Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "the King of the Jukebox", he earned his highest profile towards the end of the swing era. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "early influence" in 1987. Specializing in the alto sax, Jordan played all forms of the saxophone, as well as piano and clarinet. He also was a talented singer with great comedic flair, and fronted his own band for more than twenty years. He duetted with some of the biggest solo singing stars of his time, including Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Jordan was also an actor and a film personality. He appeared in 14 three-minute Soundies filmed for "movie jukeboxes" of the 1940s. He also worked as a specialty act in the Hollywood theatrical features Follow the Boys and Swing Parade of 1946. His very successful musical short Caldonia (1945) prompted three more feature films, all starring Jordan and his band: Beware; Reet, Petite and Gone; and Look Out Sister. Jordan began his career in big-band swing jazz in the 1930s, but he became known as an innovative popularizer of jump blues, a swinging, up-tempo, dance-oriented hybrid of jazz, blues and boogie-woogie. Typically performed by smaller bands consisting of five or six players, jump music featured shouted, highly syncopated vocals and earthy, comedic lyrics on contemporary urban themes. It strongly emphasized the rhythm section of piano, bass and drums; after the mid-1940s, this mix was often augmented by electric guitar. Jordan's band also pioneered the use of the electronic organ. With his dynamic Tympany Five bands, Jordan mapped out the main parameters of the classic R&B, urban blues and early rock-and-roll genres with a series of highly influential 78-rpm discs released by Decca Records. These recordings presaged many of the styles of black popular music of the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s and exerted a strong influence on many leading performers in these genres. Many of his records were produced by Milt Gabler, who went on to refine and develop the qualities of Jordan's recordings in his later production work with Bill Haley, including "Rock Around the Clock". Jordan ranks fifth in the list of the most successful African-American recording artists according to Joel Whitburn's analysis of Billboard magazine's R&B chart, and was the most popular rhythm and blues artist with his "jump blues" recordings of the pre-rock n' roll era. Though comprehensive sales figures are not available, he had at least four million-selling hits during his career. Jordan regularly topped the R&B "race" charts, achieving the Number 1 slot eighteen times, with 113 weeks in that spot over the years. He was also one of the first black recording artists to achieve significant crossover in popularity with the predominantly white mainstream American audience, having simultaneous Top Ten hits on the pop charts on several occasions. |
Birth and Death Data: Born July 8, 1908 (Arkansas), Died February 4, 1975 (Los Angeles)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1936 - 1960
Roles Represented in DAHR: alto saxophone, vocalist, leader, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, songwriter, composer
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 51-75 of 274 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Decca | 63709 | 10-in. | 5/3/1938 | Saving myself for you | Ella Fitzgerald and her Savoy Eight | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | ||
Decca | 63710 | 10-in. | 5/3/1938 | If you only knew | Ella Fitzgerald and her Savoy Eight | instrumentalist, alto saxophone | ||
Decca | 64823 | 10-in. | 12/20/1938 | Toodle-loo on down | Rodney Sturgis | instrumentalist, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone | ||
Decca | 64824 | 10-in. | 12/20/1938 | So good | Rodney Sturgis | instrumentalist, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone | ||
Decca | 64825 | 10-in. | 12/20/1938 | Away from you | Rodney Sturgis | instrumentalist, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone | ||
Decca | 64826 | 10-in. | 12/20/1938 | Honey in the bee ball | Louis Jordan's Elks Rendezvous Band | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone | ||
Decca | 64827 | 10-in. | 12/20/1938 | Barnacle Bill the sailor | Louis Jordan's Elks Rendezvous Band | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone | ||
Decca | 65304 | 10-in. | 3/29/1939 | Flat face (Instrumental) | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 65305 | 10-in. | 3/29/1939 | Keep a-knockin' (but you can't come in) | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 65306 | 10-in. | 3/29/1939 | Sam Jones done snagged his britches on | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 65307 | 10-in. | 3/29/1939 | Swingin' in a cocoanut tree (Instrumental) | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 65308 | 10-in. | 3/29/1939 | Doug the jitterbug | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 65309 | 10-in. | 3/29/1939 | At the swing cats' ball | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 66871 | 10-in. | 11/14/1939 | Jake, what a snake (Instrumental) | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, leader | ||
Decca | 66872 | 10-in. | 11/14/1939 | Honeysuckle rose | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, leader | ||
Decca | 66873 | 10-in. | 11/14/1939 | 'Fore day blues-2 | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, leader | ||
Decca | 66874 | 10-in. | 11/14/1939 | But I'll be back | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, leader | ||
Decca | 66875 | 10-in. | 11/14/1939 | You ain't nowhere | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, leader | ||
Decca | 66876 | 10-in. | 11/14/1939 | You're my meat-1 | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | vocalist, instrumentalist, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, leader | ||
Decca | 67111 | 10-in. | 1/25/1940 | June Tenth jamboree | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 67112 | 10-in. | 1/25/1940 | You run your mouth and I'll run my business | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 67113 | 10-in. | 1/25/1940 | I'm Alabama bound | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 67114 | 10-in. | 1/25/1940 | Hard lovin' blues | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 67308 | 10-in. | 3/13/1940 | You've got to go when the wagon comes | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader | ||
Decca | 67309 | 10-in. | 3/13/1940 | Lovie Joe | Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five | instrumentalist, alto saxophone, clarinet, baritone saxophone, leader |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Jordan, Louis," accessed November 9, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/109210.
Jordan, Louis. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 9, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/109210.
"Jordan, Louis." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 9 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Louis Jordan
Discogs: Louis Jordan
Allmusic: Louis Jordan
Grove: Louis Jordan
IMDb: Louis Jordan
Britannica: Louis Jordan
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Jordan, Louis, 1908-1975 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no91029594
Wikidata: Louis Jordan - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q461011
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/196653
MusicBrainz: Louis Jordan - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b8b30699-7814-4fd1-ab75-6f22f5da0fac
ISNI: 0000 0001 1931 7946 - http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000119317946
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