Saturday Night Fish Fry: The Original & Greatest Hits [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] [Import]

Louis Jordan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 18, 2000)
• Original Release Date: April 18, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Jasmine Music
• ASIN: B00004RBUC
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,895 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #3 in Music > Indie Music > R&B > Classic R&B
  • #8 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > East Coast Blues
  • #19 in Music > Blues > Jump Blues

Track Listings

1. Ain't That Just Like A Woman

2. Knock Me A Kiss

3. Ration Blues

4. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby

5. G.I. Jive

6. You Can't Get That No More

7. Caldonia Boogie

8. Let The Good Times Roll

9. Buzz Me

10. Beware, Brother, Beware

11. Stone Cold Dead In De Market With Ella Fitzgerald

12. Choo Choo Ch'boogie

13. Early In The Morning

14. Somebody Done Changed The Lock On My Door

15. What's The Use Of Getting Sober (When You Gonna Get Drunk Again)

16. Five Guys Named Moe

17. Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens

18. Texas And Pacific

19. Open The Door, Richard

20. Jack, You're Dead

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five were responsible for a slew of highly original and unique hits, full of great humour and Jordan's irrepressible personality; this, combined with the group's slick musicianship and their driving beat, made them one of the most successful Jazz and Rhythm & Blues small bands of their era. See also: JASCD151 - The Rock 'N' Roll Years 1955-58

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE # 1 R&B Artist Of The 1940s (And Some Say Of All Time), August 11, 2007

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saturday Night Fish Fry: The Original & Greatest Hits [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] (Audio CD)

It's easy to see in what high regard the industry holds Louis Jordan simply by scrolling through this site and seeing the wide variety of CDs covering his music, and from a diverse collection of distributors: MCA of course, given that his entire hit recording career was spent with Decca, as well as Universal, Jazz Archives, Blue Note, Verve, Melodie Jazz Classic, Epm Musique, Delta, Proper Box, and Jsp, to name just a few. The ideal purchase, of course, would be the multi-cd anthology from Bear Family of Germany, but not everyone can afford that set.

This one from the U.K.-based Jasmine outlet is as good as any of the reasonably-priced volumes currently on the market when it comes to originals of his hit singles [he had 57 on what then passed for the R&B charts between 1942 and 1951, 14 of which crossed over to the Billboard Pop charts, and, in addition, he had two more make the Pop charts only]. It's one of several single-CDs I have covering Louis, another of which is the 22-track Let The Good Times Roll from Castle Pie, also based in England. However, as far as I can tell that is not yet listed in Amazon's catalogue.

In a 24-selection compilation Jasmine gives you 22 of those hits, with only tracks 2 and 23 being obscure cuts - at least in North America [they may have had some significance in the U.K.]. The sound reproduction is excellent and the liner notes quite informative.

Born on July 8, 1908 in Brinkley, Arkansas, Louis, whose instrument of choice was the saxophone, first recorded for Brunswick way back in 1929 with The Jungle Band, then moved over to the Clarence Williams orchestra in the early part of the 1930s before linking up with Chick Webb's band from 1936 to 1938. He formed his own band in 1938 which eventually became known as The Tympany Five, always showing a clear preference for the comedy-oriented songs that became his mainstay.

An extremely popular entertainer, some of the biggest names in the business cut records with him, including Bing Crosby with whom he recorded the # 14 Pop hit (Yip Yip De Hootie) My Baby Said Yes in 1945, one of the two Pop-only hits he had [the other was 1948's Run Joe, a # 23 with The Calypso Boys].

He also had several major hits in conjunction with the great Ella Fitzgerald - Stone Cold Dead In The Market (He Had It Coming), a # 1 R&B/# 7 Pop in 1946 and its flipside, Patootie Pie [# 3 R&B], Baby, It's Cold Outside, a # 6 R&B/# 9 Pop in 1949, and I'll Never Be Free [# 7 R&B in 1950]. Also, in late 1948 a duet with Martha Davis doing Daddy-O reached # 7 R&B, and on each of I'll Never Be Free, Tamburitze Boogie, and Lemonade in 1950/51 his organist was non other than Bill Doggett, later of Honky Tonk fame.

Some 18 of his R&B hit singles reached # 1 [only G.I. Jive made it to # 1 Pop], and in this volume you get 13 of those. Together, his # 1s spent a total of 113 weeks at that position which is a record likely never to be broken or even equalled. His best ever was Choo Choo Ch'Boogie [later covered by Bill Haley] which spent 18 weeks at # 1 in 1946, followed closely by Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens [17 weeks at # 1 in late 1946/early 1947], Boogie Woogie Blue Plate [14 weeks at # 1 in the fall of 1947], and Saturday Night Fish Fry [12 weeks at # 1 in late 1949].

Louis, who passed away from a heart attack at age 66 on February 4, 1975, appeared in several films, among them Follow The Boys, Meet Miss Bobby Sox, and Swing Parade Of 1946, in 1983 was inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame, and in 1987 was similarly honoured by the R&R Hall Of Fame in the Early Influence category. If you have never sampled Louis Jordan, this is as good a place as any to start. Recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Man is ROCKIN!, November 11, 2006

By 

woodman (orinda, ca United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Saturday Night Fish Fry: The Original & Greatest Hits [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] (Audio CD)

For those who know about Louis Jordan, well, they already know. For everyone else, Louis Jordan is an absolute master. You will be amazed. So much of the music of the sixties and seventies is a pale reflection of the genius of Louis Jordan. Take the plunge, you'll be very happy.

2.0 out of 5 stars re-what?, December 9, 2011

By 

pizza party - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Saturday Night Fish Fry: The Original & Greatest Hits [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] (Audio CD)

This Louis Jordon disc may have been remastered but that don't mean a thing even if it got the swing.
This disc sounds terrible, not even good enough for the car on a rainy night. Has a good selection of
well known Jordon tunes but the quality of the sound reproduction is just terrible. Best thing one can
do with this disc is cover it with stick-on felt and make a coaster out of it---that poor! I will bet
"Jasmine Records", ( the producer/ distributor ) $1000 US dollars that Amazon offers at least 5 other discs that sound vastly superior to this unit. Stay way away from this one!