"Saturday Night Fish Fry" 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 written 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 Ellis Lawrence Walsh, best known through the version recorded by

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 ...

. The recording is considered to be one of the "excellent and commercially successful" examples of the

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 ...

genre. While the

origins of rock and roll The origins of rock and roll are complex. Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the United States in the early to mid-1950s. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlie ...

are disputed, some have also suggested that the song may be the first

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

record. The song contains elements later common in rock 'n' roll such as electric guitar, a brisk tempo and "a mix of the bass," and the singer begins each chorus with the catchphrase, "It was rockin'," repeating it several times.Listen to the Blues! Exploring a Musical Genre, page 95
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National hit

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, a rare accomplishment for a "

race record Race records were 78-rpm phonograph records marketed to African Americans between the 1920s and 1940s.Oliver, Paul. "Race record." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 13 Feb. 2015. They primarily contained race music, comprising various Afri ...

" at that time (although the very popular Jordan had already had earlier crossover hits). Jordan's

combo was one of the most successful acts of its time, and its loose and streamlined style of play was highly influential.

First recordings

"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.", Saturday Night Fish Fry , December 17, 2014
/ref> Jordan changed the song. One source provides this summary: he took "the song’s ‘hook’ and angit twice after every other verse. The arrangement was also more propulsive, too; Williams’ shuffle was replaced by a raucous, rowdy jump Boogie-woogie". The expression "it was rockin'" appears four times in the chorus, which is sung seven times. His version was produced by

Milt Gabler Milton Gabler (May 20, 1911 – July 20, 2001) was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century. These included being the first person to deal in record reissues, the first to sel ...

. 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 Rampart Street (french: rue du Rempart) is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The section of Rampart Street downriver from Canal Street is designated as North Rampart Street, which forms the inland or northern border of the Fr ...

in New Orleans, Louisiana. The party turns wild and is raided by the police; the narrator subsequently spends the night in jail.

Composition

Jordan's "Saturday Night Fish Fry" has been called an example of

because "it literally made its listeners jump to its pulsing beat", according to

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, which points out the use of the word "rockin'" in the chorus. The Acoustic Music organization states that the recording marked "the end of the jump blues dominance of the '40s". One reviewer offered this comment in 2016 on the Jordan version: "Jordan’s pithy, witty vocal style, bumping jump-blues rhythms, and taste for lyrics that both wag their tongue and bite are as plainly irresistible as pop music gets". Some sources also consider it as a precursor to rock and roll, or perhaps, one of the

first rock and roll record The origins of rock and roll are complex. Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the United States in the early to mid-1950s. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlie ...

s. The

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

stated that the recording was "an early example of rap and possibly the first rock and roll recording". Another source went a step further in 2013 with this comment: "Jordan’s rapid-fire, talky delivery presaged another musical style that in 1950 was barely on the horizon—rap". 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. In fact,

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

was quoted as saying, "To my recollection, Louis Jordan was the first ersonthat I heard play rock and roll." 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 and roll".

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

re-recorded the song in 1973 for an album titled ''I Believe in Music''.I Believe in Music, AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saturday Night Fish Fry 1949 singles Louis Jordan songs Songs written by Louis Jordan 1949 songs Decca Records singles