| "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five | |
| A-side | "Let the Good Times Roll" |
| Released | 1946 |
| Recorded | June 26, 1946 [1] |
| Genre | Jump blues |
| Length | 3:02 |
| Label | Decca |
| Songwriter(s) | Joan Whitney Kramer, Alex Kramer |
"Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens" is a jump blues song, written by Alex Kramer and Joan Whitney. [1] Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five recorded the song on June 26, 1946, and Decca Records released it on a 78 rpm record. [1] It was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013. [2]
The single debuted on Billboard magazine's Rhythm and Blues Records Chart on December 14, 1946. [3] It reached number one and remained at the top position for seventeen weeks, longer than any other Jordan single. [3] It also reached number six on the broader Billboard Best-Selling Popular Retail Records chart. [3] The flip side, "Let the Good Times Roll", peaked at number two on the R&B chart. [3]
Jordan's hit song popularized the expression "Nobody here but us chickens", but the phrase is older. [4] Its first known appearance was as the punch line of a reader-submitted anecdote in Everybody's Magazine in 1908, in which a chicken thief tries to evade detection by tremulously telling the investigating owner, "'Deed, sah, dey ain't nobody hyah 'ceptin' us chickens." [5] From there, it was picked up by newspapers and reprinted far and wide.
