Billboard Most-Played Race Records of 1947
Billboard Most-Played Race Records of 1947 is a year-end chart compiled by Billboard magazine ranking the year's top race records based on the number of times the record was played on the nation's juke boxes.Billboard assigned point totals to each record based on its juke box plays.[1]
Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five dominated the year-end chart with 10 ranked records, including the No. 1 record ("Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens") and five of the top ten.[1]
Four separate recordings of the song "Open the Door, Richard!" were included on the year-end chart, including versions by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five and Count Basie and His Orchestra.[1]
"That's My Desire" by Frankie Laine was the only record by a white singer to make the list, ranked at No. 20. A cover of the song by the Hadda Brooks Trio ranked No. 25.[1]
Billboard also awarded point totals to each of the labels with Decca (Louis Jordan's label) receiving 433 points, followed by Capitol (including Capitol Americana) with 120 points and Manor and Mercury with 77 points each.[1]
| Rank | Title | Artist(s) | Label | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 93 |
| 2 | "Boogie Woogie Blue Plate" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 80 |
| 3 | "I Want to Be Loved (But Only by You)" | Savannah Churchill & The Four Tunes | Manor | 77 |
| 4 | "Jack, You're Dead" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 67 |
| 5 | "Old Maid Boogie" | Eddie Vinson & His Orchestra | Mercury | 63 |
| 6 | "(Opportunity Knocks But Once) Snatch and Grab It" | Julia Lee & Her Boy Friends | Capitol Americana | 45 |
| 7 | "Let the Good Times Roll" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 43 |
| 8 | "Texas and Pacific" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 37 |
| 9 | "He's a Real Gone Guy" | Nellie Lutcher & Her Rhythm | Capitol Americana | 33 |
| 10 | "Hurry on Down" | Nellie Lutcher & Her Rhythm | Capitol Americana | 28 |
| 11 | "New Orleans Blues" | "Johnny Moore's Three Blazers" | Exclusive | 27 |
| 12 | "I Want to Be Loved (But Only by You)" | Lionel Hampton & His Hamptonians | Decca | 23 |
| 13 | "Across the Alley from the Alamo" | The Mills Brothers | Decca | 22 |
| 14 | "Open the Door, Richard!" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 21 |
| 15 | "Open the Door, Richard!" | Dusty Fletcher with Jimmy Jones & His Band | National | 20 |
| 16 | "Open the Door, Richard!" | Jack McVea & His All Stars | Black & White | 19 |
| 17 | "Hawk's Boogie" | Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra | RCA Victor | 17 |
| 17 | "Since I Fell for You" | Annie Laurie with Paul Gayten & His Trio | DeLuxe | 17 |
| 19 | "Ain't That Just Like a Woman (They'll Do It Every Time)" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 16 |
| 20 | "Open the Door, Richard!" | Count Basie & His Orchestra (vocals Harry Edison, Bill Johnson) | RCA Victor | 14 |
| 20 | "That's My Desire" | Frankie Laine | Mercury | 14 |
| 22 | "Early in the Mornin'" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 13 |
| 23 | "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 12 |
| 24 | "True Blues" | Roy Milton & His Solid Senders | Specialty | 8 |
| 25 | "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" | The King Cole Trio | Capitol | 7 |
| 25 | "That's My Desire" | Hadda Brooks Trio | Modern Music | 7 |
| 25 | "Meet Me at No Special Place (And I'll Be There at No Particular Time) | The King Cole Trio | Capitol | 7 |
| 28 | "Don't You Think I Ought to Know?" | Bill Johnson & His Musical Notes | Queen | 6 |
| 28 | "Tanya" | Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers | Exclusive | 6 |
| 28 | "Look Out" | Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five | Decca | 6 |