Prohibition was the law of the land in 1924, and from gin mills to college campuses, the Hoosier state was caught up in a kind of ‘hot jazz’ hysteria.
Band Car on the Road, 1920s. Photo Courtesy Duncan Scheidt Collection
Wolverines Orchestra 1924. Photo Courtesy Duncan Scheidt Collection
After a late night on the job, on the morning of February 18th, the Wolverines loaded up their sporty Packard Phaeton with band instruments hanging off the sides. They made a beeline to the Gennett studio for their first recording session. And at the end of the day, they had their first release; "Fidgety Feet" and on the flip side, "Jazz Me Blues." Three months later, the Wolverines were back in the studio at Gennett recording "Riverboat Shuffle," by their pal Hoagy Carmichael, a piano-playing law student from Indiana U.
Hitch's Happy Harmonists with Hoagy Carmichael Washboard Blues Session, Gennett Records, cir. 1925. Photo Courtesy Duncan Scheidt Collection
Art Landry's Call of the North Orchestra, 1923. Photo Courtesy Duncan Scheidt Collection
Bailey's Lucky Seven. Photo Courtesy Starr Gennett Foundation