Reconversion Blues

Last updated
"Reconversion Blues"
Reconversion Blues.png
Single by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five
Released1946
Genre Jump blues, boogie woogie
Label Decca
Songwriter(s) Steve Graham, Fleecie Moore

"Reconversion Blues" is a song attributed to Steve Graham and Fleecie Moore. It was performed by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, recorded in October 1946, and released on the Decca label (catalog no. 18762-A). The record's "B" side was "Salt Pork, West Virginia". [1]

The song peaked at No. 2 on Billboard 's race record chart and was ranked No. 14 on the magazine's year-end list of the most played race records of 1946. [2]

Recorded two months after the end of World War II, the lyrics refer to the post-war freedom to buy goods that weren't strictly rationed or unavailable during the World War II. It reviews many of the newly available items, such as a new automobile, two-tone shoes, bacon, butter, cigarettes, nuts and bolts and screws, nylons for his baby, and most anything he chooses at the gas station. [3] Jordan earlier had a No. 1 hit with his 1943 song "Ration Blues".

Jordan biographer Stephen Koch noted that the granting of partial songwriting credit to Jordan's wife, Fleecie Moore, was part of "a publishing and tax dodge gone awry." [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Jordan</span> American musician, songwriter and bandleader (1908–1975)

Louis Thomas Jordan was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "the King of the Jukebox", he earned his highest profile towards the end of the swing era. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "early influence" in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caldonia</span> Jump blues standard

"Caldonia" is a jump blues song, first recorded in 1945 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. Although credited to Fleecie Moore, his wife at the time, Jordan is the actual songwriter. The song was a hit for Jordan as well as several other musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tympany Five</span> American dance band

Tympany Five was a successful and influential American rhythm and blues and jazz dance band founded by Louis Jordan in 1938. The group was composed of a horn section of three to five different pieces and also drums, double bass, guitar and piano.

"Let the Good Times Roll" is a jump blues song recorded in 1946 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. A mid-tempo twelve-bar blues, the song became a blues standard and one of Jordan's best-known songs.

"Beans and Corn Bread" is a 1949 jump blues song by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, released by Decca. It was written by Jordan under his wife's name, Fleecie Moore, and Fred B. Clark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ration Blues</span> 1943 single by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five

"Ration Blues" is a song written by Louis Jordan, Antonio Cosey, and Collenane Clark. It was performed by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, recorded in October 1943, and released on the Decca label. The "B" side of the record was "Deacon Jones".

"Buzz Me" is a 1946 song by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five that is credited to Fleecie Moore and Danny Baxter. Released by Decca Records as a single, it was the first song in 1946 to reach the number one spot on the R&B chart and was the first of five Louis Jordan releases to achieve the top position in 1946. "Buzz Me" also peaked at number nine on the pop chart. The single became a double-sided hit when the B-side "Don't Worry 'Bout That Mule" also hit number one on the R&B chart later in the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Worry 'Bout That Mule</span> 1946 single by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five

"Don't Worry 'Bout That Mule" is a song attributed to Charles Stewart, William Davis, Duke Groaner, and Fleecie Moore. It was performed by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, recorded in July 1945, and released on the Decca label.

"Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming)" is a 1939 song with lyrics and music by Wilmoth Houdini, a Trinidad and Tobago musician who had moved to the United States. Houdini's first version bore the title "He Had It Coming." It was recorded in 1946 by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five on Decca and later included in the Ella Fitzgerald album Ella and Her Fellas.

"Ain't That Just Like a Woman (They'll Do It Every Time)" is a 1946 song written by Claude Demetrius and Fleecie Moore and recorded by Louis Jordan and Tympany Five. The song reached number one on the R&B Jukebox chart for two weeks and peaked at number seventeen on the pop chart. Chuck Berry, who acknowledged the influence of both Louis Jordan and Carl Hogan, copied the latter's guitar intro to the song for his 1958 classic "Johnny B. Goode".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Light Boogie (song)</span> 1950 single by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five

"Blue Light Boogie" is a song written by Jessie Mae Robinson and Louis Jordan. It was performed by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, recorded in June 1950, and released on the Decca label. On the original 78 record, the song was divided into two parts with part 1 on the "A" side and part 2 on the "B" side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas and Pacific (song)</span> 1947 single by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five

"Texas and Pacific" is a song written by Jack Wolf Fine and Joseph E. Hirsch. It was performed by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, recorded in October 1946, and released on the Decca label. The song describes a rider's experience on the Texas & Pacific Railway. The "B" side of the record was "I Like 'Em Fat Like That".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack, You're Dead</span> 1947 single by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five

"Jack, You're Dead" is a song written by Dick Miles and Walter Bishop. It was performed by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, recorded in October 1946, and released on the Decca label. The song describes a man's physical state if he fails to respond to romance.

<i>Reet, Petite, and Gone</i> American film

Reet, Petite, and Gone is a 1947 American musical race film produced and released by Astor Pictures. It was the first feature film directed by short-subject director William Forest Crouch and stars Louis Jordan and June Richmond.

"We Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" is a song originally recorded on September 3, 1936, by Piedmont blues musician Casey Bill Weldon. Weldon performed it as a solo piece, with vocals and acoustic guitar plus piano and double bass accompaniment.

Billboard Most-Played Race Records of 1947 is a year-end chart compiled by Billboard magazine ranking the year's top race records based on the number of times the record was played on the nation's juke boxes.Billboard assigned point totals to each record based on its juke box plays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt Pork, West Virginia</span> 1946 single by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five

"Salt Pork, West Virginia" is a song attributed to Fleecie Moore and William J. Tennyson Jr., performed by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, and released on the Decca label. It peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's race record chart and remained on the chart for 15 weeks. It ranked No. 8 on the magazine's list of the most played race records of 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beware (Louis Jordan song)</span> 1946 single by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five

"Beware" is a song attributed to Morry Lasco, Dick Adams, and Fleecie Moore. It was performed by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, recorded in January 1946, and released on the Decca label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">That Chick's Too Young to Fry</span> 1946 single by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five

"That Chick's Too Young to Fry" is a song written by Tommy Edwards and Jimmy Hilliard. It was performed by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, recorded in January 1946, and released on the Decca label. The record's "B" side was "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie".

References

  1. "Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five – Reconversion Blues / Salt Pork, West Virginia". Discogs. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  2. "Year's Most-Played Race Records on Nation's Juke Boxes". The Billboard. January 4, 1947. p. 54.
  3. "Reconversion Blues". Genius.com. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  4. Louis Jordan: Son of Arkansas, Father of R&B. The History Press. 2014. ISBN   9781625849687.