When describing popular music artists, honorific nicknames are used, most often in the media or by fans, to indicate the significance of an artist, and are often religious , familial , or most frequently royal and aristocratic titles, used metaphorically . Honorific nicknames were used in classical music in Europe even in the early 19th century, with figures such as Mozart being called "The father of modern music" and Bach "The father of modern piano music". They were also particularly prominent in African-American culture in the post- Civil War era, perhaps as a means of conferring status that had been negated by slavery , and as a result entered early jazz and blues music, including figures such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie .
50-504: 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. Specializing in the alto sax , Jordan played all forms of the saxophone, as well as piano and clarinet . He also
100-757: A Baptist . Jordan's popularity and success had waned by 1953. By that time, "rock 'n' roll had captured the world's attention, and Jordan's jumping R&B became a thing of the past". While he continued performing, this did not generate the level of income that million selling recordings had provided. In 1961, the Internal Revenue Service filed an income tax lien against Jordan. As a result, he sold property well below its worth to pay off debts. Musician Ike Turner stated in his autobiography, Takin' Back My Name , that he heard about his tax problems and contacted Jordan's booking agency in Chicago. Turner convinced
150-498: A "lively jump rhythm, call-and-response chorus and double-string electric guitar riffs that Chuck Berry would later admit to copying". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 as an "early influence". He is described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as "The Father of Rhythm & Blues" and "The Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll". The Hall also states that "Saturday Night Fish Fry"
200-653: A Billboard book cited by the Blues Hall of Fame, Jordan had "18 No. 1 hits on the race and R&B charts spent a total of 113 weeks in the top slot, almost twice as many weeks as any other artist in the history of rhythm & blues". One publication of the Smithsonian Institution provided this summary of Jordan's music. One important stylistic prototype in the development of R&B was jump blues, pioneered by Louis Jordan, with his group Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five. Jordan’s group ... consisted of three horns and
250-695: A band that recorded a year later as the Tympany Five. Jordan's first band, drawn mainly from members of the Jesse Stone band, was a nine-piece group that he reduced to a sextet after being hired for a residency at the Elks Rendezvous club at 464 Lenox Avenue in Harlem . The band consisted of Jordan (saxes, vocals), Courtney Williams (trumpet), Lem Johnson (tenor sax), Clarence Johnson (piano), Charlie Drayton (bass), and Walter Martin (drums). In his first billing as
300-414: A comeback for Jordan, but it was commercially unsuccessful, and the label let him go in 1958. Jordan later expressed disliking rock 'n' roll and commented "A lot of companies have asked me to record, but they insisted that I go into rock 'n' roll, and I didn't want to change my style". He recorded sporadically in the 1960s for Warwick (1960), Black Lion (1962), Tangerine (1962–1965), and Pzazz (1968) and in
350-509: A comedy vocal thing with a bit of rock and roll, and Webb's first alto ... but he was such a consummately good singer that it's sad that he wasn't known more for it. Jordan remade some of his top hits for a 1973 LP, I Believe in Music : "Caldonia," "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby," "Saturday Night Fish Fry" and "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town". He also added new materail. According to
400-678: A precursor to modern blues, rock and roll and R&B music". In 1990, Five Guys Named Moe , a musical built around the songs of Louis Jordan, opened in London's West End and ran for over four years, winning a Laurence Olivier Award . It opened on Broadway in 1992 and received two Tony Award nominations. Tours and revivals continued into the 2020s. Honorific nicknames in popular music In U.S. culture , despite its republican constitution and ideology, royalist honorific nicknames have been used to describe leading figures in various areas of activity, such as industry, commerce, sports, and
450-403: A promotional vehicle broke new ground, garnering praise from Billboard which wrote, "The movies have helped the one-nighters, which have also been helped by recordings, which have also helped the movies, which in turn have become more profitable. It's a delicious circle, and other bands are now exploring the possibilities." Jordan was married five times. His first wife, Julia (also called Julie)
500-489: A rhythm section, while stylistically his music melded elements of swing and blues, incorporating the shuffle rhythm, boogie-woogie bass lines, and short horn patterns or riffs. The songs featured the use of African American vernacular language, humor, and vocal call-and-response sections between Jordan and the band. Jordan’s music appealed to both African American and white audiences, and he had broad success with hit songs like "Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby" (1944). Jordan and
550-597: A strong influence on many leading performers in these genres. Many of his records were produced by Milt Gabler who, in his later production work, played Jordan's music for Bill Haley as Haley wanted to transition from country & western to rock 'n' roll resulting in Haley's huge hit, " 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
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#1733084869255600-435: 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
650-824: A teenager Gaines played in brass bands in Philadelphia . Gaines moved to New York City in 1920, where he joined the orchestra of Wilbur Sweatman . He soon signed on with Clarence Williams 's house band, then played with Sam Wooding , Earl Walton , Leroy Smith , Fats Waller , Charlie Johnson , and the Hot Chocolates . In the 1930s Gaines launched his own band in Philadelphia; he recorded occasionally, including once with Williams in 1934. Concomitantly he continued playing with Smith and also played in Louis Armstrong 's orchestra. He continued to lead bands in Philadelphia into
700-479: A year of his breakthrough, the Tympany Five's appearance fee rose from $ 350 to $ 2,000 per night. But the breadth of Jordan's success and the size of his combo had larger implications for the music industry. The blues singer Gatemouth Moore said, "He was playing...with five pieces. That ruined the big bands ... He could play just as good and just as loud with five as 17. And it was cheaper." Jordan's raucous recordings were notable for using contemporary narratives. This
750-438: Is "an early example of rap and possibly the first rock and roll recording". Not all critics agree with the importance of his work as a rock and roll influence. For example, Rolling Stone (magazine) offers this take on Jordan's recordings from the late 1940s: "... the early idol of both Berry and Bill Haley, came closest, but his jump 'n' jive story songs were aimed as much at adults as teens, and any hillbilly flavor in his records
800-477: Is perhaps best exemplified on " Saturday Night Fish Fry ", a two-part 1950 hit that was split across both sides of a 78-rpm record. It was one of the first popular songs to use the word "rocking" in the chorus and to feature a distorted electric guitar. Many sources describe this recording, and some others by Jordan, as "jump blues", because "it literally made its listeners jump to its pulsing beat", according to NPR . One source states that "Saturday Night Fish Fry" had
850-563: The United States House of Representatives passed a resolution introduced by Arkansas Representative Vic Snyder honoring Jordan on the centenary of his birth. The United States Postal Service featured Jordan and his film for Caldonia in 2008 as part of its tribute to Vintage Black Cinema. "Vivid reminders of a bygone era will be celebrated in June through Vintage Black Cinema stamps based on five vintage movie posters . Whether spotlighting
900-652: The 1946 hit " Ain't That Just Like a Woman "; Berry has acknowledged the debt in interviews. Other sources also indicate that Little Richard was influenced by Jordan. In fact, the artist said Caldonia was the first non-gospel song he learned; and the shriek (or "whoop") on the Jordan record "sounds eerily like the vocal tone Little Richard would adopt", in addition to the "Jordan-style pencil-thin moustache". James Brown and Ray Charles also said that Jordan's style had an influence on their work. B.B. King cites Jordan as an influence and recorded an album of his tunes called Let
950-518: The 1950s. There was a series of attempts to find—and a number of claimants to be—the "King of Rock 'n' Roll", a title that became most associated with Elvis Presley . This has been characterized as part of a process of the appropriation of credit for innovation of the then new music by a white establishment. Different honorifics have been taken or given for other leading figures in the genre, such as "the Architect of Rock and Roll", by Little Richard from
1000-429: The 1980s. Some nicknames have been strongly promulgated and contested by various artists, and occasionally disowned or played down by their subjects. Some notable honorific nicknames are in general usage and commonly identified with particular individuals. Charlie Gaines Charlie H. "Devil" Gaines (August 8, 1900 – November 23, 1986 ) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. As
1050-421: The 1990s; this term, like many, is also used for other important figures, in this case including pioneer electric guitarist Les Paul . Similar honorific nicknames have been given in other genres, including Aretha Franklin , who was crowned the "Queen of Soul" on stage by disk jockey Pervis Spann in 1968. Michael Jackson and Madonna have been closely associated with the terms "King and Queen of Pop" since
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#17330848692551100-529: The Elks Rendez-vous Band, his name was spelled "Louie" so people could avoid pronouncing it "Lewis". . In 1942, Jordan and his band moved to Los Angeles where he began making soundies , the precursors of music videos. He appeared on many Jubilee radio shows and a series of programs for the Armed Forces Radio that were distributed to American troops overseas. Jordan's career was uninterrupted by
1150-546: The Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan . The band included Earl Palmer , drums, Dr. John , piano, Hank Crawford , alto sax, David "Fathead" Newman , tenor sax, and Marcus Belgrave , trumpet. Jordan was inducted into both the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame; and in 2018, he posthumously received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The Academy believes that he "led
1200-587: 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 coming to the public's attention as part of Chick Webb 's hard swinging band though he became better known as an innovative popularizer of jump blues ,
1250-639: The Tympany Five perform "Deacon Jones" in the 1944 film Meet Miss Bobby Socks . The release of the 1945 musical short film Caldonia boosted Jordan's career due to roadshow screenings in support of his live performance. In addition to his performances in other mainstream films, such as Follow the Boys (1944), Jordan's appearance in Caldonia (1945) and that film's success led to roles for him in other race films , including those made by Astor Pictures: Beware! (1946), Reet, Petite, and Gone (1947), and Look-Out Sister (1947). His prolific use of film as
1300-445: The draft except for a four-week Army camp tour. Because of a "hernia condition" he was classified " 4F ". During the 1940s, Jordan and the band became popular with such hits as " Choo Choo Ch'Boogie ", " Knock Me a Kiss ", " Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby ", and " Five Guys Named Moe ". He recorded with Ella Fitzgerald both during and after their time with Chick Webb, also Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong and appeared in films. Within
1350-593: The early 1970s for Black & Blue (1973), Blues Spectrum (1973), and JSP (1974). In the early 1960s, he toured in England with Chris Barber . Speaking in 2012, Barber recalled seeing Jordan at the Apollo Theater in New York: playing with him was just frightening. It's a bit like an amateur guitar player from a back street who has just bought a Spanish guitar working with Segovia . He didn't make you feel small, but he
1400-448: The eighth Cavalcade of Jazz concert which Leon Hefflin, Sr. produced. On June 20, 1954, he and his Tympany Five returned for the tenth Cavalcade of Jazz concert. Jordan signed with Aladdin for which he recorded 21 songs in early 1954. They released nine singles from these sessions; three of the songs were not released. In 1955, he recorded with "X" Records, a subsidiary of RCA, which had changed its name to Vik Records while Jordan
1450-544: The media; father or mother have been used for innovators , and royal titles such as king and queen for dominant figures in a field. In the 1930s and 1940s, as jazz and swing music were gaining popularity, it was the more commercially successful white artists Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman who became known as "the King of Jazz" and "the King of Swing" respectively, despite there being more highly regarded contemporary African-American artists. These patterns of naming were transferred to rock and roll when it emerged in
1500-598: The most important originators of Rhythm and blues were Joe Turner and Louis Jordan with his Tympany Five. The two artists helped to lay "the foundation for R&B in the 1940s, cutting one swinging rhythm & blues masterpiece after another". The Hall also describes Jordan as "the Father of Rhythm & Blues," "the Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll" and "King of the Juke Boxes". Another source states that with Caldonia (1945), Jordan
1550-523: The period 1942–1995. From July 1946 through May 1947, Jordan had five consecutive number one songs, holding the top slot for 44 consecutive weeks. Jordan's popularity was boosted not only by his hit Decca records but also by his prolific recordings for Armed Forces Radio and the V-Disc transcription program along with starring in short musical films and making " soundies " of his hit songs all of which helped make him popular with whites and blacks alike. Jordan
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1600-532: The popular music charts placing more than a dozen songs nationally though his greatest success was with the Tympany Five dominating the 1940s R&B charts, or (as they were known at the time) the "race" charts. In this period, Jordan had eighteen Number 1 singles and fifty four in the Top Ten. According to Joel Whitburn 's analysis of the Billboard magazine charts, Jordan ranks fifth among the most successful musicians of
1650-606: The predominantly white mainstream American audience, having simultaneous Top Ten hits on the pop charts several times. Jordan was born on July 8, 1908, in Brinkley, Arkansas . His father, James Aaron Jordan, was a music teacher and bandleader for the Brinkley Brass Band and the Rabbit Foot Minstrels . His mother, Adell, died when Louis was young. His grandmother, Maggie Jordan and his aunt, Lizzie Reid raised him . Under
1700-425: The president of the company to send Jordan a check for $ 20,000. Jordan was unaware of this deed. Jordan wrote or co-wrote many of the songs he performed, but he did not benefit financially from them. Many of the hit songs he wrote, including "Caldonia", he credited to Fleecie Moore to avoid an existing publishing arrangement. Their marriage was acrimonious and short-lived. After their divorce, she retained ownership of
1750-497: The songs. However, Jordan may have taken credit for some songs written by others, he is credited as the co-writer of "Saturday Night Fish Fry", but Tympany Five pianist Bill Doggett claimed he wrote it. Jordan died of a heart attack on February 4, 1975, in Los Angeles. He is buried at Mt. Olive Catholic Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri , the hometown of his wife Martha. On June 23, 2008,
1800-412: The talents of entertainment icons or documenting changing social attitudes and expectations, these posters now serve a greater purpose than publicity and promotion. They are invaluable pieces of history, preserving memories of cultural phenomena that otherwise might have been forgotten. The stamp pane was designed by Carl Herrman of Carlsbad, California." The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame states that two of
1850-598: The tutelage of his father, Jordan began studying clarinet at age seven, then saxophone. In his teens, he joinedd the Rabbit Foot Minstrels and was playing professionally in the late 1920s. In the early 1930s, he played in Philadelphia and New York City with Charlie Gaines . He recorded with Clarence Williams and his Blue Rhythm Boys and briefly was a member of the Stuff Smith orchestra. With Chick Webb 's orchestra, he sang and played alto saxophone. In 1938, he started
1900-440: The use of the electronic organ . With his dynamic bands that he called The Tympany Five no matter how many musicians were in it, 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
1950-536: The way for rock and roll in the 50’s. His recordings in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame include: 'Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens', 'Caldonia Boogie', 'Choo Choo Ch'Boogie', and 'Let The Good Times Roll’". According to Cleveland.com, "Louis Jordan had a profound impact on several African-American music genres that evolved during the first half of the 20th century ... He helped make jump blues, jazz and boogie-woogie mainstream forces. Jordan’s legendary work would serve as
2000-467: Was "already crafting the classic rock ‘n’ roll sound". The Hall of Fame considers "his classic “Saturday Night Fish Fry” (1949) as an early example of rap and possibly the first rock and roll recording". The Blues Foundation hints that Jordan was a precursor to R&B: "Louis Jordan was the biggest African-American star of his era and that his "Caldonia" reached "the top of the Race Records chart, as it
2050-408: 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
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2100-467: Was aware that he was still married. Ida was awarded a $ 70,000 judgment, later reduced to $ 30,000. She began billing herself as "Mrs. Louis Jordan, Queen of the Blues, and her Orchestra" before Jordan stopped it by stalling payments. In another court case, Ida was awarded a settlement of $ 50,000. In 1942, Jordan married his childhood sweetheart, Fleecie Moore. They later divorced. In 1947, Fleecie discovered Jordan
2150-564: Was certainly a significant figure in the development of rhythm and blues. According to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he and Big Joe Turner laid the foundation for R&B in the 1940s, "cutting one swinging rhythm & blues masterpiece after another". Stepping away from his rhythm and blues style, Jordan started a big band in the early 1950s that was unsuccessful. Throughout the 1950s, illness kept him near his home in Arizona. On June 1, 1952, Jordan performed at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles for
2200-522: Was from Arkadelphia, Arkansas . Soon after their wedding, Julia gave birth to a daughter, Patty, who turned out to be another man's child. In 1932, Jordan met Ida Fields, a Texas-born singer and dancer, in Hot Springs . They married that year. Ida was six years his senior and a member of a traveling dance troupe called the Florida Orange Blossoms. Ida sued Jordan for bigamy in 1943. He claimed she
2250-455: Was having an affair with dancer Florence "Vicky" Hayes and attacked him with a knife. She was arrested and charged with assault. Jordan married Vicky on November 14, 1951, in Providence, Rhode Island. They separated in 1960. He married Martha Weaver, a singer and dancer from St. Louis, in 1966. Weaver being a Catholic , Jordan sometimes attended Mass with her on Sundays, though he was raised
2300-554: Was just so perfect in what he did. ... I still remember watching him singing, but he would accompany himself on the alto, and you were convinced he was playing the alto while he was singing. ... the breath hadn't gone from his last word before he was playing his alto and it seemed to be simultaneous. ... He got a very raw deal from history ... In the Chick Webb band there were two regular singers – Ella and Louis Jordan. And yet really, history has consigned him to just being
2350-416: Was known prior to being called Rhythm & Blues in 1949". Chuck Berry said that he modeled his musical approach on Jordan's. Berry changed the lyric content from black life to teenage life, and substituted cars and girls for Jordan's primary motifs of food, drink, money and girls. Berry's iconic opening riff on " Johnny B. Goode " bears a striking similarity to the intro played by the guitarist Carl Hogan on
2400-445: Was strictly a comedic device". The article agrees with Sam Phillips that rock and roll "specifically addressed and was tailored to teenagers". Another source describes Jordan's jump blues style as combining "good-natured novelty lyrics (some with suggestive double meanings); [pushing] the tempo; [strengthening] the beat and [layering] the sound with his bluesy saxophone and playful melodies." During this period, Jordan crossed over on
2450-504: 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, reaching Number 1 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
2500-562: Was with them. Three singles were by released by "X" and one by Vik; four tracks were not released. For these sessions, Jordan changed and simplified his sound, wanting to be part of the rock and roll wave. In 1956, Mercury signed Jordan and released two albums and a handful of singles. His first album for Mercury, Somebody Up There Digs Me (1956), showcased updated rock-and-roll versions of previous hits such as "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens", "Caldonia", "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie", "Salt Pork, West Virginia", and "Beware!" Mercury intended this to be
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