find. If it doesn't get you out of your seat and dancing to the wonderful melodies, check your pulse because you might not be breathing.

I have quite a nice sized collection of different Cab Calloway CD's in my music collection, and this one has them all beat with a great song selection that I haven't seen elsewhere. Everyone should find a few songs here that they recognize. "Minnie the Moocher" from "The Blues Brothers" movie, "Everyone Eats When they Come to My House" was used a few years ago in a TV commercial.

I couldn't recommend this wonderful sounding CD more highly then I do!

In all the years I have been listening to and collecting big band records, I have steered away from Cab Calloway, thinking that he wasn't "serious" enough and that everything he did sounded too much alike. Yes, he was more a showman than a jazz artist, and yes, his vocals do have a certain sameness to them, but I have discovered what an excellent band he had backing him up. He really did have a fine singing voice, too. This collection assembles many of his best sides, mostly done for OKeh, some for Vocalion (some released on both labels), a couple for Columbia, and a few previously unreleased. Liner notes (as they should) give recording dates, even matrix and catalogue numbers. It's wonderful that the revival of swing has brought this band back to prominence, so younger audiences can discover how great the big bands could be at their best, and also so that some of us big band fans could realize what we had been overlooking.

This album is a must have. The clear mono sound will feel as if Cab and his Band are in your living room. Cab's music was always uplifting and brought me to my feet. These songs will make you laugh when times aren't going so well. If you're financally strapped, just listen to the song, "Hey now, Hey now," that'll tell you what to do. Mr Cab Calloway put his personality into his music. I personally met him back in 1992. He was soft spoken and very polite. So if you're a hep cat, and like good boogie woogie music with some hi de ho, just order this album, first take it slow- just listen to Cab, he'll keep you on the go.

The twenty-two tracks on CAB CALLOWAY * ARE YOU HEP TO THE JIVE? were recorded between 1939 and 1947, and are drawn from the COLUMBIA, OKEH and VOCALION archives. One wonders why 1950's "Jumpin' Jive" isn't here as well-- it would fit nicely. Three songs within this set, "What's Buzzin' Cousin," "Chant Of The Jungle" and "Don't Falter At The Altar" are previously unreleased material.

These old 78s have been meticulously remastered, and the transfers have a lot of presence. Truth is, the pre-hi-fi records of the 1940's sounded darn good, as this album clearly demonstrates. Regarding the performances: the mature Calloway was as vital as in his Cotton Club days, but with the advantage of clean sound and a little polish. Widely dismissed as a novelty act for the masses by contemporary jazz critics, Cab clearly deserves a reassessment. He had it all: popularity, pizzazz, presence and poise. Whether zoot-suited or in a spotless white tux, Calloway was always nothing less than great. He was a groovy cat, Jackson-- are you hep?

The twelve-page booklet contains a bio, vintage photos and recording dates for all tracks. Recommended for all fans of swing, jive and '40s dance music.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 62:47

Cab Calloway is definitely a singlular individual: unwaveringly hip and musical (absolutely one of the premier singers of "scat" vocals...non-sense syllables delivered in highly rhythmic fashion) but synthesized into a personality that pleased crowds...not too "arty" for the room. Perhaps his aesthetic is expressed best in the lyric "The high-brows are swinging with the low-brows" (from "Foo a little Bally-hoo"). As a result, you can appreciate his music as great swing...and great art. This set collects mono material previously issued between 1939-1947 on the O'KEH,VOCALION, and COLUMBIA labels.

HIGHLIGHTS:
The biggest drawing card to this set for those who are already confirmed Cab Calloway fans is the use of 3 unreleased tracks. , 1947's "Don't Falter at the Altar", is wonderful and a real find. Calloway's take on marriage is succinct: "Your father didn't falter, son, that's why you're here..". The 2nd one "What's Buzzin' Cousin" was originally heard in the motion picture "Song of the Islands" but not made commercially available at the time. "Everybody Eats when they Come to my House" is great fun and its continuing appeal was proven when John Lithgow chose to cover it on his album of kids' music. The title track is a hipster lexicon. "Papa's in Bed with his Britches on" recounts the day after a drunken binge. "Calloway Boogie" and "A Chicken Ain't Nothin' but a Bird" are also worthy legacies.

LOWS:
"Twee-twee-tweet" IS corn..no matter what Calloway says. Later pop songbird "Rockin' Robin" was much hepper..despite Calloway's nifty scatting on this tune. "Who's Yehoodi" is a fine song, but the sound quality is lacking. Hiss here is very audible.

BOTTOM LINE:
Is it early R&B? Jive? Swing? Whatever you choose to call this music, Cab was a great practitioner and this is an expansive set (70 minutes worth) with great sound for the most part and detailed liners make this indispensable. If you're a big devotee, the sound is better here than on many sets and you get the 3 unreleased tracks (1 of which is really good and another decent). Recommended.

If you own only one Cab Calloway CD this should be the one. This band kicks the back beat & never lets go & Cab himself is so cool. What impressed me was the generous amount of CD cuts for the price. the quality of the playing/singing by Cab coupled with absolutely terrific audio quality much better than other original period swing band CD's. Listen to the jive brother!

this is a fantastic CD. Cab Calloway and his band really knew how to swing. (they are one of my four favorite swing bands of the era, along with Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Jimmy Lunceford). Good music always holds up, and this music is as fresh today as it was when it was recorded.

If you like swing and are curious about Cab Calloway...get this cd. When you listen to music from the 30's & 40's, and then compare Cab Calloway's music from that same era, you really begin to understand why he was so popular. This cd helps to give you a flavor of the fun he and his audience's must have had, the song's are full of life and make you happy every time you play the cd. Also, all the soungs sound terrific, considering they were recorded in mono.

If you have to buy only one Cab Calloway album, this is the one. I kept this one in loop mode in my CD player for awhile when I got it. I challenge you to sit still during "Are you hep to the jive?" Can't be done.

Obviously his oeuvre is much larger than this collection, but this is a great taste of Cab's magic.