Biography
During the 1930s peak of the Depression, country listeners seeking comic relief would turn their radio dials to catch the Hoosier Hot Shots' zany musical routines. The group's unusual mix of slide whistle and clarinet up front, anchored by washboard rhythm and eccentric lyrics, positioned them as the leading novelty act of the era and a direct forerunner to Spike Jones & His City Slickers. Half a century or more after their prime, amid digital samplers, it is difficult to grasp how eccentric this quartet struck everyday audiences back then. Clarinetist and bandleader Gabe Ward recalled the effect: "People started to laugh as soon as we started playing. We had a funny sound with the whistle and the clarinet. The way Hezzie played it, it was funny."
The Hezzie in question was Paul "Hezzie" Trietsch, whose washboard and slide-whistle playing formed the ensemble's core. Ward had first encountered him and his older brother Ken during their teens. Music ran in all three families, and by the late 1920s they performed together in Ezra Buzzington's Rube Band. That vaudeville act gained notice chiefly for its vast collection of unusual instruments. While with Buzzington the three refined their skills: Ken mastered guitar and banjo, Ward's clarinet shifted among swing, sweet, and comic approaches, and Hezzie developed his command of washboard, slide whistle, and an array of bells, whistles, and horns.
They remained with Buzzington until the leader dissolved the troupe in 1929, after which the three pledged to keep in contact and occasionally reunited for gigs. In 1932 the Trietsch Brothers and Ward, as they were then billed, aired over WOWO in Fort Wayne, IN. During a charity broadcast for Ohio River Valley flood victims they honed their approach through rapid-fire novelty versions of upbeat tunes. The station later granted them a 15-minute unpaid sustaining slot that nevertheless allowed them to advertise personal appearances. Wider recognition arrived via regular spots on the National Barn Dance over Chicago's powerful WLS. That program, the first of its kind to reach a national audience, predated Nashville's Grand Ole Opry and featured a young Gene Autry, Lulubelle & Scotty, and Red Foley among its roster.
The broadcast ran every Saturday night for more than 35 years. The trio, now known as the Hoosier Hot Shots, viewed their inclusion as a distinction. They soon shifted to a recurring guest role on the Uncle Ezra Pinex Cough Syrup program; when Uncle Ezra moved to a national NBC slot he brought the Hot Shots along, securing their broader success. Around the same period they began recording. Columbia Records (then ARC) country and blues A&R chief Art Satherly proved an ideal producer. Ward later observed, "What Art Satherly wanted on record was out visualness; he was trying to get that through. And he succeeded with us, because we were about the only people who could make people laugh after only four bars of music!" Satherly would remove his jacket, drape a bath towel around his neck, and dance in the studio to demonstrate the desired tempo. Each number opened with Gabe's trademark call, "Are you ready, Hezzie?" The resulting sides slotted into jukeboxes nationwide under the "novelty dance" heading. Standout releases included "I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones," "The Coat and Pants Do All the Work," and "From the Indies to the Andies in His Undies." Ward later noted, "We were tops in the novelty field, all because of Art Satherly. He had the nerve to put them on the jukeboxes, even though they weren't always the top tunes. We'd do it for Art Satherly, with a beat for the jukeboxes." The group further supported those 78s with in-person appearances at Sears and Roebuck stores once the sides appeared on the company's budget Perfect label.
By the late 1930s the Hot Shots entered films, beginning with In Old Monterey in 1939. After additional screen successes they relinquished their sustaining radio spot with Uncle Ezra and relocated to the West Coast following World War II. A Columbia Pictures contract led to 22 film appearances through the early 1950s. Shifting musical tastes and the rise of television diminished their visibility, yet they maintained steady bookings on the Nevada gambling casino circuit. The original lineup continued until Paul "Hezzie" Trietsch's death in the 1970s. Though less outrageous than Spike Jones and lacking the intellectual-hillbilly image of Homer & Jethro, neither of those later acts could have emerged or thrived without the path cleared by the Hoosier Hot Shots.
The Hezzie in question was Paul "Hezzie" Trietsch, whose washboard and slide-whistle playing formed the ensemble's core. Ward had first encountered him and his older brother Ken during their teens. Music ran in all three families, and by the late 1920s they performed together in Ezra Buzzington's Rube Band. That vaudeville act gained notice chiefly for its vast collection of unusual instruments. While with Buzzington the three refined their skills: Ken mastered guitar and banjo, Ward's clarinet shifted among swing, sweet, and comic approaches, and Hezzie developed his command of washboard, slide whistle, and an array of bells, whistles, and horns.
They remained with Buzzington until the leader dissolved the troupe in 1929, after which the three pledged to keep in contact and occasionally reunited for gigs. In 1932 the Trietsch Brothers and Ward, as they were then billed, aired over WOWO in Fort Wayne, IN. During a charity broadcast for Ohio River Valley flood victims they honed their approach through rapid-fire novelty versions of upbeat tunes. The station later granted them a 15-minute unpaid sustaining slot that nevertheless allowed them to advertise personal appearances. Wider recognition arrived via regular spots on the National Barn Dance over Chicago's powerful WLS. That program, the first of its kind to reach a national audience, predated Nashville's Grand Ole Opry and featured a young Gene Autry, Lulubelle & Scotty, and Red Foley among its roster.
The broadcast ran every Saturday night for more than 35 years. The trio, now known as the Hoosier Hot Shots, viewed their inclusion as a distinction. They soon shifted to a recurring guest role on the Uncle Ezra Pinex Cough Syrup program; when Uncle Ezra moved to a national NBC slot he brought the Hot Shots along, securing their broader success. Around the same period they began recording. Columbia Records (then ARC) country and blues A&R chief Art Satherly proved an ideal producer. Ward later observed, "What Art Satherly wanted on record was out visualness; he was trying to get that through. And he succeeded with us, because we were about the only people who could make people laugh after only four bars of music!" Satherly would remove his jacket, drape a bath towel around his neck, and dance in the studio to demonstrate the desired tempo. Each number opened with Gabe's trademark call, "Are you ready, Hezzie?" The resulting sides slotted into jukeboxes nationwide under the "novelty dance" heading. Standout releases included "I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones," "The Coat and Pants Do All the Work," and "From the Indies to the Andies in His Undies." Ward later noted, "We were tops in the novelty field, all because of Art Satherly. He had the nerve to put them on the jukeboxes, even though they weren't always the top tunes. We'd do it for Art Satherly, with a beat for the jukeboxes." The group further supported those 78s with in-person appearances at Sears and Roebuck stores once the sides appeared on the company's budget Perfect label.
By the late 1930s the Hot Shots entered films, beginning with In Old Monterey in 1939. After additional screen successes they relinquished their sustaining radio spot with Uncle Ezra and relocated to the West Coast following World War II. A Columbia Pictures contract led to 22 film appearances through the early 1950s. Shifting musical tastes and the rise of television diminished their visibility, yet they maintained steady bookings on the Nevada gambling casino circuit. The original lineup continued until Paul "Hezzie" Trietsch's death in the 1970s. Though less outrageous than Spike Jones and lacking the intellectual-hillbilly image of Homer & Jethro, neither of those later acts could have emerged or thrived without the path cleared by the Hoosier Hot Shots.
Albums
