Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly-recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing (vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics).
Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin-color was secondary to his music in an America that was severely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation during the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a black man.
Armstrong was born and brought up in New Orleans, a culturally diverse town with a unique musical mix of creole, ragtime, marching bands, and blues. Although from an early age he was able to play music professionally, he didn't travel far from New Orleans until 1922, when he went to Chicago to join his mentor, King Oliver. Oliver's band played primitive jazz, a hotter style of ragtime, with looser rhythms and more improvisation, and Armstrong's role was mostly backing. Slow to promote himself, he was eventually persuaded by his wife Lil Hardin to leave Oliver, and In 1924 he went to New York to join the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. At the time, there were a few other artists using the rhythmic innovations of the New Orleans style, but none did it with the energy and brilliance of Armstrong, and he quickly became a sensation among New York musicians. Back in Chicago in 1925, he made his first recordings with his own group, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, and these became not only popular hits but also models for the first generation of jazz musicians, trumpeters or otherwise.
Other hits followed through the twenties and thirties, as well as troubles: crooked managers, lip injuries, mob entanglements, failed big-band ventures. As jazz styles changed, though, musical purists never lost any respect for him -- although they were sometimes irritated by his hammy onstage persona. Around the late forties, with the help of a good manager, Armstrong's business affairs finally stablilized, and he began to be seen as an elder statesman of American popular entertainment, appearing in Hollywood films, touring Asia and Europe, and dislodging The Beatles from the number-one position with Hello Dolly". Today many people may know him as a singer (a good one), but as Miles Davis said: “You can’t play nothing on modern trumpet that doesn’t come from him."
The 62-year-old Armstrong became the oldest act to top the US charts when "Hello Dolly" reached #1 in 1964. Four years later Satchmo also became the oldest artist to record a UK #1, when "What a Wonderful World" hit the top spot.
"Jack Armstrong" Blues
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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Fetch me that gin, son, 'fore I tan your hide
Can't get from this cabin, goin' nowhere
Just set me here grabbin' at the flies round this rockin' chair
My dear old aunt Harriet, in Heaven she be
Send me, sweet chariot, for the end of the trouble I see
Old rockin' chair gets it--Judgment Day is here
Old rockin' chair's got me, son (rocking chair got you, father)
My cane by my side (yes, your cane by your side)
Now fetch me a little gin, son (ain't got no gin, father)
What? 'Fore I tan your hide, now (you're gonna tan my hide)
You know I can't get from this old cabin (What cabin? Joking)
I ain't goin' nowhere (Why ain't you goin' nowhere?)
Just sittin' me here grabbin' (grabbin')
At the flies 'round this old rockin' chair (rockin' chair)
Now you remember dear old aunt Harriet, (aunt Harriet)
How long in Heaven she be? (she's up in Heaven)
Send me down, send me down, sweet (sweet chariot) chariot
End of this trouble I see (I see, daddy)
Old rockin' chair gets it, son (rocking chair gets it, father)
Judgment Day is here too (your Judgment Day is here)
Chained to my rockin', old rockin' chair
This song starts with Louis Armstrong expressing his frustration with his physical limitations as an older person, being stuck in his house with nothing but his rocking chair and his cane. He demands his son to fetch him some gin, although he doesn't have any, and threatens to punish him if he doesn't comply. He then laments about not being able to go anywhere and feeling trapped in his own house. The chorus talks about how his old rocking chair has taken control of him and he is chained to it. He then mentions his Aunt Harriet who has passed away, and he longs for his own "sweet chariot" to come and take him away from this world of limitations and troubles. He repeats the chorus, emphasizing the idea that he is chained to his rocking chair and judgment day is approaching.
The song's lyrics are a commentary on the struggles of aging and the feeling of being trapped and limited physically. The reference to "Aunt Harriet" and the "sweet chariot" are allusions to the African American spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," which was a popular song during the time of segregation that represented the hope of escaping slavery and the trials of oppression. Armstrong's use of this imagery shows his understanding of the African American experience and the ways in which music can be used to express cultural and political ideas.
Line by Line Meaning
Old rockin' chair's got me, my cane by my side
Father is physically trapped in his rocking chair, with his cane beside him
Fetch me that gin, son, 'fore I tan your hide
Father demands his son to bring him gin, while threatening him with physical punishment
Can't get from this cabin, goin' nowhere
Father is unable to leave his cabin and feels stuck in his situation
Just set me here grabbin' at the flies round this rockin' chair
Father is so bored and idle, he resorts to just swatting flies around him
My dear old aunt Harriet, in Heaven she be
Father reminisces about his deceased aunt Harriet and her current place in heaven
Send me, sweet chariot, for the end of the trouble I see
Father prays for help from a higher power to end his troubles and suffering
Old rockin' chair gets it--Judgment Day is here
Father notices his own mortality and approaching judgment day
Chained to my rockin' chair
Father feels trapped in his situation like a prisoner in chains
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Anonymous
on What A Wonderful World
What A Wonderful World - Casey Abrams - Lyrics
I see trees of green
Red roses too
I see them bloom
For me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
I see skies of blue
And clouds of white
The bright blessed day
The dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
Singing how do you do
They're really singing
I love you
I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Musical Interlude
The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
Singing how do you do
They're really singing
I love you
I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They goin’ learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
I think to myself
What a wonderful world