Louis Jordan & His Tympani Five [Box set, Original recording remastered]

Louis Jordan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Jsp Records
• ASIN: B00005KFUG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,436 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #9 in Music > Indie Music > R&B > Classic R&B
  • #22 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > East Coast Blues
  • #70 in Music > Blues > Jump Blues

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Honey In The Bee Ball

2. Barnacle Bill The Sailor

3. Flat Face

4. Keep A Knockin' But You Can't Come In

See all 29 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Pinetop's Boogie

2. The Two Little Squirrels (Nuts To You)

3. T-Bone Blues

4. Pan Pan

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. My Baby Said Yes (Yip, Yip De Hootie)

2. Your Socks Don't Match

3. Buzz Me

4. Caldonia Boogie

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Friendship

2. Open The Door, Richard

3. Boogie Woogie Blue Plate

4. Barnyard Boogie

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Disc: 5

1. Onion

2. Baby's Gonna Go, Bye-Bye

3. Heed My Warning

4. Psycho Loco

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Think five discs and 131 songs is too much Louis Jordan? Not a chance. Not for a man who so consistently and so definitively achieved the elusive and delicate combination of musicianship and accessibility. Not for a man who paved new and vital musical roads without ever losing his sense of style or his appetite for fun. Covering Jordan's historic (not to mention commercially successful) Decca tenure (1938 to 1950), this amazing collection finds the alto sax player, songwriter, and singer building blues and swing into a hot mix that came to be known as R&B, producing hit after hit with topnotch bands behind him, streamlining the big-band concept without diminishing the music's force. Much has been made of his role in the development of R&B--and as a result, rock & roll--and his importance as a musical pioneer can't be underestimated. But all ideas about "historical importance" fade away as these vibrant, insistent, irresistible tracks roll by. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a deal! Great jump blues & swing from the master!, March 27, 2004

By 

Claude Avary "West Coast Reader" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Louis Jordan & His Tympani Five (Audio CD)

I know what you're thinking: "A set of five discs of the best of Louis Jordan? 131 tracks of great jump blues and swing? For this price? There's got to be something wrong here."

Amazingly, there isn't. These five discs are superbly produced, placing Louis Jordan's career in chronological order from 1938 to 1950, and the sound quality is top-notch. Almost all his classics are here, "Caldonia," "Saturday Night Fish Fry," "Knock Me a Kiss," "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie," plus many surprises you might never have heard before. The only major songs missing are the good numbers he turned out after 1950, when his popularity faded, like "I Want You to Be My Baby." But otherwise: this is the whole deal and then some, for a pretty incredible price.

Louis Jordan is the link between big band swing of the thirties and the rock `n' roll of the fifties. Starting out as a saxophonist in Chick Webb's 1930s big band, Louis struck out on his own in 1938 with his small group The Tympany Five (not always five people, but the name stuck anyway). They played hard-driving blues swing numbers with creative, crazy lyrics, and scored hit after hit on both the R&B and pop charts for ten years. While jazz drifted toward be-bop, which wasn't danceable, Louis Jordan offered the dancing hepcats and new kind of music to sweat and swing to. His band was a swing dancer's dream, and still is. No musician had a bigger effect on the modern swing movement than Louis Jordan, and his numbers are endlessly covered by other bands. But there's nothing like the real deal: Jordan swung hard on sax, had a wicked sense of humor, was a born entertainer, and lead a band that seemed to be having more fun than anyone.

Each disc comes with its own liner notes booklet, with information on the history and development of the band (plus tidbits about Jordan's busy personal life). Here's what the discs cover:

Disc A: 1938-1940. The weakest disc, since the band is still figuring out their style, and the recording technology is poorer so the sound is muddier. Jordan hasn't yet discovered his signature songs, but there are some excellent pieces here, like "At the Swing Cat's Ball," "June Tenth Jamboree," the slow and sultry "Pompton Turnpike," and "Oh Boy, I'm in the Groove" (a title that fits Jordan perfectly).

Disc B: 1941-1944. After completely changing the original band, Jordan started to become a sensation and scored huge hit records. Boogie woogie takes over the sound, and the bands start swinging hard. The classics here are the sexy "Knock Me a Kiss," the fast and furiously funny "Five Guys Named Moe," and the wonderful slow dance "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby." With the advent of WWII, Jordan recorded timely and funny war tunes: "Ration Blues," "You Can't Get that No More," and "G.I. Jive." Of the lesser-known pieces, the best is the infectious swing-stomper, "Saxawoogie." It's a boogie, it's a woogie, it's a banger!

Disc C: 1944-46. "Reconversion Blues" bids goodbye to war, but Jordan keeps pulling out even bigger hits. "Caldonia Boogie" is one of his signature numbers, along with "Salt Pork West Virginia," "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" (probably his most loved song today), "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens," and my personal favorite, "Reet, Petite and Gone." Tunes you might not know, but which you'll love: "How Long Must I Wait for You?" (Train number one is gone...train number two is gone...) and "Jack You're Dead." Jordan also sings duets with Bing Crosby ("My Baby Said Yes," "Your Socks Don't Match") and Ella Fitzgerald ("Stone Cold Dead in the Market," a Latin piece, and "It's So Easy").

Disc D: 1947-1949. Actually, there's no music from 1948 because of a recording ban. Jordan's humor really blooms on this, the funniest of the CDs. The big hits here: "Barnyard Boogie," "Coleslaw," and "Beans and Cornbread." Most of the great numbers here are surprises, like "Chicky-Mo, Craney Crow," the teasing "Daddy-O," and the all-talk comedy piece "Friendship." Jordan also dips into West Indian music with "Early in the Morning" and "Run Joe."

Disc E: 1949-1950. The best disc; Jordan's last big hits before his popularity vanished were amongst his best and most creative (he uses the organ a lot on these numbers): the boppin' instrumental "Onion," the lengthy "Saturday Night Fish Fry," the slow-simmering "Blue Light Boogie," and the silly "Chartreuse." He sings with Ella again on the awesome "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "I'll Never Be Free." He teams up with the other Louis, Louis Armstrong, for "Life is So Peculiar" and "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You." These two jokers were made for each other.

Don't turn down this amazing deal. The amount of great music you get for the price here is astonishing. All swing, R&B, and early rock fans should grab this now.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible music at a discount price!, December 7, 2002

By 

C. W. Kaylor (Longmeadow, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Louis Jordan & His Tympani Five (Audio CD)

I have both this set from JSP and the two disc MCA Best Of and in terms of sound quality there is no doubt that the JSP set is far better. Gone are most of the static from"Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" and many other songs that had fair sound on the MCA set. JSP does an incredible job at a discount price. Plus, this set offers an additional 90+ songs. Don't be fooled by the low price -- THIS IS A MUST BUY!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars essential! plain and simple!, January 2, 2002

By 

J. Grau "sly74" (nashville,tn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Louis Jordan & His Tympani Five (Audio CD)

it's hard to express my feelings towards louis jordan's music. i could listen to it over and over, never tiring of it. i previously had the "best of" album and had worn out that cd. this set, considering the price for 5 discs, is surprisingly wonderful in both quality and track listings. it gives a great overview of his best years, as opposed to the 2-cd "anthology" recently released, with poor sound quality in my opinion. also, this has all the more popular tunes included on the easy to find 'best of" along with many more great songs. i could go on forever. buy this! for the price, what have you got to lose? nothin! the only thing that will happen is you might find yourself dancin around the room. just wait, you'll be movin in some way! aww-reet!