Louis Jordan, Johnny Otis, Shuggie Otis - Pioneers of Rhythm & Blues Volume 1 (2008)

Louis Thomas Jordan:
Louis Jordan was born July 8, 1908 in Brinkley, Arkansas, USA and died February 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

After a few years playing in the “Chitlin circuit” of the 1930s and just after World War II, Jordan launched a revolutionary sound: it wasn’t Blues nor Jazz but the “Jump Blues” sound which evolved into Rhythm And Blues. His jumping shuffle rhythms were copied by many in the 1940s. With his group “The Tympany Five” Jordan came to inspire many artists who followed in the mid 1950s, to the 60s and 70s, from Bill Haley And His Comets to James Brown but also Ray Charles or Branford Marsalis.
Between 1942 and 1951 Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five had 57 R&B chart hits on Decca (2) Records. His first release was “Honey in The Bee Ball" in 1938. In the 1950s he left Decca and recorded for Aladdin Records and in the 1960s for Ray Charles’ Tangerine Records.
Ray Charles often mentioned Louis Jordan as one of his biggest influences in music.
Louis Jordan, popular to all audiences, is unforgotten for developing the blueprint of Rock and Roll and R&B.
He died February 04, 1975 of a heart attack, in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Jordan played all forms of saxophone, the clarinet and piano. His specialty was the alto sax.
Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 (Early Influence).

Johnny Otis
Johnny Otis modeled an amazing number of contrasting musical hats over a career spanning more than half a century. Bandleader, record producer, talent scout, label owner, nightclub impresario, disc jockey, TV variety show host, author, R&B pioneer, rock & roll star -- Otis answered to all those descriptions and quite a few more. Not bad for a Greek-American who loved jazz and R&B so fervently that he adopted the African-American culture as his own.
California-born John Veliotes changed his name to the Blacker-sounding Otis when he was in his teens. Drums were his first passion -- he spent time behind the traps with the Oakland-based orchestra of Count Otis Matthews and kept time for various Midwestern swing outfits before settling in Los Angeles during the mid-'40s and joining Harlan Leonard's Rockets, then resident at The Club Alabam.
It wasn't long before The Alabam's owner entreated Otis to assemble his own orchestra for house-band duties. The group's 1945 debut sides for Excelsior were solidly in the big-band jazz vein and included an arrangement of the moody "Harlem Nocturne" that sold well. Shouter Jimmy Rushing fronted the band for two tracks at the same date. Otis' rep as a drummer was growing; he backed both Wynonie Harris and Charles Brown (with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers) that same year.
The Otis outfit continued to record for Excelsior through 1947 (one date featured Big Jay McNeely on sax), but his influence on L.A.'s R&B scene soared exponentially when he and partner Bardu Ali opened The Barrelhouse Club in Watts. R&B replaced jazz in Otis' heart; he pared the big-band down and discovered young talent such as the Robins, vocalists Mel Walker and Little Esther Phillips, and guitarist Pete Lewis that would serve him well in years to come.
Otis signed with Newark, New Jersey-based Savoy Records in 1949, and the R&B hits came in droves: "Double Crossing Blues," "Mistrustin' Blues," and "Cupid's Boogie" all hit number one that year (in all, Otis scored ten Top Ten smashes that year alone!); "Gee Baby," "Mambo Boogie," and "All Nite Long" lit the lamp in 1951; and "Sunset to Dawn" capped his amazing run in 1952 (vocals were shared by Esther, Walker, and other members of the group). By then, Otis had branched out to play vibes on many waxings.
In late 1951, Otis moved to Mercury, but apart from a Walker-led version of Floyd Dixon's "Call Operator 210," nothing found pronounced success with the public. A 1953-1955 contract with Don Robey's Peacock logo produced some nice jump blues sides but no hits (though the Otis orchestra backed one of his many discoveries, Big Mama Thornton, on her chart-topping "Hound Dog," as well as a young Little Richard while at Peacock). Otis was a masterful talent scout; among his platinum-edged discoveries were Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard, and Etta James (he produced her debut smash "Roll with Me Henry").
In 1955, Otis took studio matters into his own hands, starting up his own label, Dig Records, to showcase his own work as well as his latest discoveries (including Arthur Lee Maye & the Crowns, Tony Allen, and Mel Williams). Rock & roll was at its zenith in 1957 when the multi-instrumentalist signed on with Capitol Records; billed as The Johnny Otis Show, he set the R&B and pop charts ablaze in 1958 with his shave-and-a-haircut beat, "Willie and the Hand Jive," taking the vocal himself (other singers then with the Otis Show included Mel Williams and the gargantuan Marie Adams & the Three Tons of Joy). During the late '50s, Otis hosted his own variety program on L.A. television, starring his entire troupe (and on one episode, Lionel Hampton), and did a guest shot in a 1958 movie, Juke Box Rhythm.
After cutting some great rock & roll for Capitol from 1957 to 1959 with only one hit to show for it, Otis dropped anchor at King Records in 1961 and 1962 (in addition to his own output, Otis' band also backed Johnny "Guitar" Watson on several sides). Later in the decade, Otis recorded some ribald material for Kent and watched as his young son Shuggie built an enviable reputation as a blues guitarist while recording for Columbia. Father and son cut an album together for Alligator in 1982, accurately entitled The New Johnny Otis Show.
In later years, the multi-talented Otis added operating a California health-food emporium to his endless list of wide-ranging accomplishments. He was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Otis died at home in Altadena, California in January 2012 at the age of 90. If blues ever boasted a renaissance man among its ranks, Johnny Otis surely filled that bill.

Shuggie Otis
Guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Shuggie Otis may not be a household name, but his "Strawberry Letter 23" is in a multitude of household record collections. The Brothers Johnson's cover of the song has sold over a million copies, peaking at number one R&B and number five pop on Billboard's charts in summer 1977. It was on their LP Right on Time, which went platinum, selling over a million copies, holding the number one R&B spot for three weeks, and making it to number 13 pop in spring 1977. Otis wrote "Strawberry Letter 23" for his girlfriend, who used strawberry-scented paper for her letters to him. Another Otis favorite, "Inspiration Information," received substantial airplay in Chicago and other markets, charting at number 56 R&B in early 1975. In addition, Otis, who had been absent from the recording scene for decades, achieved renewed renown and a new generation of fans after Luaka Bop reissued his classic album Inspiration Information in 2001.
Born Johnny Otis, Jr. on November 30, 1953, in Los Angeles, California, Otis' formidable musical talents appeared at an early age. He began his professional career around 1965. He played a guitar solo on his father Johnny Otis' 1969 number 29 R&B hit "Country Girl," issued by Kent Records. His guitar skills were so adept that, during his teen years, he would have to wear dark glasses and strategically apply black ink between his nose and mouth to appear old enough to perform in clubs with his father.
Signing with CBS Records, Otis began recording virtuoso guitar-laced R&B/West Coast blues sides. His first LP was Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis on CBS. Johnny Otis produced 1970's Here Comes Shuggie Otis, which was issued on the CBS imprint Epic Records. Otis' Freedom Flight was issued September 1971 and included the original version of "Strawberry Letter 23," the heart-tugging "Someone's Always Singing," "Ice Cold Daydream," and the bluesy "Me and My Woman," co-written by Otis and Gene Barge (known best for his association with Chess Records, Chuck Willis, and Natalie Cole).
His LP Inspiration Information was issued in October 1974, with Otis playing all of the instruments on jazzy and Latin-tinged R&B numbers. The LP was one of the first releases to showcase the electronic rhythm box then usually found on organs. Besides "Inspiration Information," the LP included the sly "Sparkle City," the sweet ballad "Outtamihead," and the lush, strings-laden "Island Letter," which was the B-side of "Inspiration Information."
George Johnson of the Brothers Johnson was dating one of Otis' cousins, who gave Johnson a copy of Freedom Flight. Immediately, he liked "Ice Cold Daydream" and "Strawberry Letter 23." The latter song was played at his brother Louis Johnson's wedding during the wedding march. Louis suggested the song to their producer Quincy Jones for an album track. The track's complex guitar solo was played by Lee Ritenour. The Brothers Johnson' version is quite close to Otis' original. Later in the '90s, Otis played with his own band around Northern California and toured extensively. His son, Lucky Otis, played bass with Johnny Otis' band. Shuggie Otis is featured in the book Alligator Records Presents West Coast Blues, issued in August 1998 by Milwaukee, Wisconsin, publisher Hal Leonard.
Otis played live but didn't record under his own name for nearly two decades. Live in Williamsburg, his first-ever live album, was cut during his comeback tour at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York in 2013 and issued a year later. His next studio date was recorded nearly five years later for Cleopatra. Entitled Inter-Fusion, the set featured Otis leading a quartet whose membership included drummer Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Beck, Bogert & Appice), bassist Tony Franklin (the Firm, Roy Harper), and keyboardist/producer Kyle Hamood (Them Guns) in a primarily instrumental program of originals. Preceded by an in-studio video, the album was issued in April 2018.