YouTube Gold: Louis Jordan For Christmas
One of America’s finest singers still sounds fresh
Louis Jordan was born in 1908 and had a tremendous career from the 1930s to the 1950 before rock n roll came along and pushed swing music and big band music aside.
He never stopped making music or recording though, despite poor health and a lack of interest stateside and some of his later recordings are remarkable if unknown.
He did an amazing cover Mac Davis’s 1970 hit “I Believe In Music” just five years before he died.
This one was a bit more obscure.
In 1968, when music was still largely dominated by psychedelia and the British Invasion, Jordan released a Christmas song called “Santa Claus, Santa Claus.”
It’s a bit of blues about a guy who just wants Santa to bring back his baby for Christmas.
The amazing thing about Jordan is that, unlike almost anyone else, his voice never changed. Look at what happened to Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra, or Joni Mitchell.
All of them had long careers and all of their voices changed or were damaged. Dylan today sounds like he swallowed a fly.
Even in his final recordings, Jordan sounds like he did as a young man. His voice was an absolute treasure and so was his spirit.