Saturday Night Fish Fry

"Saturday Night Fish Fry" is a jump blues song written by Louis Jordan and Ellis Lawrence Walsh,[1] best known through the version recorded by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five.

"Saturday Night Fish Fry (Part 1)"
Single by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
B-side"Saturday Night Fish Fry" (Concluded)
Released1949 (1949)
RecordedAugust 9, 1949
GenreJump blues, R&B
Length
  • 3:12 (Part 1)
  • 2:48 (Part 2/Concluded)
  • 5:21 (Full version)
LabelDecca
Songwriter(s)Louis Jordan, Ellis Walsh
Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five singles chronology
"Beans and Corn Bread"
(1949)		 "Saturday Night Fish Fry (Part 1)"
(1949)		 "School Days"
(1950)

National hit
Old fish fry sign, New Orleans

The single was a big hit, topping the R&B chart for twelve non-consecutive weeks in late 1949. It also reached number 21 on the national chart,[2] a rare accomplishment for a "race record" at that time (although the very popular Jordan had already had earlier crossover hits). Jordan's jump blues combo was one of the most successful acts of its time, and its loose and streamlined style of play was highly influential.

First recording

"Saturday Night Fish Fry" was first recorded by Eddie Williams and His Brown Buddies with spoken vocals by the song's composer, Ellis Walsh. Williams had a number 2 R&B hit with the song "Broken Hearted". "Saturday Night Fish Fry" was intended to be the band's next single, but the acetate found its way to Louis Jordan's agent instead. As Williams recalled, "They got theirs out there first."[3]

Jordan changed the song. One source provides this summary: he took "the song’s ‘hook’ and [sang] it twice after every other verse. The arrangement was also more propulsive, too; Williams’ shuffle was replaced by a raucous, rowdy jump Boogie-woogie".[4][5] The expression, "it was rockin'", is repeated a dozen times.[6]

At 5:21, the recording ran longer than a standard side of a 78 record, so it was broken into two halves, one on each side of the disc. The song's lyrics are in the first person and describe two itinerant musicians going to a fish fry on Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. The scene becomes a wild party that is raided by the police, and the narrator ends up spending the night in jail.

Rock and roll

Jordan's "Saturday Night Fish Fry" has been called an example of jump Blues[7] but also one of the first rock and roll records. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame stated that the song was "an early example of rap and possibly the first rock and roll recording".[8]

The song had a "lively jump rhythm, call-and response chorus and double-string electric guitar riffs that Chuck Berry would later admit to copying", according to one source.[9] [10] In fact, Chuck Berry was quoted as saying, "To my recollection, Louis Jordan was the first [person] that I heard play rock and roll."[11]

The guitar work, brisk tempo, "and emphasis in the recording mix of punctuating each beat" certainly influenced later artists and the recording's style went on to "characterize 1950s rock'n'roll".[12]

Jordan performed the song live on television in 1966 on The !!!! Beat, hosted by Bill "Hoss" Allen.[13]

The number has since been covered by many other artists, including Pinetop Perkins, Dr. Feelgood, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and The Coasters.[14] Jordan himself re-recorded the song in 1973 for an album entitled I Believe in Music.

References
  1. BMI entry for song
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 310.
  3. [http://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/saturday-night-fish-fry/ |Saturday Night Fish Fry |December 17, 2014
  4. [http://www.songswithearlierhistories.com/saturday-night-fish-fry/ |Saturday Night Fish Fry |December 17, 2014
  5. Louis Jordan |Saturday Night Fish Fry
  6. "Saturday Night Fish Fry Lyrics". Genius.com. 30 June 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2020. It was rockin', it was rockin' You never seen such scufflin'
  7. |Page 93
  8. |Louis Jorand |Inducted 1987
  9. "5 Candidates for the First Rock 'n' Roll Song". Mentalfloss. March 23, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  10. "5 Candidates for the First Rock 'n' Roll Song". Mentalfloss. March 23, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  11. [https://books.google.ca/books?id=1L_VCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA109&dq=To+my+recollection,+Louis+Jordan+was+the+first+one+that+I+hear+play+rock+and+roll&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjw7ZHy7PzqAhX7hXIEHUfWDzwQ6AEwAHoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=To%20my%20recollection%2C%20Louis%20Jordan%20was%20the%20first%20one%20that%20I%20hear%20play%20rock%20and%20roll&f=false%7C Love for Sale: Pop Music in America|David Hajdu]
  12. to the Blues! Exploring a Musical Genre|James E. Perrone
  13. | Louis Jordan Fish Fry |Historic Films Stock Footage Archive
  14. The Coasters, There's A Riot Goin' On: The Coasters on Atco Retrieved February 19, 2012.
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