A person who has to ask what "hokum" is would probably not be ready for the answer, but the whole subject hasn't been discussed much in modern times, despite bands such as Billy Ransom the Hokum Boys touring in the southern United States in the '80s. In the '20s and early '30s, the idea of "hokum" was commercially viable enough to inspire several competing bands to call themselves the Hokum Boys, the Famous Hokum Boys, and of course the Original Hokum Boys. It can all be summed up as, well, hokum, but that's where this Bob Alexander makes his entrance. He was one of a group of musicians who were in and out of a configuration called the Hokum Boys, and later the Famous Hokum Boys. Others in this constellation, which usually actually sat down to record its novelty numbers as a trio or quartet, also included pianist and vocalist Jimmy Blythe; guitarist and vocalist Dan Roberts; and the triple-threat Bob Robinson, who sang as well as handling both banjo and clarinet. The brothers Ikey and Alex Robinson, both guitarists and vocalists, also cut some tracks with this group.

Alexander is sometimes confused with a later trombonist of the same name, but the earlier artist plays a much more basic type of material. While the term "hokum" could also easily be applied to the music of Perry Como, with whom the trombonist Robert Alexander frequently worked, the '20s brand was more along the lines of jug band music, and much livelier than anything cut by the sedate Como. Many so-called jug bands have recorded versions of tunes such as Pap's on the Housetop that were recorded by Alexander's group. A good deal of the material would also simply be recognizable as country blues, including tried and true standards such as How Long, How Long. The difference in the sound is the presence of more instruments, and a tendency to throw in all manner of sounds and styles, the versions sometimes veering way out in left field compared to a more straightforward country blues interpretation. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi