Brian Hyland

pop charts. 1967 and the so-called "Summer of Love" radically altered the musical climate for short, cutesy pop songs and Hyland would not have any song chart again with the notable exception being "Gypsy Woman", a song he wrote in 1970 that was produced by Del Shannon. The word tympany is an old-fashioned one meaning, "swollen, inflated, puffed-up", etymologically related to timpani, or "kettle drum", but historically separate. From 1963 through 1966, Hyland failed to repeat his earlier success, with several minor hits but none reaching higher than #20 ("The Joker Went Wild") on the U.S. The Broadway show, Five Guys Named Moe was devoted to Jordan's music. Hyland's other well-known hit was 1962's "Sealed With A Kiss", an eventual oldies radio standard that reached #3 on the American charts and remained on the charts for 11 weeks. Jordan died in Los Angeles, California. The song was a smash hit as it managed to hit #1 on the American charts for one week and remained on the charts a total of 13 weeks. After this, however, Jordan's popularity waned and he recorded only for a small following of enthusiasts.

In 1960, Hyland scored his first and biggest hit, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini", a song that was as much about the 60s beach and surf culture as it was about scantier female swimwear and the males who appreciated it. At Mercury Records, Jordan managed to update his sound and released more hits, including "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Salt Pork, West Virginia". Although not known as a major force in the history of rock and roll, Hyland did record two notable songs before his pop music success declined in the late 1960s. By the mid 1950s, Jordan's records were not selling as well as they used to and he began switching labels. Brian Hyland (born November 12, 1943) was a moderately successful pop artist from Queens, New York during the 1960s. One of Jordan's biggest fans was Chuck Berry, who modelled his musical approach on Jordan's, changing the text from black life to teenage life. Jordan's recordings celebrated African American urban life and were infused with good humor and energy that had a great influence on the development of rock and roll; his music was popular with both blacks and whites.

His biggest hit was "Caldonia", with its energetic punchline, banged out by the whole band, "Caldonia! Caldonia! What makes your big head so hard?" After Jordan's success with it, the song was also recorded by Woody Herman in a famous modern arrangement, including a unison chorus by five trumpets. In the 1940s, Jordan released dozens of hit songs including "Saturday Night Fish Fry" (one of many contenders for the title of "First rock and roll record"), "Blue Light Boogie", "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens", "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?", "Ain't That Just Like a Woman", and the multi-million seller "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie". The band's sound was similar to that of Fats Waller and his rhythm, but louder, with more pronounced rhythm, and that touch of the Caribbean sound commonly called "the Spanish tinge". Jordan played alto sax and sang.

Though this was recorded with The Elks Rendezvous Band, Jordan would go on to play with His Tympany Five, which eventually included Bill Jennings and Carl Hogan on guitar, Wild Bill Davis and Bill Doggett on piano, Chris Columbus on drums and Dallas Bartley on bass. In 1932, Jordan began performing with Chick Webb and Clarence Williams, recording "Honey in the Bee Ball" for Decca Records in 1938. Alto saxophone became his main instrument-- although Jordan became even better known as a vocalist with his ebullient personality. Jordan started out on clarinet, and also played piano professionally early in his career.

Louis Jordan was born in Brinkley, Arkansas; his father was a local music teacher and bandleader. Louis Jordan (July 8, 1908 - February 4, 1975) was an African-American jazz and rhythm & blues musician, and one of the few such to sell well to mainstream audiences in the post swing music era. Download sample of "Caldonia".