Jordan was enormously influential in terms of Black music shifting from big band jazz to small combo rhythm and blues as the major vessel of musical popularity and experimentation, with his virtually nonstop run of hits in the 1940s. He had a unique sense of musical and comic timing that was reflected in all of his recordings. Even if, on this song, the lyrics were a tad misogynistic. (He did, however, have a hit with a tune called "Look Out", which humorously told women what kind of men to avoid dating, as a response to a similar tune for men called "Beware").
Significantly, in the late 1950s, this song returned to the charts via one of Jordan's most famous disciples, Fats Domino, although his version cut out most of the misogynistic lyrics.
I think that's a fair assessment of this tune (re: misogyny). But yeah, bigger picture--Louis Jordan is crazy underrated in my view. Seems like he should be a household name for the influence he wielded. And he sure knew his way around a musical punchline about as well as anybody who ever recorded.
I certainly agree with this. Between the late 1930s and the early 1950s he was perhaps the most commercially successful R&B artist of his time. And the influence and inspiration he gave to musicians ranging from B.B. King to Sonny Rollins is incalculable.
Jordan was enormously influential in terms of Black music shifting from big band jazz to small combo rhythm and blues as the major vessel of musical popularity and experimentation, with his virtually nonstop run of hits in the 1940s. He had a unique sense of musical and comic timing that was reflected in all of his recordings. Even if, on this song, the lyrics were a tad misogynistic. (He did, however, have a hit with a tune called "Look Out", which humorously told women what kind of men to avoid dating, as a response to a similar tune for men called "Beware").
Significantly, in the late 1950s, this song returned to the charts via one of Jordan's most famous disciples, Fats Domino, although his version cut out most of the misogynistic lyrics.
I think that's a fair assessment of this tune (re: misogyny). But yeah, bigger picture--Louis Jordan is crazy underrated in my view. Seems like he should be a household name for the influence he wielded. And he sure knew his way around a musical punchline about as well as anybody who ever recorded.
I certainly agree with this. Between the late 1930s and the early 1950s he was perhaps the most commercially successful R&B artist of his time. And the influence and inspiration he gave to musicians ranging from B.B. King to Sonny Rollins is incalculable.