10. lumpin`the Btues with Louis Jordan

F 10.
lumpin'the Btues with Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan's (rgo8-ZS) role in the transition of race music to rhythm
and blues is second to none. His group, the Tympany Five (which
usually consisted of seven members), established the concept of the
swinging small band with rhythm section (piano, bass, drums, and oc'
casionatly guitar) and a horn section consisting of two saxophones and
one or two trumpets. Jordanb use of simplified swing rhythm (which
became known as "shuffle rhythm"), blues harmonic patterns, and
witty, vaudeville-influenced lyrics led to his achieving unprecedented
popularity for an African American artist during the years ry42-49.
While reviews from the period and statements from musicians who
were his contemporaries stress his musicianship and his professionalism, Jordan departed from other iazz-oriented players of the day in his
emphasis on pleasing audiences and his unabashed embrace of com'
mercialism.
The following article from Down Beat comes from a period when Jordan
was beginning to broaden his audience. The anonymous reviewer notes
how Jordan is merging aspects of iazz, blues, and pop with novelty and
"iump numbers." Although the writer criticizes Jordan for monotony, he
acknowledges that Jordan's emphasis on entertainment results in a
crowd-pleasing show. He also looks somewhat askance at those stage
mannerisms that Jordan retained from his days as a vaudeville-minstrel
entertainer. Down Beat, as mentioned earlier, was one of the first magazines to cater to iazz fans. As such, the criticisms of Jordan allude to
ongoing debates among jazz critics about the relationship between iazz
and commercialism.'
1. These debates over value tnthejazz press have received a fair amount of scholarly
attention; for two studies, see Bernard Gendron, "Moldy Figs and Modemists," Between
Montmartre and the Mudd CIub: Popular Music and the Atsant-Garde (Chicago: University oI
Chicago Press, 2002), 12'1,42; and Scott DeVeaux, "Constructing thelazzTradition: Jazz
Historiography," Black American Literaturc Forum 25, no' 3 (Fall 7991): 52540.
55
Bnnos Due ev rHE BEAT: Louls f ononn
Down Beat
jazz machine. one of the strongest conDr.namic is the word for Jordan's compact
his unrelenting insistence
thenomenil s.r"."tt has been
Savoy
pa1{stand at ten and
the
on
came
on a continuous performu,t.e' The band
with only a_twentyolaved one number orrtop of the other untir two ayem [sic]
to keep the same
mana'es
realry works hard and
factor contributimportant
very
tension intact all tntorrgh tli"ii u'pp"ut*t"'Another
sides' Playing
box
innumerable
those
been
luke
i"-* a" *" shining of loiJur,;, stai i-ras
their recorded
played
an$
grabberg
nickel
thg
this d,ance job, they t""ila"""t"g" "{
with his usual
renerioire- most of *r.rl.r, r""t"iis the leader v"ocally. Louis gave
garb to depict
stase
any
todon
eyes but did not bother
and featured
minimum
at
a
numbers
ttou"tty
Deacon lones.lnfu.t, r'r"lJpi'tt'" pttt"
Consethrong.
Savoy
the
from
reclption
fine
t"ry
u
blues to a great extent wilh
and
alto
fine
playrng
himsel{
quently there *u, u good J'iantiui"played.with Louis
quite acceptable tenor plus a little clarinet'
j"r"p, like mad when really wound up. Louis'
The group i, .ror"iyLii u"a
Eddie
;ffiil;;;r'i;i;.;;;
ilflft;.';ffiil
a;;fu
;T;;;#';;iil;;i;e
--"
however' When
vocal on every numbei tended to slow up the winding
of it and played some amazing
Roane, a fine trumpet, lot u Ui"ut he made ihe most
variety
the
;htd;:gi, *un-#"n tfi.rti^g accompaniment to blues vocals showed a
and full-toned. Both Louis
of ideas for that,yp" ;ipldt"g. ui, open-horn is clean
by the rhytlm trio, which
furnished
beat
J.i"i"g
and Eddie worked .";; ;?;i;J
played relaxed and
in itself is stellar. fn" o.igi"uf jordan piinist, Arnold Thomas,
oi.th" finest bass
ol:
considered
his fillins are well *o*n ii,t"ttl"g to' At Morgan'
Wilmore (Slick)
perfectly.
trio
rf,ythm
the
men still slapping th";;; fittu? irrto
helped keep the rhythm going at
i.""r, r--f* f",i'putJWul"r's favorite drummer, ilso
[a] terrific pace.
goodiazzplayrng' O.ne critiLouis Jordan has versatility and one feature is some
jrl1p
pt
aye.a-in
j:*P:.*iF Louis' singing
.irrnjo*"t"r, i, tn" fuJtf,ui"iery number
Up and Fly Righ.t
S*algttten
t.
of
G'
."nditions
Fii,
1iai,
'
is likely to become monotono,-rr.
is versatile in
band
the
y"" Ai;i w Baby allsound alike. Although
and,Is you Is Or ls
and pops' it still retains a sameness in the
bl.ret,l"Lp
;;;;;,t"g "o-relti"s,
'iu"'b""
of plaYing various tYPes'
style
lnthenextentry,lordandescribeshisbackgroundinminstrelshowsand
of "ium.p btues"' a
large swing UanJs anO his rote in the development
shuffle rhythms'
and
forms'
blues-based
genre using a sma[[ band,
for the makeup of
Throughout rris iecottections, Jordan shows a concern
hisaudience,andalthoughherecognizedthatheneededtopleasewhite
betieved that much of
audiences to achieve corimercial success, he atso
with btack
connection
the \iitality of his music came from his continued
engage'
of
an
account
telling
listeners. ihi, b.li.f ir apparent in Jordan's
menthesharedwiththeMittsBrothers,abandwithmuchlessconnection to blues andiazz.
Source:
l'1944' p' 4' Used with
"BandsDug by the Beat: Louis Jordan ," Down Beat'septembet
permission bY Down Beat.
56
from HonKERs eno SnourERs: Tue Goloet Yenns
or RrvrHnn nruo Blues
Arnold Shaw
"It was a saxophone in a store window. I could see myself in the polished brass-that
started me off. I ran errands all over Brinkley [Arkansas] until my feet were sore, and
I saved until I could make a down payment on that shiny instrument. My father
taught me music. I was still a teen-ager when I played my fust gig. It was vacation
time, and I blew with Rudy Williams-he was known as 'Tuna Boy'Williams. It was
at The Green Gables in Hot Springs. That was about 150 miles west of Brinkley where
I was bom. Little Rock is in between, and about 100 miles from my hometown. I went
to Arkansas Baptist College there and majored in music.2
"My first professional job was with The Rabbit Foot Minstrels. Ma Rainey was
once the star, and Bessie Smith got her start with them. I played clarinet and danced
all through the South. Around 1932, I went North, settled in Philadelphia and got
connected with Charlie Gaines's band. I had eyes, you know, on the Big Apple-New
York City. But it took several years before I could get a union card in Local 802.
"I worked with several bands. ]oe Marshall was one. He was a drummer with
Fletcher Henderson. We played the Elks Rendezvous in Harlem for a while. Around
1936 I joined Chick Webb at The Savoy. Played alto, sang, and announced numbers.
Chick was a little man, hunchback, but a gteat drummer. He had big ears for talentlike Ella Fitzgerald, whom he adopted so shecould sing with the band. But he was no
showman and some people thought I was the leader because I introduced numbers.
"I loved playing jazz with a big band. Loved singing the blues. But I really
wanted to be an entertainer-that's me-on my own. I wanted to play for the people,
for millions, not just a few hep cats.
"When Chick died in 7938,I cut out and formed my own band. Nine pieces, and
we had a regular gig at the Elks Rendezvous. Four-sixty-four Lenox Avenue was
the address. Also played club dates 'off nights.' Those were nights when a band was
off. I played up and down Swing Street, Fifty-second Street. After a while, I cut
the nine pieces down to six. Later I added a guitar and made it seven. Once I got
known as Louis jordan and His Tympany Five, I kept the name. But I always had
seven or eight men.
" After that Fifty-second Street bit, I started playing proms, like at Yale and
Amherst. That's when friends began saying, 'Why don't you get out of New York,
Louis? It's taking too long for you to get started.' So they came and asked me if I would
playwiththeMills Brothers inChicago. The CapitolLoungewas forwhitefolks. Itwas
across the alley from the Chicago Theater. Not many Negroes came because they felt
they weren't welcome. They wanted me to play intermission for the Mills Brothers. I
started not to go-that was a big mistake.
"At first I was doing ten minutes; then they raised me to fifteen; then I got to half
an hour. The Mills Brothers went over big. 'Cause the people who came to hear them
and Maurice Rocco-he was the third act-they had their followine and he hadhis.
2. \Atrhile Jordan wanted to attend college, he was never able to for financial reasons despite
many statements to the contrary. See John Chilton, Let the Good Times RoIl: The Story of Louis lordan
and His Music (Arrr Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997),17 .
Source: Pages 65-.68,70-71 fuom Honkers and Shouters: The GoldenYears of Rhythm €s
Bluesby
Amold Shaw. Reprinted with permission of Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Adult
Publishing Group. Copyright
@
by Ghita M. Shaw.
57
58
Before r95o
And after a while, I
had. my following. The Capitol Lounge couldn't hold two
hundred people. But they would have a hundred twenty sittin' down and maybe a
hundred eighty standin' at the bar. After that booking, I was gone!
"The Fox Head in Cedar Rapids was a great tuming point in my career. It was
there I found 'If It's Love You Want, Baby, That's Me' and a gang of blues-'Ration
Blues,' 'Inflation Blues,' and others. Now, it was just a beer joint: It ran from a street
to an alley. Beer was fifteen cents. The owner was a ham radio operator. He insisted
that I stay at his house. He was a wonderful man.
"After my records started to sell, we drew mixed audiences to clubs like The Tick
Tock in Boston, Billy Berg's Swing Club in Los Angeles, The Garrick in Chicago and
The Top Hat in Toronto. The first time I played the Adams Theatre in Newark, I played
with a fellow who sings like Perry Como. He was in Vic Damone's bag. And the second time I played there, I appeared with a society band like Meyer Davis. I was the
Negro part, and they played the white part. That's how we did it in the early forties,
so that we drew everybody. I was trying to do what they told me: straddle the fence.
"I made just as much money off white people as I did off colored. I could play a
white joint this week and a colored next. The Oriental Theatre in Chicago was a white
theater for the hep crowd. The State Theatre in Hartford was the same. It drew the
college crowd. Same with the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee.Any time I played a
white theater, my black following was there. The Paradise Theatre in Detroit was on
the borderline. The Negroes lived on that side of Woodward, and the whites on this
side. Oh yeah, the Royal in Baltimore was a colored theater. But white people came to
see me. The Beachcomber in Omaha was basically a Negro place. \A[hen I played
there, I had white audiences. Many nights we had more white than colored, because
my records were geared to the white as well as colored, and they came to hear me do
my records.
"For Negroes, there were three basic theaters: Howard in Washington, Regal in
Chicago, and Apollo in Harlem. ln the big years, we played the Paramount on Broadway-a four-week engagement every year-and the Apollo twice a year. We appeared
at the Regal in Chicago every Easter week and the Apollo every Christmas week.
"Not all of my hits was written by Negroes. 'Knock Me a Kiss' was by a white man,
Mike Jackson, though Andy Razaf wrote some special words. Two white guys came
up with'Choo Choo Ch'Boogie.'I believe that Vaughn Horton and Denver Darling
were really country-western writers. The song was played to me in the studio. We
were recording with Milt Gabler, who handled all my Decca sessions. He brought the
words and asked what I could do with them. At that time I had Wild Bill Davis playing piano. Al1 of my things are based on the blues, twelve-bar blues. So I asked Bill to
play some blues in B-flat. I was using the shuffle boogie then. He started shuffling off
in B-flat, a twelve-bar phrase-and that's how we got the record together.
"'Blue Light Boogie'was by a colored woman, Jessie Mae Robinson. She was the
best-oriented colored songwriter. She didn't write white songs. 'Don't Worry 'bout
That Mule' was written by colored. 'Beans and Cornbread' was by a colored boy,
Freddie Clark. 'The Chicks I Pick Are Slender, Tender, and Thll,' '\A/hat's the Use of
Getting Sober?,''Somebody Done Changed the Lock on My Door,' 'That'lljust about
Knock You Out,' started from a white man in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The boss
of the place had a husky voice. [Imitating] He'd say it all the time. That's where we
wrote the song from.
"'Saturday Night Fish Fry' was the work of a colored girl. 'Let the Good Times
Roll' was by Sam Theard, a black comedian. 'Mama Blues' was by a black writer, and
so was 'Small Town Boy.' That was written by Dallas Bartley, my bass man, who
comes from a small town. But'Five Guys Named Moe'was by a white guy. It was
On the Bandstand with Johnny Otis and Wynonie Harris
59
licks] 'Beware,
done with a Negro feet. [sings lyrics and some of the instrumental
',Early in the
guys.
white
by
written
both
*"r"
and'Buzz"M"i
Brother, BewareT
, was by a mixed group-Leo Hickman, a white man; Dallas Bartley, my
Mornin,
bassman; and me.
.I had five tunes that sold a million records, and 'Is You Is, or Is You Ain't (Ma',
wisconsin Avenue
Baby)?, was by a white man. I was playing at Lakota's Lounge on
Chick webb' He'd
of
the
size
in Milwaukee. FIe was a little rtumpractlellow about
stay for lunch. He
and
dinner
have
They'd
.o-e i^ every night and talk to thii girl.
talkin'to somebe
She'd
was
there.
I
as
long
around-so
f.""a -J unin"'d hang
i"ri
was strictly
'orr"
baby?'And.he
ma
ain't
iJyou
'Is
is
or
you
hei
to
say
he'd
and
he
said, 'Let's
And
"ls"
it.
Caucasian-no blackblood in him at all. Sobn I started sayin'
not say a
would
a
person
that
race
or
say because of color
-rit" u song., You can't thing'
or would not do a
thing
' 7'Culdo.ria'was
by a bfick writer, meaning me' Fleecie Mqore.s name is on it'
time, and we put
but she didn,t have ulryttting to do with it. That was my wife at the
name is on this
Her
at
all.
music
no
it in her name. She diin't kllow nothin' about
money'
getting
still
song and that song, and she's
Further Reading
In |azz Cultures,
Ake, David. ''!azz Hislotiography and the Problem of Louis }ordan.,,
P.t:::'390t
4z41'.Berkeley and Loi Angeles: University of Califomia
Mr'rslc' Ann Arbor:
Chilton, John . Let the Good Timeslloll: The Story if Louis lordan and His
Press,1997
'
University of Michigan
Discography
& Greatest Hlfs. |asmine, 2000
fordan, Lotris. saturday Night Fish Fry: The original
&*,
On the Bandstand with f ohnny Otis
and Wynonie Harris
(b' rgzr)
Atthough not well known to many rock'n' roll fans, Johnny Otis
the
throughout
rg4os
tate
the
from
blues
and
was a riajor force in rhythm
and
producer'
disc
record
iockey'
bandleader,
a
r95os. He worked as
.-nir.pr.n"ur. Otis's cottaborators inctuded Witlie Mae "Big Mama"
Thornton (Otis ptayed drums and produced her recording of "Hound
Dog"), Little Esther, and Etta iames, among others' After numerous
tnyrftt and blues hits throughout the 195os, in 1958 he led a recording of
Before r95o
60
"Willie and the Hand Jive," which used a rhythm common throughout the
African diaspora (sometimes rendered as "shave and a haircut, six bits")
and became a crossover hit when revived by Eric Clapton in 1974.'Otis's
involvement in rhythm and blues for over 50 years is remarkable for another reason; atthough biotogicalty white, Otis identified with African
Americans from an early age, becoming culturally, if not racially, black.
His life serves as an important reminder of the instability of racial categories. As dedicated to social causes as he is to music, Otis continues to
be a sterling advocate of African American popular music and politicatinterests. Otis is also a master storyteller, and his autobiography, Upside
Your Head! deserves to be read in its entirety.
from UestDE YouR Hrno! RnYrnm Rno
Blues oN CENTRALAvENUE
Johnny Otis
From my vantage point on the drummer's stool in the Club Alabam, I could see the
music that was to be named rhythm and blues taking shape. First in Harlan
Leonard's Kansas City Rockets and later, with my own big swing band, the blues
and jazzelements were coming together. Neither Harlan's band nor mine could have
been described as rhythm and blues, but the acts we were backing at the Alabam in
the early and mid-forties were certainly the forerunners of the R&B style. Wynonie
Harris, jo |o Adams, Marion Abemathy, T-Bone Walker, Little Miss Comshucks, and
Mabel Scott were the kind of artists who headlined the shows. Each of them and the
many other blues-oriented performers who starred at the Alabam in those years, had
a down-to-earth, uninhibited approach that set them apart from the more formal and
formatted jazz and swing performers of the preceding era.
These new show stoppers grew out of the Lionel Hampton, Louis ]ordan, Ray
Nance, Jimmy Rushing, Illinois ]acquet tradition. The high-spirited exuberance of
the African American church tradition and of the little honky-tonk clubs around
America was being felt on the stages of the larger, more prestigious Black entertainment rooms. They were demonstrating that artistry, energy, and fun could coexist
in Black music without sacrificing artistic integrity. Louis Armstrong had always
performed in this way, and now more and more, the deadpan stiff concept was
giving way to a freeL bluesier, more entertaining form. Even in the more conservative world of bebop music, the great Dizzy Glllespie began to use dancing, good
humor, and earthiness as a kind of act of love, and his burgeoning popularity among
1.
In addition to the uses of this rhythm in African American music, which are described in the
following excerpt, this rhytlm, in slightly varied forrn, also forms the basic clave rhythm of the
cuban son, which, in turn, provides the rhythmic underpinning for much salsa. For a concise
exploration of this cormection, see Peter Manuel, Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Musicfrom Rumba
to Reggae (Philadelphia: Temple Universify Press, 1995).
lohnny Otis, from llpside Your Head! Rhythm and Blues on Central Auenue (Hanovet,
N.H.; Wesleyan University Press and University Press of New England, 1993),4647,50.
Copyright @ 1993 by Johnny Otis. Reprinted by permission of the University Press of
Source:
New England.
On the Bandstand with Johnny Otis and Wynonie
Harris
67
both the music experts and the general public proved him commercially and artistically correct.
as far back as the 1920s, there evolved
that musical never-never land that
They
inhabited
musicians.
breed
of
an inte-resting
exists some*here between southern blues and so-called iazz. Usually working
for peanuts, in small undistinguished clubs, they made up for whatever technical
shoitcomings they may have had with enthusiasm and showmanship. They probably regarded themselves as "jazz" players and singers but could be tagged more
accuralely barrel-house or jump music stylists. A typical iazz musician wouldn't
have lasted five minutes in those clubs. The customers weren't interested in musical subtlety or even virtuosity-they wanted spirited entertainment and fun' The
bigger the beat, the stronger the boogie woogie flavor, and the bawdier the lyrics,
the better.
Of course, bawdy by those standards would hardly raise an eyebrow today. An
example of a very daring lyric for that time was the blues Count Otis Matthews sang
when we played in those West Oakland greasy spoon dives. It went, "Oohwee,baby,
I ain't gonna; do it tto more, 'Cause every time I do it, it makes my wee wee sore!"
During the thirties and forties and perhaps
The audience would squeal with delight'
n
1941,, at the Peavine Club-a tacky Black joint in Reno, Nevadahis
risqu6 little verse, and a burly, white plainclothes cop materialCount Otisiang
ized out of the shadows and snarled , "Singone more dirty, filthy song and I'm taking
all you niggers down!" After that, our most daring number was "Mama Bought a
Chicken."
One night
A rhythm and blues "shouter" who had a large influence on early rock'n'
rollsinging, Wynonie Harris (1915-69) developed his styte in midwestern
swing bands and in the emerging Los Angeles rhythm and blues scene,
where he worked with Johnny Otis. After scoring R&B hits with Lucky
Millinder's band, Harris recorded under his own name' frequently work'
ing with iazz-influenced combos. His recordings for King Records, under
the guidance of Henry Glover, were eclectic, including both the prototypical rocker, "Good Rockin'Tonight" and country western-derived mater'
ial. ln this setf-penned article, which appeared in the African American
monthly, Tan, Harris describes how he consciously exploits the sexual
connotations of R&B and manipulates stereotypes about the sexuality of
blues performers. Along the way, he makes numerous insightfuI observations about the relationship between gospel and R&B, his eclectic use of
materials, and the source of his appeal.
Womer
Wot't Lrr Me Alone
Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris
I've made dozens of records and most of them have sold over the 250,000 mark.
Among them were Young and Wild, for which Walter Winchell once gave me an
orchidlThis was highly unusual, for Broadway columnists like Winchell don't dig
Source:Wynorie "Mr. Blues" Harris, "WomenWon'tLetMeAlone," Tan(October1954),p'77'
62
Before r95o
the Negro blues. I stole Good Rocking Tonight from my man, Roy Browry and also
his Mr'ss Fanny Brown, and made bigger hits out of them and more money off them
than he ever did.
My version of Good Rocking started the present vogue of "rocking" blues tunes.
\A/hen I say I stole the tunes, I mean that I waited until Roy had made his sides and
then out-sang him with my own interpretation. Papa kee Top and Lollypop were a couple of other big sellers for me.
I reached into the hillbilly feedbag and got hold of Hank Snow's Don't RolI Them
Bloodshot Eyes At Me.It was a scorcher. So was Good Morning, ludge, anolher hillbilly.
There was once an impression that the blues had driven me stone crazy.I agree.
I'm crazy like a fox for I've got enough to retire on tomorrow when I get tired of having fun. I'm not like a lot of fellows who are now on their heels and haven't even got
started because they let the women go to their heads and threw their money away to
help prove it. I draw a definite line. I play to create impressions. The women who really know me also know part of my secret. We can laugh about it together for they
know how women can get stirred up by a man who seems cruef ornery, vulgar and
arrogant.
But no woman will ever completely dig me for such a womanhasn't yet been
bom. I'm cool about it because I know what I'm doing and the chicks who try to be
as slick as I don't know I know what's going on. To them I say, I'm glad to see you
with it because I saw you go and get it. Those who can't dig that most assuredly can't
digme.
Oh, yes. There was once a lot of publicity around about me going into the ministry. They said that I was quitting the blues singing business and getting myself
lined up for a pulpit job. Well, I don't mix the Lord and the Devil. They are the two
I'm most afraid of. As long as I'm with the Devil, I'm going to shake him down for
everything, every dime I can get. But when I quit him, it'll be time enough for me to
thumb my nose at him and tell him to go plumb straight back to hell!
Further Reading
Otis, Iohffiy. Upside Your Head!: RLtythm and Blues on Central Aaenue. Hanover, N.H.:
University Press of New England, 1993.
Collins, Tony. Rock Mr. Blues: The Life and Music of Wynonie Harris. Milford, N.H.: Big
Nickel Publications, 1995.
Discography
Harris, Wynonie. Rockin' the Blues. Proper, 2008.
Otis, johnny. lukebox Hits: 1946-1954. Acrobal,2007.
The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues, and the R€tB Caraoan EP
Musique 2003.