lunes, 9 de junio de 2014

LOUIS JORDAN & HIS TYMPANY FIVE: "Saturday night fish fry" (1949)


Classic song #39:
LOUIS JORDAN & HIS TYMPANY FIVE: "Saturday night fish fry" (1949)

Este fin de semana escuché un excelente recopilatorio de los años 40 de Louis Jordan que me grabó en su día un colega y la verdad es que disfruté como un bellaco. La antesala a lo que se iba a llamar rock'n'roll lo tenemos en grabaciones hechas por este hombre. Es increíble comprobar como todo ese genuino jump/blues, R&B y Swing, donde Louis Jordan era uno de los grandes exponentes, te llena de felicidad y vitalidad para el resto de la jornada.

Lo que grabó este hombre con sus Tympany Five es de obligatoria escucha. Dadle al play a temazos como "G.I Jive", "Caldonia", "Let the good times roll", "Ain't nobody here but us chickens", "Jack, you're dead", "Boogie woogie blue plate "Choo Choo Ch' boogie", "Barnyard boogie" o "Beans and corned bread" " y veréis que este genio fue todo un precursor de lo que se avecinaba en la siguiente década.

Para ilustrar este post y rendirle un tributo como se merece en esta sección de clásicos, voy a decantarme por "Saturday night fish fry", grabada en el año 1949, por la cual muchos la consideran una de las primeras grabaciones del rock'n'roll y la verdad razones no les faltan. Sólo hace falta poner el oído y uno no puede quedarse impasible ante ese endiablo ritmo. Hasta el mismísimo Chuck Berry dejó esta frase para la posteridad: "To my recollection, Louis Jordan was the first one that I hear play Rock'n'Roll". ¿Alguién va a contradecir al maestro? Pues eso, escuchemos con devoción al Grandfather of Rock'n'roll...Mr. Louis Jordan con "Saturday night fish fry".



Now if you've ever been down to New Orleans
Then you can understand just what I mean
All through the week, it's quiet as a mouse
But on Saturday night, they go from house to house

You don't have to pay the usual admission
If you're a cook, a waiter or a good musician
So if you happen to be just passin' by
Stop in at the Saturday Night Fish Fry

It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn
It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn

Now my buddy and me was on the main stem
Foolin' around just me and him
We decided we could use a little something to eat
So we went to a house on Rampart Street

We knocked on the door and it opened up with ease
And a lush little miss said, "Come in, please"
And before we could even bat an eye
We were right in the middle of a big fish fry

It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn
It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn

Now the folks was havin' the time of their life
And Sam was jivin' Jimmie's wife
Over in the corner was a beat up grand
Being played by a big fat piano man

Some of the chicks wore expensive frocks
Some of them had on bobbie socks
But everybody was nice and high
At this particular Saturday Night Fish Fry

It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn
It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn

Now the women were screamin' and jumpin' and yellin'
The bottles was flyin' and the fish was smellin'
And way up above all the noise they made
Somebody hollered, "Better get out of here, this is a raid"

Now I didn't know we was breakin' the law
But somebody reached up and hit me on the jaw
They had us blocked off from the front to the back
And they was puttin' 'em in the wagon like potato sacks

It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn
It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn

I knew I could get away if I had a chance
But I was shakin' like I had the St. Vitus dance
Now I tried to crawl under a bathtub
When the policeman said, "Where you goin' there, bub?"

Now they got us out of there like a house afire
Put us all in that Black Maria
Now, they might have missed a pitiful few
But they got poor me and my buddy too

It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn
It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn

We headed for jail in a dazed condition
They booked each one of us on suspicion
Now my chick came down and went for my bail
And finally got me out of that rotten jail

Now if you ever want to get a fist in your eye
Just mention a Saturday night fish fry
I don't care how many fish in the sea
But don't ever mention a fish to me

It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn
It was rockin', it was rockin'
You never seen such scufflin'
And shufflin' 'til the break of dawn

Give me one of them, their fish sandwiches
Get away from there, boy, yowza

3 comentarios:

  1. Nunca está de más recordar a Louis Jordan, un precursor y alguien que unía calidad y alegría como pocos. Y Bill Jennings es un gran guitarrista, aunque no esté en ninguna lista de esas que tanto gustan pero que tan poco aportan. Uno de los últimos grandes discos de B.B. fue precisamente Let The Good Times Roll: The Music Of Louis Jordan, un tributo que hizo en el 99 con Dr. John y una banda de lujo, una fiesta de inicio a fin con un clásico detrás de otro.

    Saludos.

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  2. Suena fantastico...No lo conocia la verdad.Apuntado queda...
    Algo parecido sera mi entrada del miercoles.
    un saludo

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  3. Gonzalo Ramos: ¡claro que sí! Esa clase de artistas lo fueron todo. Sin ellos nada hubiera sido igual. No conozco ese disco que comentas, pero si puedo le echaré un buen repaso por el Spotify. Gracias por el apunte.

    Victor: estaré al tanto de esa entrada. Me gusta todo lo que huela a clásico.


    Saludos a los dos!!

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