Stephen Koch - Louis Jordan: Son of Arkansas, Father of R&B

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2014 by S. Koch

All rights reserved

Front cover: Courtesy Library of Congress.

All photography courtesy Louise Terzia, from the authors collection, except as indicated.

First published 2014

e-book edition 2014

ISBN 978.1.62584.968.7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Koch, Stephen.

Louis Jordan : son of Arkansas, father of R&B / Stephen Koch.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

print edition ISBN 978-1-62619-435-9

1. Jordan, Louis, 1908-1975. 2. Jazz musicians--United States--Biography. 3. Rhythm and blues musicians--United States--Biography. I. Title.

ML420.J777K63 2014

781.643092--dc23

[B]

2014004793

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Louis Jordan has had a great and lasting influence upon my appreciation of music, and, perhaps, even my performance.

RAY CHARLES

[Louis Jordans] impact in the 40s was comparable to that of the Beatles in the 60s.

LEONARD FEATHER

[Louis Jordan was] a bridge between the blues and jazz.

SONNY ROLLINS

Louis Jordans guitarist, Carl Hogan, was the inspiration for most of my solos.

CHUCK BERRY

His talent was so awesome, I thought it had to be supernatural.

JAMES BROWN

Here comes Louis Jordan, the new thing, and I jumped on the bandwagon. I got our group to sound like Louie and my work went up, just double, that quick.

JACK MCVEA

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Pop, Mom, Mart, Louie, Martha, Drummer Tom, Berle, Cary DeVore, Peter Guralnick, Eugene Porter, Mara Leveritt, the Jacqueses, Tim Shaw, Bob Palmer, Bill Jones, Bill Sayger, Rick Dawson and all Zoltans, Vinos, KUAR, John Deering, Cliff F. Baker, Jana Frost, Bill G., Ian, Daniel and Jo Ellen of the Old State House Museum, Nancy Williams, El Buho, Zachariah, the Central Arkansas Library System, Levon Helm, Alvertis Isbell, Louise Terzia, Dee, Will, Lyn, Christen Thompson and Darcy Mahan of The History Press, Keith Merckx, Stephanie Smittle, free wi-fi and the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services Unemployment Services division.

AUTHORS NOTE

Louis Jordan and I go back as far as I can remember. But Louie has always been dead.

Though Louie himself and his time as a top entertainer were long gone, he was a star in my young mind. In the music-loving, disc jockeyhelmed Arkansas Delta household in which I grew up, Jordan songs like Rock Doc and Beans and Cornbread were on my personal Hot 100. Driving through Brinkley, Arkansas, with the family as a child, I wondered where on earth the statue of the citys native son was located, especially since it wasnt in the most obvious place by my estimation: atop a pedestal in a roundabout on the main drag. Imagine my youthful horror to learn that such a statue did not exist, and that most people, even in Brinkley, had never heard of Louis Jordan.

I am conversely proud and humbled that through some of my own efforts and the efforts of many others, there actually is a bust of Louie now in his hometown, and many more people in Arkansas and beyond now know him. Ive written numerous newspaper and magazine articles on Louie, some of which can be found in different forms within this book, and wrote Louies biographical entry for the University of Arkansas Presss Arkansas Biography. I subsequently expanded that bio for the Arkansas Studies Institutes Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. On my syndicated radio show, Arkansongs, Ive written several programs exploring his songs and staged Jordan tribute concerts in Little Rock for more than a decade. Somehow, I wrote and appeared in a Jordan stage musical based on Louie called Jump!, as well as a documentary film, Is You Is: A Louis Jordan Story. In the strangest of places, Ive performed Louies songs and preached the gospel of Jordan. Around the world, Im reminded of the greatness of his music. Louie has taken me to a lot of places over the years, helped introduce me to some wonderful peopleincluding his widow, Marthaand given me music and memories of my own.

As with the brash youthful vision that couldnt understand the lack of a Louie-as-Lenin edifice in Brinkley, it is with a similar navet that I hope this book will serve as some belated thankfulness to the man, his music, his musicianship and his influence. The Maestro with a Beat, the King of the Jukeboxes, the Godfather of R&B and the Original Rock n Rollerhere comes Mr. Jordan! Mop! Mop!

S.K., Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A.

Note: Louis Jordan pronounced his first name LEW-ee, not LEW-is, and, early in his career, was even billed as Louie Jordan. In that spirit, this book refers to Mr. Jordan as Louie throughout.

PROLOGUE

February 4, 1975

Los Angeles, California

Louis Jordan, father of R&B, thought hed take a nap.

He was tired. Thered been some heart trouble recently but also invitations to work. He knew the doctor said he couldnt play saxophone, but he could still sing. Singing was good enough for festival bookers, but would people accept the Louis Jordan with only his golden voiceand not his silver saxophone? Would the house bands be able to hit the notes?

For so many years, he had rigidly controlled his own notes and the notes played by his musicians. It had worked even better for him than it had for his father. Louie had conquered the world in many ways, he sometimes thought, even in his own humbleness. Fifty top ten hits. Concert attendance records. TV and film appearances. International tours. From the moment hed started playing music as a young boy, his musician dad had been tough on him and shown him that entertaining people was a businessa scienceto be respected. He had learned the lessons so well that some musicians later couldnt get behind his zeal for perfection. He had dealt with that accordingly and figured those slackers deserved their own musical fates.

But things hadnt been great lately. Beyond the health problems, he hadnt been able to make a hit in a long while. The slump had turned into a trend, and by the 1960s and 1970s, he couldnt blame it on the novelty of rock n roll anymore. He wasnt happy that Martha had to work, but she was the best money manager of all the wives hed had. He didnt party his money away and liked that Martha didnt either. Sixty-six years old. It had all happened so fast. The days back home in Arkansas with his dad and aunt and uncle. Fishing. Baseball. Being a musician, of course. The hit parade. Movies. Then, just as fast, it seemed like it was all gone.

Except for Martha. Earlier that day, hed told her he loved her today, as he did every day, and that he felt better today than hed felt in a long time.

Louie rolled off the bed and hit the floor. Dimly, he could hear Martha going into hysterics on the phone. Then, dimmer still, her screaming out in the street while waiting for the paramedics. Finally, they came. But it was too late.

And after that, Martha almost went crazy.

Chapter 1

I WAS DOING PRETTY GOOD THEN

Louis Thomas Jordan was born on July 8, 1908, in Brinkley, Monroe County, Arkansas, United States of America.