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Rating: 
Summary: Ray Charles, BB King, James Brown Can't Be Wrong!!!
Review: For many years, while Bill Haley, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, and even bluesman Muddy Waters were all celebrated as having contributed to the birth of rock and roll, the contributions of jump blues/swing/jive man Louis Jordan were almost always overlooked, if not forgotten. It was left to his contemporaries such as James Brown, Ray Charles, and BB King (King recently released a tribute album of all-Jordan material), not to mention such former duet partners as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Bing Crosby, to sing the praises of this very talented but always underappreciated legend. John Chilton seeks to right the wrong with this biographical treatment, and for the most part, does an admirable job. Louis' rural beginnings in oil-boom Arkansas are chronicled, as are his tenure with the Chick Webb band (where he was "cut" in a musical contest by the immortal Lester Young), his many hits, his many marriages, his relentless drive for perfection, his decline in popularity at the hands of rock and roll, the music he helped inspire, and his final vindication (as with many black musicians) in front of appreciative British audiences. Overall, Chilton does a thorough job, but one senses that he is rushing to get through the material; he rarely spends any time on any one subject. Example: Jordan's most famous songs, such as Choo, Choo, Ch'Boogie and Saturday Night Fish Fry, are given no more time and attention than such lesser gems as Honey In The Bee Ball or Sax-A-Woogie. Another example: He mentions the affair between Jordan and Fitzgerald, but leaves it at that; no discussion on how this affair affected his marriages or how the former bandmates relationship changed over time. At 245 pages, the text is a good read, but surely, Chilton could have spent another 100 or so pages reflecting at length on these and other topics. Part of the problem seems to be that Chilton, as a jazz critic, shares the jazzman's disdain for Jordan's overly commercial material and approach. Still, there is a lot of good research here, and a biography of Jordan was sorely needed. Chilton, for the most part, has done a very fine job, however the definitive biography of Louis Jordan will take several years, and should be undertaken by someone who would better put him in context as a founding figure of rock, as well as a leading light in swing and jump blues.
Rating: 
Summary: A Legendary Innovator and Entertainer Brought Back to Life !
Review: Louis Jordan's consumate professionalism, and the clean life he lead wouldn't make him seem to be the ideal topic of an autobiography (on the surface)... Nevertheless, between his wit, his horn and his passionate desire not to be upstaged by ANYONE he managed to revolutionize modern music by smashing Jazz, the blues, and a bit of down home entertainment together, paving the way for what would eventually become the music known as rock and roll and R & B.Written in a well researched anecdotal matter, this book documents the man who was one of the biggest selling artists of his time. His movie shorts managed to inspire an entire generation of artists who would later take his formula and create rock and roll. In his own biography James Brown (The Godfather of Soul) rants and raves about Louis, mentioned the influence that Caldonia in particular had on his life, especially the way he'd go up and shout real high, just like Little Richard (only long before Little Richard.) In this book you will meet many legendary entertainers (now virtually forgotten) and find out what it was like to be an entertainer of color in some very difficult, yet changing and turbulent times... and in particular the riff between him and many of the younger musicians who's music he absorbed but often accused him of being an "uncle Tom" for his whimsical style of performing.- - You'll find out about life on the road, the difficulty of holding together bands, and touring the chitlin' circuit in the days of segregation... and suddenly those silly songs like "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" and "Iz You Iz" will take on a whole new meaning. The book contains a nice discography, about a dozen pages of pictures... including one with Dottie Smith, a member of his group who's still singing and performing here in Philadelphia, Sunday Nights at Barber's Hall and that I've sat in with on occasion. - - John Chilton is a superior Jazz historian who's as good as collecting the facts, as telling the stories they represent ! ! !
Rating:
Summary: A Legendary Innovator and Entertainer Brought Back to Life !
Review: Louis Jordan's consumate professionalism, and the clean life he lead wouldn't make him seem to be the ideal topic of an autobiography (on the surface)... Nevertheless, between his wit, his horn and his passionate desire not to be upstaged by ANYONE he managed to revolutionize modern music by smashing Jazz, the blues, and a bit of down home entertainment together, paving the way for what would eventually become the music known as rock and roll and R & B. Written in a well researched anecdotal matter, this book documents the man who was one of the biggest selling artists of his time. His movie shorts managed to inspire an entire generation of artists who would later take his formula and create rock and roll. In his own biography James Brown (The Godfather of Soul) rants and raves about Louis, mentioned the influence that Caldonia in particular had on his life, especially the way he'd go up and shout real high, just like Little Richard (only long before Little Richard.) In this book you will meet many legendary entertainers (now virtually forgotten) and find out what it was like to be an entertainer of color in some very difficult, yet changing and turbulent times... and in particular the riff between him and many of the younger musicians who's music he absorbed but often accused him of being an "uncle Tom" for his whimsical style of performing.- - You'll find out about life on the road, the difficulty of holding together bands, and touring the chitlin' circuit in the days of segregation... and suddenly those silly songs like "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" and "Iz You Iz" will take on a whole new meaning. The book contains a nice discography, about a dozen pages of pictures... including one with Dottie Smith, a member of his group who's still singing and performing here in Philadelphia, Sunday Nights at Barber's Hall and that I've sat in with on occasion. - - John Chilton is a superior Jazz historian who's as good as collecting the facts, as telling the stories they represent ! ! !
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book for anyone interested in jump blues.
Review: This book helps bridge the gap between the pre-war big band era and the modern juump blues bands and eventually rock and roll. It is a very readable book, whether or not you are familiar withn Jordan's life and music. Because Louis Jordan was such a big influence on Chuck Berry, I found it particularly interesting in developing the context from which rock and roll arose. To fully appreciate this book, have recorded versions of Jordan's music available for reference.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book for anyone interested in jump blues.
Review: This book helps bridge the gap between the pre-war big band era and the modern juump blues bands and eventually rock and roll. It is a very readable book, whether or not you are familiar withn Jordan's life and music. Because Louis Jordan was such a big influence on Chuck Berry, I found it particularly interesting in developing the context from which rock and roll arose. To fully appreciate this book, have recorded versions of Jordan's music available for reference.
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