Successful Recording and Film Career
Over their career the Hoosier Hot Shots recorded hundreds of 78s for such labels as Banner, Conqueror, Decca, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, Romeo, and Vocalion. Some of these releases have made it to LPs, cassettes, and compact discs.
Recordings of songs made by the Hoosier Hot Shots often include the signature spoken (by Ken Trietsch) intro, "Are you ready, Hezzie?" followed by the sound of the bustle of the musicians preparing to play their instruments. However, the tightly-rehearsed skill of the performers lets the listener in on the joke as soon as the song actually begins. Their producer avoided recording too many takes of their performances, preferring a spontaneous sound: according to one member, the producer would record at most two takes of a particular song, and use the one that sounded worse.
Between 1937 and 1950 the Hot Shots appeared in more than 20 movies, sharing billing with the likes of Gene Autry, Dale Evans, Bob Wills and Merle Travis. During the mid- to late 1940s they starred in their own series of musical westerns for Columbia Pictures.
They were an ongoing presence in the early Billboard magazine country (hillbilly) charts with songs like "Beer Barrel Polka", "When There Are Tears In The Eyes Of The Potato", "Everybody Loves My Baby" and "O-Hi-O".
The World War II era their popularity was at its peak and, in addition to their normal pursuits they toured with the USO in North Africa and Italy.
Frank Kettering left in 1943, and replaced by singer-bassist Gil Taylor. They moved to the West Coast where they continued to make movies, records, stage, and radio appearances. They made the transition to television easily and were seen on such TV shows as the Tex Ritter "Ranch Party."
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