Louis Jordan: Beans and Cornbread
Continuing my focus on the music of 1975, today’s song is from the best Greatest Hits album of the year. The Best of Louis Jordan was posthumously released the year of his death at age 66. Yes, it is a collection of songs from the 1940s and ’50s, but it is still THE Louis Jordan release that people listen to most often, even though it was released 50 years ago and there are now hundreds of available collections. I think the reason that this one has stayed so popular and important is that these 20 songs present the music that was the foundation for so many styles to come. On the surface, the music of Louis Jordan presents early versions of Jump Blues, Rhythm and Blues, and Rock and Roll. Those comparisons are easy to hear with one listen. Songs like “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie” and “Caldonia” are classics of early R&B that influenced Wynonie Harris, Big Joe Turner, Roy Brown, and other early Jump Blues stars, which then influenced Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and any other rock and roll hero you can name. The character Caldonia became a staple of many popular R&B songs of the late 1940s. The basic blueprint for early R&B and Jump Blues was to present a character that could be used to employ double entendre, funny stories, and connection to the day-to-day lives of the listeners in each 3-minute song. Jordan was the primary voice in the development of these styles, and the songs on the collection are all classics of that history.
I could stop there, because the influence of Louis Jordan on R&B and Rock and Roll has been documented by thousands of music history scholars and that is all one needs to know to understand his importance. However, there is even more influence to uncover in these tunes. Songs like “Beware” and “Saturday Night Fish Fry” are as close to old school rap as music got in 1950. Jordan talk-sings the story of “Saturday Night Fish Fry,” which includes cops busting in, harassing the party-goers, and arresting Jordan’s friends. “Beware” is spoken-word over a repetitive riff with slang, humor, and entourage shout-outs. If Ice-T had been a Jump Blues artist in 1946, he would have been Louis Jordan. Also important, but easy to ignore in today’s world of crossover success, is that Jordan was the first massively successful crossover artist. In addition to controlling the race charts of the time, his music was bought by everyone of every race, age, and gender. His popularity on the race charts is comparable to that of Kanye and Kendrick Lamar in the 21st century, and he released several songs that were simultaneously #1 hits on both the race and white charts before there was a Billboard Top 40.
I have written in old posts about my love of the music of this period and how if there was only one form of music I could listen to for the rest of my life then this would be it. Louis Jordan is arguably the greatest performer of this music, and The Best of Louis Jordan has been in my record collection since I bought it on CD almost 40 years ago. I have probably listened to it as much as any album, and more than any other Greatest Hits compilation. I don’t normally include Greatest Hits collections on a Top 20 list, so I haven’t ranked this one. If I did, it would compete with the top 2 or 3 albums on my list for the #1 spot.
If you are interested in other years, check out my Year in Review series.
To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.
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