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.
All Meat and No Potatoes
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Expects to find stew with that fine ham bone.
He opens the door, then start to lookin',
Says, Woman, what's this stuff you're cookin'?
All that meat and no potatoes
Just ain't right, like green tomatoes.
Here I'm waiting, palpitatin',
All that meat and no potatoes
All that food to the alligators, yes.
Hold me steady. I am ready
For all that meat and no potatoes.
I don't think that peas are bad.
With meat most anything goes.
I look into the pot. I'm fit to fight
'Cause, woman, you know that mess ain't right.
All that meat and no potatoes
Just ain't right, like green tomatoes.
Woman, I'm steamin'. I'm really screamin'
All that meat and no potatoes.
Where is my fry and ham bone? Where is it?
Louis Armstrong's "All That Meat and No Potatoes" is a playful song that describes a man coming home from a long day of work, expecting a delicious stew with a ham bone, but instead finding a pot full of meat and no potatoes. The song is both comedic and critical of the lack of balance in the meal. The opening line, "a man works hard then comes on home," suggests that the hardworking individual should have the right to expect a well-balanced meal that his partner should have prepared.
The man in the song is clearly frustrated and disappointed with the absence of potatoes in the pot, and his voice goes up an octave when he exclaims, "All that meat and no potatoes, just ain't right, like green tomatoes." The metaphor "all that meat and no potatoes" expresses the idea that something essential is missing or incomplete. The singer's comparison of meatless stew to "green tomatoes" suggests that he is unsatisfied with the meal's quality just as a layman would not want to eat green tomatoes.
The song's humor was in its critique of imbalanced meals, which could be a reflection of the societal view that potatoes were a crucial part of the meal potatoes were cheap and could help stretch expensive meat cuts. The song carries a popular phrase, "all that meat and no potatoes," which has persisted as a term of derision for things that are insufficient or lacking in some way.
Line by Line Meaning
A man works hard then comes on home,
After a long day's work, a man heads home with the expectation of a hearty meal.
Expects to find stew with that fine ham bone.
He's looking forward to having some delicious stew, comprised of juicy meat that includes the ham bone.
He opens the door, then start to lookin',
He enters the house and immediately begins searching for the delightful meal awaiting him.
Says, Woman, what's this stuff you're cookin'?
The man inquires about the strange meal that he's encountered; he directs the question to his wife or the person preparing food in the kitchen.
All that meat and no potatoes,
He's clearly disappointed and surprised by the lack of potatoes in the meal, in spite of the meat being present.
Just ain't right, like green tomatoes.
The absence of potatoes in a 'meat and potatoes' dish is just as strange as having unripe, green tomatoes.
Here I'm waiting, palpitatin',
The man eagerly awaits the meal, his heart racing with anticipation, only to be greatly disappointed.
All that meat and no potatoes.
Once again, he expresses his disbelief at the situation: how can anyone have only meat without potatoes? That's just not acceptable!
All that food to the alligators, yes.
The man compares the meal to the act of feeding alligators - a senseless waste.
Hold me steady. I am ready
He tries to steady himself in preparation for the disappointment he's sure to experience with this meal, without any hope of potatoes.
For all that meat and no potatoes.
The man laments the fact that he will go without potatoes with his meal, even though he deserves it after his hard day at work.
I don't think that peas are bad.
The man concedes that he doesn't mind peas with his food.
With meat most anything goes.
He acknowledges that meat is versatile and goes well with a wide variety of foods, but not without potatoes!
I look into the pot. I'm fit to fight
The man gazes into the pot of food and gets agitated by the lack of potatoes in it; he may even be ready to fight someone over this travesty.
'Cause, woman, you know that mess ain't right.
The man directly addresses the person cooking the meal, expressing great dissatisfaction with the current situation.
Woman, I'm steamin'. I'm really screamin' All that meat and no potatoes.
The man's frustration boils over and he's now yelling at the person responsible for the disappointing meal: how can they serve meat without having any potatoes on the side?
Where is my fry and ham bone? Where is it?
The man once again politely demands to know about his particular food components that are missing and essential to the stew.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ED KIRKEBY, FATS WALLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@DeltaCity2K
"That's it, then. That's the last straw. I'm going to set the building on fire."
@john_marstonof1911
my stapler
@arserobinson7118
Office Space made this song a million times better
@josetripodero7934
Office Space ending, love it
@MrMustacrackish
The sound coming out of his horn is probably the closest anyone has ever come to recording happiness. And then to give him a voice like that. It's just not fair.
@quiksilverkid9772
That's what makes it so beautiful.
@clarkcant4818
i love that voice
@g0th1cbby50
I love his voice
@frankyh101
One of the most recognisable and iconic voices of all time. What's not fair?
@mugrootbeer454
@@ticky279 as thick as butter!