Search - Hokum Boys :: Complete Recordings: June-December 1929

Awwwreet, Rice, where do ya start?

Walter Five | 13th Floor Elevator, Enron Hubbard Bldg. Houston T | 04/04/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well, I ordered this and the Wolf Records "Famous Hokum Boys Vol. 1 (1930)" at about the same time, thinking this was more of Tampa Red's and Georgia Tom's Hokum Boys duo, imagine my suprise when I found that neither of them are anywhere on this disc! No, it seems that *those* Hokum Boys can be found on Document CD-5073 & 5074.



A loose group of musicians (to put it mildly), the Hokum Boys at times featured such early blues stars as Tampa Red, Georgia Tom Dorsey, Blind Blake, Alex Hill and Bob Robinson; the later group on the Wolf CD calling itself "The Famous Hokum Boys" featured an different lineup except for Georgia Tom, also featuring the legendary Big Bill Broozny. To add to the confusion, another completely different line up calling itself "The Famous Hokum Boys" recorded 1935-1937.



While this CD isn't the group that recorded "It's Tight Like That" it's quite entertaining, Bob Robinson is a mainstay on most (but not all) of these cuts, and the mysterious guitar picker on "Gambler's Blues (St. James Infirmary Blues)" is quite amazing with his National Steel Guitar, with the group making as memorable a mark on this song as any other band of the period, including Armstrong's Hot Five and Cab Calloway's Orchestra!



I'd reccomend the Tampa Red sides of the Hokum Boys before most (but not all ) of these cuts, get them on the aforementioned Document CDs, but be sure to get this one after you've decided "you just can't get enough of that stuff.""