Customer Reviews

Everybody Stomp

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got turned on to the Hoosier Hot Shots when I heard their version of "Breezin' along with the breeze." It is a novel take on that oldie. I also saw a few videos of them performing and they were visually as playful as their music sounded. Here's the problem: they had some good ideas (slide whistle, hot rhythm guitar, good harmonies) but they only had a few good ideas and they used the same instrumentations in song after song after song with little variation. You really only need one Hoosier Hot Shots album in your collection - four is too much of the same old same old. By the time this box set was finished, I never wanted to hear them again. Too much of the same formula.
A great group of midwestern guys, I'm sure. But I have had enough slide whistle to last me a while.

This is a great collection of wonderful music by a group that was preeminent in the 1920s and 1930s. What most reviewers miss saying is that this group was an early jazz-swing group and the clarinet work is astounding. Some of it is hokey or corny, some of it is repetitious, but a great deal of the music is simply joyful and swings like any of the big bands that followed. The only possible downside is that this is a package of four separate records, reproduced on four CD's, and some of the songs are repeated from CD to CD. But unless you are listening to all four of these sequentially, you won't notice. If you are looking for feel-good music and want to know what swing was like in its earliest years, this is a great buy.

When you hear this funny, goofy band, recordings from 1934 thru 1947, it makes you smile. You almost can't help laughing. It is very infectious good humor. This collection contains 100 of their good songs for a very reasonable price. This 100 songs chronicles their lives & career (booklet included) and includes at the end 11 songs recorded post-WW2 that seem more downbeat, sad. This seems to me the best value of their different collections available today. Definitive collection. Recommended !

I love this label! Proper records has managed to really give a music fan their money's worth again. Quantity and quality in one package. And cheap too! Everybody Stomp is the definitive Hoosier Hotshots collection. It is such an enjoyable set that it has been on heavy rotation in my cd changer for a month now. With this collection you get great novelties like "From the Indes to the Andes in His Undies" and "Like a Monkey Likes Cocoanuts", but also the great old chestnuts like "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider" performed in that classic Hotshots style. Are you ready Hezzie? Well, then buy this disc!

Hooo boy! The Hoosier Hotshots were stars of radio back in the 1930's and 40s, weekly regulars on WLS Chicago's "National Barn Dance" for over 15 years. They were an off-beat marriage of Dixieland Jazz, Ragtime, Minstrelry, Jugband, and Country Swing, often very corny; their use of off-beat instrumentation such as the slide whistle and the washboard puts them firmly in the "novelty music" category.

This four-disc set covers their career from 1933-46, and includes all of their hits. Some people might prefer their stuff in smaller doses than a CD at a time, the formulaic nature of many of their songs, (an ensemble sung opening verse, a washboard or slide whistle solo, a solo vocal, another ensemble sung verse, final chorus and instrumental riff) gets a little repetetive. But it's an embarrasment of riches for a Hoosier Hotshots fan, this is the biggest (and best) collection of their work ever available.

Proper did an awesome job with this boxed set. 4 CD's crammed to the brim with tracks, all in a very neat boxed set with a 35-page booklet featuring tons of info and photos - all for under $25!! If this same set was offered from the Bear Family label, it would cost just under $100. If you are even looking at this collection, then chances are you like this kind of old hillbilly music, and this one will not disappoint. The remastered songs sound great. Hoosier Hot Shots can best be described as more upbeat than Sons of The Pioneers and cornier than The Prairie Ramblers . They use lots of whistles, kazoos and other goofy sound effects in just about every song so this might be a little bit grating if you try to listen to too many tracks in a row. But the songs really are fun, catchy and will put you in a good mood!

Very good upbeat material. I use it regularly to cheer me up. I like them better than Spike Jones, usually more subtle and a lot more tasteful. Very fine musicians (like Homer and Jethro). If you like this, get "America's Song Butchers" by Homer and Jethro. There is an online museum at http://www.hoosierhotshots.com

An excellent, comprehensive collection for fans of the Hoosier Hot Shots. Includes several of their originals as well as covers of classic early 20th century pop tunes. The accompanying booklet is pretty sparse. A brief history on the recording of each song would have been useful to those of us more detail oriented fans, but, for the price, I highly recommend it.