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.
'Tain't What You Do
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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And miss it each night and day
I know I'm not wrong, the feeling's getting stronger
The longer I stay away
Miss the moss-covered vines, tall sugar pines
Where mockingbirds used to sing
I'd love to see that old lazy Mississippi
The moonlight on the bayou
A Creole tune that fills the air
I dream about magnolias in bloom
And I'm wishin' I was there
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
When that's where you left your heart
And there's one thing more, I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans
The song "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" by Louis Armstrong & His Dixieland Seven is a beautifully poignant love letter to the city of New Orleans. The lyrics describe the longing and nostalgia one feels when separated from the unique and vibrant culture of the city. The opening line, "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?" sets the tone for the song and invites the listener to consider their own experiences with longing for a place that holds a special place in their heart.
Throughout the song, Armstrong describes the specific memories and sensations that he misses about New Orleans. He longs for the "moist covered vines" and "tall sugar pines" that he used to see, and the sound of the mocking birds singing in the air. The lazy flow of the Mississippi River is another detail that stands out to him, as he contrasts it to the hurried arrival of spring. He remembers the "creole tunes" that fill the air and the sweet smell of the Orleanders in June. However, above all else, he misses the one he cares for more than he misses New Orleans itself.
Line by Line Meaning
Do you know what is means to miss New Orleans
Do you understand the emotional weight and sense of longing that comes with having to be away from the city of New Orleans?
I miss it, each night and day
I yearn for New Orleans constantly, both during waking hours and in my dreams at night.
The longer I stay away
The more time I spend separated from the city of New Orleans,
Miss the moist covered vines
I long for the sight of vines dripping with moisture.
The tall sugar pines
I miss the imposing, tall sugar pines that once dominated the landscape.
Where mocking birds use to sing
I long for the sweet sounds of mockingbirds that once filled the air in New Orleans.
And I like to see the lazy Mississippi
I yearn to see the slow-moving Mississippi River once more.
Are hurrying to spring
The Mississippi seems to be anxiously anticipating the arrival of spring.
The mardy grass memories
I remember the lush, verdant grass of New Orleans fondly.
Of creol tunes that fill the air
I miss the atmospheric music that was once so common in New Orleans, heavily influenced by a unique Creole culture.
I dream of Orleanders in June
I have vivid dreams about the beautiful flowers known as Orleanders that bloom in New Orleans in June.
And soon I'm wishing that I was there
My longing for New Orleans and all its beauty becomes so potent that I can't help but wish to be there again as soon as possible.
Do you know what is means to miss New Orleans
I ask again whether you yourself can appreciate fully the sense of longing and nostalgia that comes with being away from New Orleans.
And there is something more
On top of everything else I've mentioned, there is something else I deeply miss about New Orleans.
I miss the one I care for
Above all else, I miss the person I love and care for, even more than I miss the city itself.
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Eddie De Lange, Louis Alter
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