Louis Jordan Music

Most people associate Louis Jordan with up tempo boogie based rhythym & blues tunes like Calendonia, saturday night fish fry, choo choo choo boogie and others. This collection has a few of those too, but the main focus is the slower blues tunes. Louis did plenty of blues over his years with Decca records, and this collection features a number of them. As a matter of fact, "I'm going to move to the outskirts of town", a slow blues was his first hit with the tympani five.If you're into Louis' jump tunes, give a listen to the man do some blues. A side of Louis that sadly gets little mention. This collection could go a ways to correct that. Enjoy!

"Gimme a fish sandwhich!" Get away from there boy! Beans & Cornbread makes me smile.

I picked this CD up after watching a snip of "Caldonia" on a Best of Broadway show on DVD. I loved the catchiness of the tune and ordered the CD right away. I am going to do this review as strictly a review of the CD, not the show itself (which I have yet to see in its entirety)

The Good:
1- The entire cast is comprised of excellent, heartfelt singers, as one should expect in a Broadway show
2- The music did not overpower the vocals as is the case in some cast albums.
3- A lot of dialogue was included before the songs.
4- There are a LOT of songs on a single CD, you have over an hour worth of entertainment with your purchase

The Negative:
1- If you have not seen the show, then this comes across as just another blues/soul CD with very little story to string it together
2- I would have preferred more musical accompaniment. In the live show what they had was probably perfect, but it's a bit toned down for me in the car.
3- Very few of the songs were catchy, when I got out of the car after listening to this CD, I went back to humming "Whatever Happened to my Part" from Spamalot.
4- Unless I looked in booklet, I couldn't tell which Moe was singing, so my ability to try to pull a story out of it was even further hampered.

On the whole this is a good fairly mellow CD. You won't catch yourself speeding in your car as you listen to it (which I have a problem with while belting out "Gypsy"). I think though, to fully appreciate this CD, you have to see the show. One seen, this may become one of my top CD's but as it stands alone it's only mediocre in comparison to the rest of my Musical Collection.

The music is great. This CD recording of the Broadway cast has all the zeal and energy the music had in the play.

I really enjoyed this CD. If you enjoy jazz style music, you're sure to like this disc. I want to see the show now.

Amazing vocals and some really fun songs by an American master who, unfortunately, has slipped into obscurity. Good stuff!

I love this soundtrack and I've never even seen the show! Can't wait until it's revived in my area!

After getting the first Louis Jordan's greatest hits, the next compilation of wild jump-swing and humorous rapping jams, and mellow jazz numbers is Five Guys Named Moe. Many of these songs feature the ensemble who sang in the play of the same name. So, what else is on there aside from the title track, which was also on the first greatest hits?

"Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" is a slow trumpet and piano number and one of Jordan's bigger hits. This would be later done by Renee Olstead on her self-titled album.
Given the collapse of my personal life last October, I oughta take "Safe Sane and Single" as a personal anthem. Using some of "Oh Susannah"'s rhythms, this fast jam details how women become vicious once married-"a woman and a man came to a parting of the ways/the judge gave her the bank account and gave him 90 days." How true.

The two Louises, Jordan and Armstrong, wax on the poetry of life in "Life Is So Peculiar." It's basically wondering about the obvious basics and facts in life "you get so wet in the rain", "when I get up in the morning there's nothing to breathe but air", "a fork belongs with a knife." and how there's nothing to brood about.

"Open The Door Richard" features a character named zig who was "booted with liquid", "abnoxicated", "inebriated", "well, he was just plain drunk" and his stream of consciousness rants. A funny line involves the landlady demanding back rent and him saying, "she'd be lucky if she got some front rent."

"Boogie Woogie Blue Plate" is about the stuff a waitress asks the cook for at a diner. The upbeat "Pettin' and Pokin'" has some fast-talking jams from Jordan about a bickering couple named Jack and Jill who were "always petting and poking and jabbing and joking and cooing and crackin and neckin and knockin and singin and sockin" and so on. Now try and rap that fast! Jordan sings to a girl with "big blue eyes" why "(You Dyed Your Hair) Chartreuse." That girl definitely went too far in that beauty booth!

Given 2000 and 2004, "Jordan for President" seems a comforting anthem, a rap where Jordan says what he'll do if elected, and a satire on politicians in general, with a chorus of people cheering him on. "If you send me to Washington as your leader, I'll personally see to it that every living American will get their portion-after I get mine." With rhyming name-dropping of Estes Kefauver, MacArthur, Truman, Eisenhower, Stassen, and Robert Taft, it's clear this was sung during the 1952 election. "If you want a hipster who won't take no sassin', vote for Stassen." Yes, that's Jordan on the swing ticket-notice the pun. I'll vote for him, as he promises new shoes so we can all go dancing and forget those blues.

"Look Out (Sister, Look Out)" is a response to "Brother Beware" and uses the same rhythm, where in his jive-talking schitck, he gives advice to women on no-good men the same way he tried to men on women who wanted commitment. Jordan's preference on women is done in the sax and piano boogie of "I Like `Em Fat Like That," while he has another go on calypso on "Push Ka PeeShee Pie," which is the new calypso bebop.

Two numbers more on the leisure side is "Azure Te" with its accompanying piano, and the first song I ever heard by Jordan back in a documentary (I didn't know it was him), and the lightly swinging "G.I. Jive," written by Johnny Mercer during American involvement in WW2, on the life of the GI.

Most of the better songs ended up on the first compilations, but there are many worthwhile nuggets here worth jamming to. So, is you is or is you ain't gonna get this CD?

This is a very enjoyable album, full of jumping small-group swing and jive music. The music is from the 1940s and early 50s, but the recording quality is really fine, the music is timeless, and Jordan's lyrics are still clever and funny. I get the sense that the "swing revival" has probably peaked, but Jordan's music will never go out of style.

This CD a companion to "The Best of Louis Jordan" (MCAD-4079), with only one song that overlaps that #1 greatest-hits album. If you buy only one Louis Jordan CD, make it "The Best of Louis Jordan." On the other hand, if you DO buy that album, you're likely to want this one too.

Best songs here: "G.I. Jive" (a terrific WWII song), "Life Is So Peculiar" (a duet with that Louis Armstrong), "Azure Te," and "Boogie Woogie Blue Plate". No duds. Buy it, but get "The Best of Louis Jordan" first.

I bought this several years back and just now got to playing it, don't ask. Randomly I started with "Open the Door, Richard." If this isn't the most laugh-out-loud song ever I don't know what is. I am afraid to go any further; too much of it and I might OD. Certainly there is no harm in playing "Choo Choo Ch 'Boogie" every now and then; it's the greatest boogie ever.

It will not do merely to liken Louis Jordan to the incomparable Fats Waller, because Jordan was clearly incomparable in his own right. What they both share is a spirit, no, a zeal, an undying willingness to please, and above all, superb musicianship. By rights Jordan's reputation should live forever.

Of course that won't happen if tone-deaf record companies delete outstanding anthologies like this. Yes there's Bear Family's, but who wants to shell out so much and possibly get a fair number of clunkers? And the sound here's fine, too. Well, I have my copy, and it is in downloads, so it may never be too late to deeply savor in it.

There was/is no mistaking the energy,timing and pure fun Louis put into his music.This collection of 48 tracks on two CDs is a lovely testament to the man and his musical legacy.He was an extremely talented man who played several instruments and who was influenced in his early years by people such as Bessie Smith,Cab Calloway,Fats Waller and of course the inimitable Louis Armstrong.He was a black artist who yearned for a broader acceptance of his work like his musical influences had obtained.He worked very hard and while he did obtain some measure of a wider audience appeal during his lifetime his real influence was sadly not felt,like so many others,until after his passing.We now realize more than ever the influence he had on his peers in the jazz,R&B and rock and roll fields from the myriad of testimonials from the many artists in those genres.
Like the great Louis Armstrong,Louis Jordan was at his best,in my oppinion,in small groups.The backing with bigger bands tended to dilute,stiffle and/or overpower what he was best at doing.In this CD listen to the latter portion of disc#2 where his later to last recordings with a big band reside and compare them to what came before.There is none.The high energy and jumping sound is for the most part buried(or substituted)by the big band in the background.It's not too surprising that Decca pushed Louis in this direction at this time.Remember the Korean war was on and big band music was again starting to regain alot of the ground it had lost a few years earlier.The public was big on artists from the WW2 years again like Glenn Miller and Louis' band couldn't compete with that kind of nostalgia.Thus when the sales didn't materialize Decca unfortunately finally dropped Louis.I believe they would have been better served by letting Louis do what he knew how to do best with his smaller combos.He had been popular during the war years of the 40s himself so why not again? Another Louis,Louis Prima did just this.He had been singing along similar lines/style with big bands and smaller outfits for years until he reinvented himself in the 50s to great acclaim. This same type of thing might have saved Louis from his departure from Decca in 1953,but alas we will never know.
This 2 CD set follows Louis' career from his beginnings at Decca in /38 to his departure year in /53.It does contain some tracks from other Decca releases like "Five Guys Named Moe" and "Louis Jordan:His Best" but there are enough cuts on this set NOT on those that make this worthwhile getting anyways.Technically they have done a fine job in the transfers and the sound is crisp and clean.
The set comes complete with a 23 page booklet with pics,bio and r&r(recording and release) info for each track.
Wonderfully done I recommend this set highly.

If i hear Little Richard Pop Off One More Time About How He Invented Rock & Roll( "i'm the the ayatolla of Rock & Rolla"!),i'll throw the cd and vid of "Caldonia" at him and tell him to SHUT UP!! The Imodest and Full Of Themselves always Steal and appropriate from others.Jelly Roll Morton also claimed he invented Jazz,and great though he was- he,Like Richard,was more concerned with self promotion and personal myth making.The Boastfull are never the first string artists.That takes sincerity and humility.And p.s. Jerry Lee Lewis(entertaining and raw as he is)got much of his deal from the Boogie Woogie piano playing-singing of Harry "The Hipster" Gibson-also from jordan's era.Why do these guys egos prevent them for giving credit to their progenitors.

This genius was the #1 selling African American artist of the 1940's. No one else sold more records or had more hits. He out sold The Mills Bros.,Nat Cole,Duke,Ella,Buddy and Ella Johnson,Satchmo, and Count Basie.He was the #1 R&B artist of the 40's with more top 10 hits and more #1's on the r&b charts than any other Black act of that period. Louis also had a total of 9 top 10 pop hits between 1944 and 1950 and he is the only r&b based artist to have 2 #1 hits on the country music charts(an astonishing feat back then). Those two songs are Jordan classics-1943's and early 44's classic "Ration Blues" and 1944's "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't Ma Baby".Both songs are included on this wonderful cd.The great Nat "King"Cole hit #1 on the Country charts in the mid 40's with his "Straighten up and fly right" but Nat was more of a pop singer than r&b singer. 'G.I.Jive" was a massive hit for him in 1944.It was #1 on both the r&b and pop charts that year. Some may think of Louis Jordan as a clown and that's a monumental tragedy-this cat was a musical genius and an incredible composer,bandleader,and saxophonist. The clown moniker could be easily applied to Charlie Chaplin,Jerry Lewis,Laurel and Hardy,and Harold Lloyd,but they were genuises as well. This cd is a must for any music lovers collection.

Starting as a member of the Count Basie band in the 1930s, Louis Jordan soon became known as sax player, vocalist, and jive man extraordinaire on his many solo recordings from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1970s. This package focuses only on the years 1938 thru 1953, which is admittedly most of his best work, but it would be nice to hear some of his later recordings as well. In particular, two recordings of the classic "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens", cut in the 50s and 70s, improve by being taken at a faster tempo. Louis practically invented jump blues, and no less a giant than BB King has paid tribute with an album of all Jordan material. (Let the Good Times Roll). Building on Cab Calloway's earlier reputation as the king of jive language and music, Jordan creates an evocative, often hilarious picture of the trials and tribulations of the black performer of his day. His takes on trains ("Texas and Pacific", "Choo Choo, Ch'Boogie," and "Salt Pork, West Virginia"), drinking ("What's the Use of Being Sober?"), waitresses ("Boogie Woogie Blue Plate"), and life itself (the wonderful "Life is So Peculiar" duet with Louis Armstrong) still delight after all these years due to his irrepresible humor and jive language. So, if your budget only allows for a two-CD set, spring for this edition by one of the most upbeat, positive, and all around funny cats ever, and run, don't walk, to the nearest Saturday night fish fry.