Let the Good Times Roll

Long before YOLO was a thing, Louis Jordan declared: Hey, everybody, let's have some fun You only live but once and when you're dead you're done So let the good times roll Jordan specialized in party tunes, and this one caught on when he released it with his group the Tympany Five in 1946, a year after World War II ended.

A New Orleans singer named Sam Theard wrote this song with Jordan. It's the only hit song to his credit, although he wrote a song called "Spo-De-o-Dee" that was a precursor to the Stick McGhee hit "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee," and he also wrote a song called "Rock Around the Clock" years before Bill Haley recorded his song with that title. Louis Jordan is not listed on the official credits of "Let The Good Times Roll" - his wife Fleecie Moore is. Jordan put her name on it to get better publishing terms, something he also did with "Caldonia."

Jordan was known as a saxophone player, but this song is driven by his singing - he didn't take a solo on the track.