(Not) Your Standard Spike Jones Collection

Spike Jones | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B00007JR3K
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,652 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #65 in Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > Contemporary Comedy

Editorial Reviews

Holiday blues comin’ on? Well, put a spike in ‘em! Here’s the zaniest, wildest and just plain sickest Collectors’ Choice Music exclusive yet—79 tracks from Spike Jones and his City Slickers! These represent Spike’s complete Standard Transcription sides, but these tunes are anything but standard; Mr. Jones brought his full bag of tricks for these non-commercial recordings (made in Hollywood during the early ‘40s). Add to that the fact that most of these have never been on CD or even LP, and any lover of Spike’s mayhem-filled mixture of laughs and hot licks is going to flip over this set! Notes and great pictures accompany this 3-CD walk on the wacky side from the greatest novelty band of all time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great set of wartime rarities, May 13, 2003

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: (Not) Your Standard Spike Jones Collection (Audio CD)

Spike Jones was the king of the novelty song performers, with hits like "Der Fuehrer's Face" and the parody version of "Sheik of Araby" becoming huge hits during World War II. This is a swell 3-CD set, gathering a full eighty-one of Jones' best tracks from his 1940s heyday, drawn from an extensive archive of radio broadcasts made for the Standard Transcription service. The tightness of his City Slickers band is amply demonstrated in these manic, kookily orchestrated performances. Toots, squonks, blatts and bleats whiz by at lightning speed, as one daffy song after another will delight devoted fans. Amazingly, Jones had the unusual, almost unique ability to perform a repertoire almost entirely made up of comedic material, and yet still be quite listenable and engaging. His jazz chops were hardly in question, and from time to time Jones would dash off a non-novelty ballad or two, just to give the rubes something to think about. Of course, just as often he would perform a song that *sounded* like a straight ballad, but would turn out to be another goof. (One great example of this is the sultry "Serenade To A Jerk," sung in slinky, burlesque tones by Myrtle Horwin.) This collection may seem a little overwhelming, but like his studio recordings, these radio performances have a certain brilliance and joie de vivre about them that will leave you enchanted. Definitely worth checking out!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Standard Transcription Collection, April 11, 2003

By 

Staysun "staysun" (Downers Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: (Not) Your Standard Spike Jones Collection (Audio CD)

This collection has remastered material from the large stack of Standard Transcription discs from the early 1940's. There are many songs not recorded on RCA, many on the theme of wartime ("48 Reasons Why"), and the quality is excellent. The packaging is threadbare but this is an essential CD package for true music lovers.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cure for the Blues, April 24, 2003

By 

"music-phreak" - See all my reviews

This review is from: (Not) Your Standard Spike Jones Collection (Audio CD)

Here's the zaniest, wildest and just plain sickest Collectors' Choice Music exclusive yet-79 tracks from Spike Jones and his City Slickers! These represent Spike's complete Standard Transcription sides, but these tunes are anything but standard; Mr. Jones brought his full bag of tricks for these non-commercial recordings (made in Hollywood during the early `40s). Add to that the fact that most of these have never been on CD or even LP, and any lover of Spike's mayhem-filled mixture of laughs and hot licks is going to flip over this set! Notes and great pictures accompany this 3-CD walk on the wacky side from the greatest novelty band of all time.