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