LOUIS JORDAN AND HIS TYMPANY FIVE – 1946-1947 | The Chronogical Classics – 1010 (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This guy had a smooth voice, played stunning alto sax, and was very, very funny without ever seriously compromising his dignity. Popular for years among Afro-American audiences, Louis Jordan also appealed to a hip substratum of the white record-buying public. Jordan inadvertently provided white pop musicians with interesting material that often showed up in emulsified Wonder Bread renditions, "safe" for consumption by wholesome young Caucasians. This process was essential if cultural segregation were to continue in North America during the late '40s and throughout the '50s. "Open the Door, Richard," based on an old vaudeville routine by Dusty Fletcher, is a case in point. Dizzy Gillespie, familiar with Fletcher's shtick, uttered the phrase during "Slim's Jam," an extra-cool all-star get-together narrated by Slim Gaillard, in 1945 (see Classics 888). Jack McVea, who sat in with Bird and Diz on that same session, soon recorded his own adaptation of "Open the Door, Richard." This seems to have initiated a trend. In 1947 "Open the Door, Richard" exploded into mass popularity, eventually finding its way into one of Jimmy Durante's radio scripts. Probably the best version was recorded on January 3, 1947, by Victor recording artists Count Basie & His Orchestra with Harry "Sweets" Edison cast in the role of the locked-out juicehead. Apparently anticipating his song's popularity, Dusty Fletcher recorded his own version -- the very next day -- for Savoy. Louis Jordan, who worked for Decca, couldn't resist a song with such strong theatrical possibilities. On January 11, one week after the Basie version was committed to wax, Jordan experimented with the routine, speaking roughly and crying out the famous words in a high-pitched voice. Decca did not issue this recording. The master take was finalized on January the 23rd, and would make it to number six on the Top Ten. Basie's version was deservedly rated number one, and a shrieky take by the Three Flames also landed in first place for a little while. Others who horned in on the song's popularity included the less hip Charioteers and, squarest of all, the Pied Pipers. Jordan, meanwhile, continued hatching swingy jazz and R&B numbers goosed up with attractive instrumentation, danceable rhythms, and funny lyrics. As rowdy as "Barnyard Boogie" gets, there was another, gutsier level of excitement, bursting with honest Afro-American vernacular, that Jordan kept returning to. During both "Friendship" and "Look Out" -- a sequel to the outrageously funny "Beware, Brother Beware" -- Jordan talks fast over a constant stream of interjections and exclamations from the band. These performances, electrified with Jordan's rapid-fire spoken rhymes, should be seen as authentic precedents for the postmodern phenomenon of rap. One senses that, like black music in general and rap in particular, at first this stuff was not necessarily intended for white audiences, who were nevertheless welcome to listen in, and of course to invest their money in the recordings. arwulf arwulf  
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