Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Tagged: Louis Jordan

1940s, Swing

G.I. Jive

Written and first recorded by Johnny Mercer (US #13/R&B #1 1943).
Other ht version by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (US #1/R&B #1 1944).

From the wiki: “”G.I. Jive” is a 1944 song written and originally performed by Johnny Mercer. Mercer intended to write a song that the soldiers on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific would like. ‘G.I. Jive’ proved to be the biggest hit of all the war songs during World War II (1939-1945) dealing with soldier life.

“Recorded first by Mercer in late 1943, ‘G.I. Jive’ was a hit … twice … in 1944 by two different performers: Mercer’s recording hit #1 on the Harlem Hit Parade for one week in January, and peaked at #13 on the pop charts. Six months later, Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five also made it to #1 with “G.I. Jive” on the Harlem Hit Parade for a total of five weeks AND hit #1 for three weeks on the Billboard ‘Most Played Juke Box Records’ national pop chart. Jordan’s B-side, “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby”, was also a charting success for the group.”

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1920s, Blues

Keep A-Knockin’

First recorded (as “Keep A-Knockin’ An You Can’t Get In”) by James “Boodle It” Wiggins (February 1928), and (as “You Can’t Come In”) Bert Mays (October 1928).
Other versions by Lil Johnson (as “Keep on Knocking” 1935), Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies (as “Keep a Knockin'” 1936), Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys (as “Keep Knockin’ (But You Can’t Come In)” 1938), Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (as “Keep A-Knockin'” 1939).
Hit version by Little Richard (US #8/R&B #2/UK #21 1957).

From the wiki: “‘Keep A-Knockin” has one of those confounding origin pedigrees more common than not in the early days of recorded music. Several recordings used similar lyrics and similar melody, with a baffling merry-go-round of credits … or non-credits.

“In 1928, a few months apart, James ‘Boodle It’ Wiggins and Bert Mays, each independent of the other, recorded the similarly-titled and similarly-sounding songs ‘Keep a-Knockin’ An You Can’t Get It’ and ‘You Can’t Come In’ – but neither recording listed a writer’s credit. This was followed by recordings in the 1930s by Lil Johnson, Milton Brown, and Bob Wills, respectively titled ‘Keep on Knocking’ (credited to Wiggins), ‘Keep a Knockin” (uncredited), and ‘Keep Knockin’ (But You Can’t Come In) (uncredited)’.

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1940s, R&B

Five Guys Named Moe

First recorded by the Irv Carroll & His Orchestra (1941).
Hit version by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (R&B #3 1943).
Also recorded by Joe Jackson (1981).

From the wiki: “‘Five Guys Named Moe’ was written by Larry Wynn and Jerry Bresler, and was first recorded in 1941 by the Irv Carroll & His Orchestra. Wynn later explained that the phrase ‘five guys named Moe’ popped into his head one day as he was trying to remember the names of some lesser-known musicians on a recording date with Billie Holiday, Roy Eldridge and Teddy Wilson.

“It was bassist Dallas Bartley who brought the song to the attention of Louis Jordan. Prior to joining Jordan’s band, Bartley had performed ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ while in another band playing at one of Chicago’s transvestite bars, where a deliberately camped-up arrangement of the song proved to be wildly popular. Recorded in July 1942, Jordan’s recording for Decca peaked at #3 on the R&B chart in early 1943, becoming one of his band’s earliest hits and famous signature songs.

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1940s, R&B

Caldonia (What Makes Your Big Head So Hard?)

First recorded by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (R&B #1 1945).
Other hit versions by Erskine Hawkins (US #12/R&B #2 1945), Woody Herman & His Orchestra (US #2 1945), James Brown (US #95 1964).
Also recorded by Champion Jack Dupree (1967), B.B. King (1971).

From the wiki: “‘Caldonia’ is a jump-blues song, written by Louis Jordan (but crediting his then-wife, Fleecie Moore, for tax-evading purposes) and first recorded in 1945 by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five. The lyrics may have been inspired by a real character: a tall Crescent City drag queen wearing oversized shoes.

“A cover version by Erskine Hawkins (‘Tuxedo Junction‘), also released in 1945, was described by Billboard magazine as ‘rock and roll’, the first time that phrase was used in print to describe any style of music. Woody Herman and his orchestra also covered ‘Caldonia’ in 1945, arranged by the young Neal Hefti, with Herman singing the lead vocal.

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1940s, Christmas, Jazz

Baby It’s Cold Outside

First performed by Esther Williams & Ricardo Montalban and Red Skelton & Betty Garrett (Neptune’s Daughter, 1949).
Hit versions by Dinah Shore & Buddy Clark (US #4 1949), Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer (US #4 1949), Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan (US #9 1949), Dean Martin (1959) and Blossom Dearie & Bob Dorough (1979), Dean Martin & Martina McBride (MOR #7/C&W 36 2006).

From the wiki: “Frank Loesser wrote the duet in 1944 and premiered the song with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their Navarro Hotel housewarming party, and performed it toward the end of the evening, signifying to guests that it was nearly time to end the party. Lynn considered it ‘their song’ and was furious when Loesser sold the song to MGM. The movie it appeared in, Neptune’s Daughter, featured two performances of the song: one by Ricardo Montalbán and Esther Williams, and the other by Red Skelton and Betty Garrett, the second of which has the roles of ‘wolf and mouse’ reversed. These performances earned Loesser an Academy Award for Best Original Song.”

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1940s, R&B

Saturday Night Fish Fry

First recorded by Eddie Williams & His Brown Buddies (1949).
Hit version by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (US #21/R&B #1 1949).

http://youtu.be/Se9mX60LCrY

From the wiki: “‘Saturday Night Fish Fry’ was written by Ellis Walsh and adapted by Louis Jordan (who received co-writing credit), and first recorded in 1949 by Eddie Williams & His Brown Buddies featuring the talk-singing vocals of Walsh. The act had recently had a hit with ‘Broken Hearted’; ‘Saturday Night Fish Fry’ was intended to be the Williams’ band’s followup. However, the acetate for the William/Walsh recording found its way to Louis Jordan’s agent and, as Williams later recalled, ‘They got theirs out there first.’

“Jordan reconfigured the song, taking the song’s ‘hook’ and signing it twice after every other verse. The arrangement was also more propulsive, too; Williams’ shuffle was replaced by a raucous, rowdy jump Boogie-woogie. ‘Saturday Night Fish Fry’ has been called one of the first Rock ‘n roll records. No less than Chuck Berry has said ‘Louis Jordan was the first one that I hear play rock and roll.'”

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