"With my little band, I did everything they did with a big band. I made the blues jump. " ~ Louis Jordan

After seeing the absolutely amazing C.W. Stoneking a few months ago (in a tiny church, which was pretty much the best show I've ever been to. No exaggeration, literally the best show I've ever been to. Even months later, I'm in awe.), I started to wonder about some of his direct influences. I knew that some of the songs on his Jungle Blues must be covers, but since we don't get liner notes anymore (sigh), I hadn't yet looked into any of the original artists. During the show, Stoneking mentioned a few who I [...]
Louis Jordan - Choo choo Ch'boogie Louis Jordan's Choo choo Ch'boogie, here became the biggest hit of 1946 and the musical style and sound of the song is considered to be one of the forerunners of what would progress into Rock and Roll as we now know it. Check it out! Peace.
Harry Nilsson stubbornly made music that he was interested in, not necessarily music that would sell albums. Although his two biggest songs were covers, his catalog contained dozens of more obscure cover songs. We'll go beyond 'Without You' and 'Everybody's Talkin' to present some Nilsson covers you may have missed.

Hello again and a warm welcome to Wild Weekend , issue 64. As no real interesting new stuff struck my eardrums this week alas, we'll just have to make do with a bunch of oldies goldies. No probs, as we're talking tracks by Delroy Wilson, Sir Doug Sahm and Louis Jordan amongst others. And a Japanese star fruits surf rider. Now is that wild or what? We'll start with a fine song from a very fine album: Doug Sahm's '74 Tex-Mex masterpiece Groovers Paradise . Sir Doug's got the [...]

Rockstar Games never skimps on a soundtrack and L.A. Noire is no exception. The game features the music of Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Thelonious Monk - a suitable backdrop for a detective thriller set in 1947 Los Angeles. In addition, Rockstar partnered with Verve Records for L.A. Noire: Remixed , an EP of remixes of jazz standards by the likes of Dave Sitek and DJ Premier. Premo turned Louis Jordan's "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" into an undeniable head-nodder. Rockstar sure knows how to please hip-hop heads. [...]

Louis Jordan - Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens (DJ Premier Remix) New remix soundtrack for the game L.A. Noire presented by Verve Records & Rockstar Games. DJ Premier remixes Louis Jordan's "Aint' Nobody Here But Us Chicken". via DJPremier
My father was a big fan of Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, and for good reason. These guys could rock. This one's my fave:
Aux origines, le rhythm and blues qui signifie rythme et mélancolie désignait la musique issue du Gospel, du jazz et surtout du blues, créée par des musiciens et chanteurs noirs américains. Ce terme a été inventé par l'un des journalistes travaillant pour le très célèbre Billboard Magazine : Jerry Wexler. Ce magazine présente le classement de chansons selon différents critères tel que le style de musique ; ainsi il introduisit à la fin des années 1940 le terme « R'n'b » qui remplaça le terme « race music » utilisé auparavant et jugé trop péjoratif voire insultant. Ainsi, le rhythm [...]

I'm sitting in my backyard with Emily Bate , trying to figure out today's song. I realized that besides Mr. Kevin Dunn , we're having kind of an old-timey week. So, hey, let's run with that. I heard this song for the first time at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where Louis Jordan was described, in one of the intro videos as "the Father of Rhythm & Blues" and "the Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll." Ryan and I really liked this song and for some reason [...]

En Avril 1945 sort un titre qui est de loin mon préféré de toute la décennie. Un morceau emblématique de la lente évolution du Rythm & Blues en Rock'n'Roll . Selon les versions (celle mythique du film dont elle est tirée , la soul , la jump blues ...) le modus operandi est diffèrent mais leurs finalité est la même, cet état d'allégresse extatique. Quand on voit l'effet dévastateur de ce titre sur votre serviteur, il est difficile d'imaginer la transe qu'il a pu provoquer chez des gens sortant tout juste d'une guerre mondiale. [...]

Louis Jordan: Caldonia ( buy ) "Caldonia, Caldonia, What makes your big head so hard?" An infectious jump blues tune from 1945, featuring wild vocals and an even wilder sax. At the height of his career, Louis Jordan was known as the King of the Jukebox. In hindsight, he became known as the Father of Rhythm & Blues and the Grandfather of Rock ´n´ Roll. "I love you, I love you just the same, I´ll always love you baby ´cause Caldonia is your [...]
We had quite an exciting few days around our house this past weekend. To start with, Friday was the last night of Hanukkah. To celebrate, we had a small party with some friends and their children. We did it last year and it was so much fun that it we decided to make it an annual event. All the Christmas kids enjoy the chance to help light the menorah candles, play dreidel and eat some gelt, and our daughter loves sharing the holiday with her buddies. It's a great opportunity to spend time and commemorate an important event with our [...]
Buzz me Baby Lovin' Machine

Calvin Boze & His All-Stars - Safronia B Trumpeter Calvin Boze was a minor player on the fertile postwar Los Angeles R&B scene, but he cut this obscure gem in 1950, and it's one of the greatest songs you are ever gonna hear. A top ten R&B hit on the great, largely forgotten Aladdin label, its foundation is clearly Louis Jordan , but there are hints of hard bop to come in the horn section. It is scientifically unpossible to not love this song.
Finally, the songs about chickens!!! A few weeks ago when I picked my daughter up from school, she brought me into one of the first grade classrooms to show me the results of the latest "chicken project." Every year, a local farmer brings half a dozen chicken eggs to each first grade class for them to incubate. I remember her being so excited about this last year when her class was responsible for helping the eggs hatch…they even made a cool video of all the kids playing with the newborn little chickies. She loved the experience so much [...]