‘Let the Good Times Roll,’ Louis Jordan’s buoyant invitation to party, became a standard show opener for countless blues artists over the years, from B.B. King to Koko Taylor. Recorded with his Tympany Five combo (including Carl Hogan on guitar and Bill Davis on piano) in New York on June 26, 1946, it was a big hit in 1946-47, spending 23 weeks on the ‘race’ record charts of Billboard. The other side of the 78rpm Decca disc, the comical ‘Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens,’ was even bigger, but such success was nothing out of the ordinary for the wildly popular Jordan, who ruled the roost in the 1940s.
