Chords Req: Saturday Night Fish Fry (Louis Jordan)

Subject: RE: Chords Req: Saturday Night Fish Fry (Louis Jordan)
From: GUEST,Hmmm
Date: 23 Feb 13 - 08:27 PM

I decided to give it a shot and it seemed to me the song was in B. Might just be the Youtube version i got but it seems to me I've always heard the original in the same key this was in. Plus, understanding of horn players, piano players and jazz musicians of that era all suggest it would be B to me.

I let the bass player do a lot of the work. All I'm doing is vamping on the upbeats.

Over the first two lines of the verse I vamp on a Bar B dominant 7th, and do a dominant 9th over a F# and an F. Or B, B, F#, F, played as single downstrokes on the 'ands' or upbeats.

Your dominant 9ths are of course rooted off of the F# and F on your A string. So you are working up as the bass works down, forming a syncopated counterpoint as if you were horns.

Then on the third line of the verse follow the bass down, using straight barred dominant chords (No 7ths), vamping with downstrokes on the upbeats and when you get to F# hit it then bounce up an octave to your dominant ninth form and play F#, F.

And as everyone else has said swing it hard.

Subject: RE: Chords Req: Saturday Night Fish Fry (Louis Jordan)
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Nov 11 - 06:37 AM

I play this number with the most basic chords. If you want or can do a Wes Montgomery on it, fine, in a noisy pub I think the most abbreviated sounds are the most effective. Keep the words alive and meaningful and deliver the chords with maximum swing.
Try;
Cm                                  Ab
. Now, if you've ever been down to New Orleans
Cm                           Ab
Then you can understand just what I mean,
Cm                            Ab
Now all through the week it's quiet as a mouse,
Cm                                  G7       Cm
But on Saturday night, they go from house to house;

Ch.
       C               F7
It was rockin'! It was rockin'!
          C                      G7                           C
You never seen such scufflin' and shufflin' till the break of dawn!
       C             F7
It was rockin'! It was rockin'!
          C                      G7                         Cm
You never seen such scufflin' and shufflin' till the break of dawn!

A piece of cake!
chico

Subject: RE: Chords Req: Saturday Night Fish Fry (Louis Jordan)
From: GUEST,Barefoot Leroy
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 07:57 PM

Like, d'oh, why didn't i get here like fifteen years ago? Love this tune! LJ is the KING.

Subject: Lyr Add: SATURDAY NIGHT FISH FRY (Louis Jordan)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Feb 10 - 01:51 PM

Here are the complete lyrics, from Heptune Jazz and Blues Lyrics Page:


SATURDAY NIGHT FISH FRY
(Louis Jordan, Ellis Walsh, Al Carters)
Transcribed from vocals by Louis Jordan, recorded 8/9/49;
From "The Best of Louis Jordan," MCA Records, MCAD-4079.

1. Now, if you've ever been down to New Orleans
Then you can understand just what I mean,
Now all through the week it's quiet as a mouse,
But on Saturday night, they go from house to house;
You don't have to pay the usual admission
If you're a cook or a waiter or a good musician.
So if you happen to be just passin' by
Stop in at the Saturday night fish fry!

CHORUS: It was rockin'! It was rockin'!
You never seen such scufflin' and shufflin' till the break of dawn!
It was rockin'! It was rockin'!
You never seen such scufflin' and shufflin' till the break of dawn!

2. Now, my buddy and me was on the main stem,
Foolin' around, just me and him,
We decided we could use a little something to eat,
So we went to a house on Rampart Street;
We knocked on the door and it opened with ease,
And a loose little miss said, "Come in please,"
And before we could bat an eye,
We were right in the middle of a big fish fry! CHORUS

3. Now the folks was havin' the time of their life,
And Sam was jivin' Jimmy's wife,
And over in the corner was a beat-up grand
Being played by a big, fat piano man!
Some of the chicks wore expensive frocks,
Some of them had on bobby socks,
But everybody was nice and high
At this particular Saturday night fish fry! CHORUS

4. Now, my buddy and me, we fell right in,
And we hollered, "Let the joy begin!"
Now, we figured this was a good place to play,
'Cause the party was already underway;
But all of a sudden the lights went low,
And everybody made straight for the front door,
Man, I was so scared I didn't know where to go,
I stood right there, then I fell on the floor! CHORUS

5. Now, the women was screamin' and jumpin' and yellin',
The bottles was flyin' and the fish was smellin';
And way up above all the noise they made,
Somebody hollered, "Better get out of here; this is a raid!"
Now, I didn't know we was breakin' the law,
But somebody reached up and hit me on the jaw,
They had us blocked off from the front and the back,
And they was puttin' 'em in the wagon like potatoes in a sack. CHORUS

6. I knew I could get away if I had a chance,
But I was shakin' like I had the St. Vitus dance,
Now, I tried to crawl under a bathtub,
When the policeman said, "Where you goin' there, bub?"
Now, they got us out of there like a house on fire,
Put us all in that Black Maria,
Now, they might have missed a pitiful few,
But they got both me and my buddy, too! CHORUS

7. We headed for jail in a dazed condition,
They booked each one of us on suspicion;
Now my chick came down and went for my bail,
And finally got me out of that rotten jail;
Now, if you ever want to get a fist in your eye,
Just mention a Saturday night fish fry!
I don't care how many fish in the sea,
But don't ever mention a fish to me! CHORUS

[SPOKEN:] Give me one of them there fish sandwiches!
Get away from there, boy!
Yowza!

Subject: RE: Saturday Night Fish Fry--Chords?
From: Lucius
Date: 08 Apr 00 - 03:54 PM

I'm doing this from memory, since I haven't played the song in years. Here's my best shot, broken down by phrase.

A min; A min/G bass; F; E. A min; A min/G bass; F; E. A min; A min/G bass; F#min b5; F. A; F# min; D; E; A Chorus:

D9; A; D9; A; D9; E; Amin

I'm really unsure of the chorus, but I remember the F# min b5 clearly. It is played like an A minor with a F# bass note. I hope that my returns are carried over to indicate the end of each phrase. I'll check back and repost it if I have to.

Have fun with it.

Lucius

Subject: RE: Saturday Night Fish Fry--Chords?
From: Gary T
Date: 07 Apr 00 - 08:15 PM

Thanks, Chet, I'll try that. Don't feel bad, Reggie, I've wanted to do it for a while too. When it occurred to me to ask here, I wondered why I didn't think of it sooner.

Subject: RE: Saturday Night Fish Fry--Chords?
From: reggie miles
Date: 07 Apr 00 - 11:04 AM

Hey Gary, thanks for this posting I too have been wanting to perform this very wordy number for years but suffer from the same lack of chord conceptualization. Why didn't I think of posting this thread?

Thanks Chet that little run works great!

Subject: Chords Add: SATURDAY NIGHT FISH FRY
From: Chet W.
Date: 06 Apr 00 - 08:26 PM

Here's what I use:

Well if you ever been down to New Orleans (G C7 Db7)
Then you prob'ly know just what I mean (G E9 Eb9 D9)
All week long they're as quiet as a mouse (G C7 Db7)
But on Saturday night they go from house to house (D7 G)

All the sevenths are like first position C7, just move it on up the frets. The ninths are movable too (E9 on the seventh fret) or you can use sevenths instead of ninths. Just listen to the bass line and you'll see where to move the chords.

Gotta make it swing, Chet

Subject: RE: Saturday Night Fish Fry--Chords?
From: Gary T
Date: 06 Apr 00 - 06:05 PM

That's not a bad approach for many songs, Bert, but I'm not sure it's the best for this one. It's a jump blues sort of thing, and a rhythm guitar background would help a lot in maintaining its energy. I wouldn't be surprised if the recording used some sort of jazz chords, but I was hoping there was a somewhat simple arrangement that would work (i.e., one I can handle with my limited guitar skills).

Subject: RE: Saturday Night Fish Fry--Chords?
From: Bert
Date: 06 Apr 00 - 03:25 PM

Don't know that song but when I hit a song with just one chord like 'The Barley Mow' I just go acapella and let my voice do the work.

Subject: Saturday Night Fish Fry--Chords?
From: Gary T
Date: 06 Apr 00 - 03:17 PM

Can anyone help me with a chord sequence for this Louis Jordan song? I can sort of muddle my way through the chorus, but the verses almost seem like they keep one chord, with bass runs or some such to relieve the monotony. As a strummer, definitely not a picker, I'd love to have some workable chord structure. Thanks.