Hamptons 100 Songs of Summer #53 “Beans and Cornbread” by Louis Jordan

Along with our beaches and glamorous celebrity culture, the East End is nothing if not a mecca for fine dining and farm- and ocean-fresh food. In honor of Hamptons foodie culture and today’s king of local eating events—Dan’s Taste of Two Forks—the Top 100 Songs of Summer countdown presents the all-time greatest food song.

Hamptons 100 Songs of Summer #53

“Beans and Cornbread” by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

This 1949 jump blues classic may sound familiar to anyone who owns the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s 1992 film Malcolm X or has watched WTBS’s Dinner and a Movie on television. From the first upbeat notes on tenor saxophone, “Beans and Cornbread” is a rollicking good time. The lyrics relate a story about Cornbread starting a fight with Beans, but just when things might get ugly, the complementary foods realize they are meant for each other and, in fact, “go hand in hand.”

Bon Apetite named it the number one food song of all time and it’s well loved by fans of vintage music and foodies alike. Listen to this tune twice and you’re almost guaranteed to sing along. As for Jordan’s subject, beans and cornbread was traditionally served to NASA launch crews following each successful space shuttle launch. NASA test director Norm Carlson started the custom back on April 12, 1981 and it continued every year that followed. Are any of the East End’s fabulous chefs serving beans and cornbread at Dan’s Taste of Two Forks? If you were able to get tickets before it sold out, let us know!

Beans told Cornbread you ain’t straight
You better wake up or I’ll gash your gate
Been in this pot since half past two
Swelling and puffing and almost due
I’ll be ready tomorrow night, that’s what Beans said to Cornbread