Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, … Read Full Bio ↴Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
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.

Bessie Couldn't Help It
Louis Armstrong Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Bessie couldn't help it
Bessie couldn't help it

Bessie couldn't help it any more
Than you could or I could
Bessie couldn't help it though she tried to be good
Oh, so good

She was pretty as the heaven's above
Oh, boy but how she could love
Bessie had affection that was simply wonderful, terrible
But Bessie couldn't help it any more
Than you could or I could

When she smiled you were bound to fall, that's all
A boy kissed Bessie in the parlor one night
Why, oh, why did she yell with delight?
?Cause Bessie couldn't help it any more
Than you could or I could

Aww, dumb pe dumb, now people listen
Bessie couldn't help it any more
Than you could or I could
No, Bessie couldn't help it though she tried to be good
Oh, so good

She was pretty as the heavens above
And oh, boy how that girl could love
Bessie had affection that was simply wonderful
Bop, bop be de oww
Bessie couldn't help it any more
Than you could or I could

Now when she smiled you were bound to fall, that's all boy
Boy kissed Bessie in the street one night
My oh, my, how she yelled with delight

Bessie couldn't help it any more
Than you could or I could

Overall Meaning

The song "Bessie Couldn't Help It" by Louis Armstrong is a tribute to a woman named Bessie who was so filled with love and passion that she couldn't help but express it in all aspects of her life. The lyrics convey the idea that Bessie was a woman who tried to be good but couldn't control her emotions when it came to love. The song begins and ends with the repetition of the title phrase "Bessie couldn't help it," emphasizing the central message of the song.

Armstrong sings about Bessie's beauty and her ability to love deeply. The phrase "pretty as the heavens above" suggests that she was not only physically beautiful but also had a kind, loving spirit. The lyrics also mention a specific incident where a boy kissed Bessie, and she responded with delight, further emphasizing her inability to control her emotions in matters of love.

The song's use of repetition and simple language, such as "dumb pe dumb" and "bop, bop be de oww," give it a happy-go-lucky feel and make it accessible to a wide audience. Overall, "Bessie Couldn't Help It" celebrates a woman who lived her life fully and loved with all her heart.

Bessie Couldn't Help ItLouis Armstrong Lyrics

bob boscarato

Kathleen Probst

Heinz Becker

Bessie Couldn't Help It
Louis Armstrong Lyrics