Louis Jordan: Grandfather Of Rock n' Roll

[ibobunot]

Louis Jordan: 'Jukebox King'
NPR Free Download MP3

"Louis Jordan broke from the jazz mainstream to become a founding father of rhythm & blues.

In the late '30s and early '40s, Jordan made a conscious decision to turn away from the big band sound, a dominant trend in popular music of the day. His smaller, tighter groups — the Tympany Four and Tympany Five — developed a loose, hard-driving sound that came to be known as "jump music." Jordan's musical departure fueled a successful string of novelty swing hits through the '40s and early '50s, and created a bridge to the pop music that arrived in the second half of the 20th century. Chuck Berry, James Brown and Ray Charles all cited Jordan's influence on their work.

--NPR--

Louis Jordan - Beware


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[Mark Davis]

Ive always thought he invented rock & roll and R&B.

He was just awesome.

[chef0069]

Thanks for this post, cause after first hearing him and his music several years ago, I, Too, thought, gee this man invented rock and roll, but I just figured, nah, I must be wrong. Well, maybe I wasn't!! Nobody here but us chickens!!!

[mchet]

Originally Posted by ibobunot

Louis Jordan: 'Jukebox King'
NPR Free Download MP3


--NPR--

Louis Jordan - Beware


...

First time I've heard him... He was definitely onto something different for his time, but it doesn't sound like r&r or r&b to me but bop or swing in there respective infancies. JMHO...

[ibobunot]

Originally Posted by mchet

First time I've heard him... He was definitely onto something different for his time, but it doesn't sound like r&r or r&b to me but bop or swing in there respective infancies. JMHO...

Did you read the article or just watch the video.....

" According to historian John Chilton, Jordan amalgamated "the music of his childhood, the rural blues, with the jazz music which was then popular in nightclubs." This new form earned the moniker "jump music," or "jump blues," because it literally made its listeners jump to its pulsing beat."

[olewichita]

can't argue with that ibobunot... the lineage from louis jordan to big joe turner is obvious to me... jordan's 50s mercury re-recordings of his biggest hits with what is essentially the atlantic house band are fantastic featuring searing guitar work by mickey baker... tj

[Unseen]

It all depends upon perception and definition.

When I was a kid, I thought rock began with Elvis, then I learned about Bill Haley, and then about so-called "race music." It gets pretty hazy after a while.

Now that I know more about music, I could say that rock might have started in my father's WWII generation with "In the mood."

Most of you won't be old enough to remember this, but those of you who are, back me up: They used to dance the "jitterbug" to very early rock, and that is a dance that goes back to my father's swing era.

Rock simply grew out of the music that came before. Rockers don't like to hear that, but it's the truth.

[ibobunot]

Louis Jordan - A Video Biography


Louis Jordan - Caldonia

[ibobunot]

Originally Posted by Unseen

I could say that rock might have started in my father's WWII generation with "In the mood.".

Brian Setzer Orchestra - In The Mood


Glenn Miller Orchestra - In The Mood


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[Unseen]

Originally Posted by ibobunot

Brian Setzer Orchestra - In The Mood


...

Too bad. That link doesn't work. Maybe it's not allowed to be hotlinked. It's there on YouTube for anyone who wants to find it, though.

Let's try one by the Glenn Miller Orchestra:

Anyone who plays rock will recognize a classic chord progression. The solos would have been perfectly idiomatic for early rock, too.

For all practical purposes, it's rock-n-roll.

[bluetele54]

...Jimmy Lunceford,Cab Calloway,Fats Waller,Fletcher Henderson,James P. Johnson,Willie "the Lion" Smith,please!!!...any one of those bands,and boogie-woogie pianist's could kick the dog-crap out of the weak "In the Mood" Glen Miller pabulum,just check 'em!!!...

[ibobunot]

Originally Posted by bluetele54

...Jimmy Lunceford,Cab Calloway,Fats Waller,Fletcher Henderson,James P. Johnson,Willie "the Lion" Smith,please!!!...any one of those bands,and boogie-woogie pianist's could kick the dog-crap out of the weak "In the Mood" Glen Miller pabulum,just check 'em!!!...

Oh please, we're talking about the roots of Rock n' Roll...

[Tremo]

Man, I love that old Louie Jordan stuff.

[bluetele54]

...plus the Benny Goodman small combos with revolving members Jo Jones,Charlie Christian,Teddy Wilson,George Auld,Lionel Hampton,Cootie Williams,Slam Stewart,Count Basie,Nick Fatool,Red Norvo,and more...those combos kicked the ish outta' tunes like "After You've Gone","Slipped Disc",Breakfast Feud","Shivers",etc....to hell with the L.J. '50's re-recordings,I've got a DVD of those Tympany 4,and 5 bands,and them dudes Rocked!!!...

[bluetele54]

..."Oh please, we're talking about the roots of Rock n' Roll... "...watcha' think I'm talkin' 'bout??? ...

[ibobunot]

Originally Posted by bluetele54

...watcha' think I'm talkin' 'bout??? ...

We were just digging down into the roots a little deeper, it's all good man....

[olewichita]

Originally Posted by bluetele54

to hell with the L.J. '50's re-recordings,I've got a DVD of those Tympany 4,and 5 bands,and them dudes Rocked!!!...

well yeah, that's obvious... what's not so obvious is that louis jordan's 50s re-recordings of these songs came out as extremely good straight R&B/RnR versions that can hold their own...

tj

[bluetele54]

...'cause we're older,and may even have vinyl(maybe even 78's,gad's),and thus a hysterical perspective...when folks start mentioning Glenn Miller in a Louis Jordan thread,I just had to go deeper than Mr. Miller,which is why I mentioned those stronger swing bands pre-Glenn Miller,which,I'm most sure,influenced Jordan...and your right,the re-recordings sound great,and it's most silly of me to use the "to hell with'' language,and for that I apologize most profusely...now,ain't I cute??? ...

[ibobunot]

“In the Mood” is based on an old jazz riff that had been passed around for a few years in various forms, most notably in a Fletcher Henderson tune called “Hot and Anxious.” Joe Garland created a new arrangement using the riff with the cooler title of “In the Mood.” Artie Shaw was the first to dabble with it, but never recorded it because it ran eight minutes, too long for a 78 (however, a live version does exist.) Miller, a gifted editor, was able to pare the tune down to its essentials to fit on one side of a record.

--David Rickert--

[markothefish]

B B King always cited Louis Jordan as one of his big influences . The song Caldonia is such a great tune that transcends Genre . It could be jazz , blues , swing , pop , R&B etc. etc . One of America's alltime great underrated artists ...

[Tony474]

Louis Jordan's material is certainly a strong link between blues, jazz and what became rock'n'roll. I don't claim comprehensive knowledge of everything he did, but I enjoy what I do know and still sometimes cover "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" and "Caldonia" in my own set.

[ibobunot]

Originally Posted by Tony474

I don't claim comprehensive knowledge of everything he did.

I was born in 1953, I can't claim any knowledge of this stuff....

[51mike]

Do a google on "Hoy Hoy" music and you'll find some really good arguments for the start of Rock & Roll. Really interesting stuff there.

[trag-o-caster]

I've been a Louis Jordan nut for many years now, covering many of his tunes during my own show.

I put up the vid to "Beware Brother Beware" here on the TDPRI several months ago and nobody said NUTTIN'!

Don't forget ol' Carl Hogan on guitar with Louis. He was a great underrated player. Listen to how Chuck Berry stole the intro to "Ain't That Just Like a Woman" and used it for the intro to "Johnny B. Goode" - except with double stops.