"Let the Good Times Roll" is a

jump blues Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...

song recorded in 1946 by

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) 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 high ...

and his

Tympany Five 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 pian ...

. A mid-tempo twelve-bar blues, the song became a

blues standard Blues standards are blues songs that have attained a high level of recognition due to having been widely performed and recorded. They represent the best known and most interpreted blues songs that are seen as standing the test of time. Blues s ...

and one of Jordan's best-known songs.

Composition

"Let the Good Times Roll" is "Louis Jordan's buoyant invitation to party": The song was written by

Sam Theard Samuel F. Theard (October 10, 1904 – December 7, 1982) was an American singer, songwriter, actor and comedian. He performed under the names Lovin' Sam F. Theard, Spo-Dee-O-Dee and others. Biography Theard was born in New Orleans, Louisiana ...

, a New Orleans-born

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer and songwriter, and was co-credited to Fleecie Moore, Jordan's wife. Theard first showed Jordan the song in 1942, while playing in Chicago clubs. The tune developed over the years until Jordan recorded it in New York City in June 1946.

Charts and recognition

"Let the Good Times Roll" reached number two in the

Billboard R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

in 1947. Its flip side, " Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens", was the top number one record of 1947 — both songs spent nearly six months on the chart. In 2009, the song was acknowledged with a

Grammy Hall of Fame Award The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

. Jordan and the Tympany Five performed the song in the 1947 film ''

Reet, Petite, and Gone ''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. Plot L ...

'', although the studio recording rather than a live performance is used in the soundtrack. The

Blues Foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 blues organizations from various parts of the world. Founded in 1980, a 25-person board of directors governs the ...

added the song to its Hall of Fame in 2013 in the "Classic of Blues Recording — Singles or Album Tracks" category. The induction announcement noted that the song "became a standard show opener for countless blues artists over the years, from

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Koko Taylor Koko Taylor (born Cora Anna Walton, September 28, 1928 – June 3, 2009) was an American singer whose style encompassed Chicago blues, electric blues, rhythm and blues and soul blues. Sometimes called "The Queen of the Blues", she was known for ...

". "Let the Good Times Roll" has also been identified as inspiring "

Come On Come On may refer to: Music * Come On (EP), ''Come On'' (EP), by Elf Power, 1999 * Come On (Billy Lawrence song), "Come On" (Billy Lawrence song), 1997 * Come On (Christine Anu song), "Come On" (Christine Anu song), 1995 * Come On (Chuck Berry son ...

" by

Earl King Earl Silas Johnson IV (February 7, 1934 – April 17, 2003),
known as Earl King, was an American singer, guit ...

and "Bon Ton Roulet" by

Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987), was an American Creole musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music which arose from Creole music, with rhythm and blues, R&B, blues, and Cajun music, Cajun influences. He sang a ...

References

{{authority control 1946 songs Louis Jordan songs Ray Charles songs B.B. King songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Songs written by Sam Theard