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.
Careless Love Blues
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You've fly through my head like wine
You've wrecked the life of a many poor girl
And you nearly spoiled this life of mine
Love, oh love, oh careless love
In your clutches of desire
You've made me break a many true vow
Love, oh love, oh careless love
All my happiness bereft
You've filled my heart with weary old blues
Now I'm walkin', talkin' to myself
Love, oh love, oh careless love
Trusted you now, it's too late
You've made me throw my old friend down
That's why I sing this song of hate
Love, oh love, oh careless love
Night and day, I weep and moan
You brought the wrong man into this life of mine
For my sins, till judgment I'll atone
The song "Careless Love Blues" by Louis Armstrong is a bluesy lament about the problems love can bring. From the opening lines, the singer addresses love itself, calling it "careless" and comparing it to wine, which suggests that it can be intoxicating and have a powerful impact. The lyrics describe how love has caused pain and hardship in the singer's life, and how it has led him or her to betray promises and obligations. The singer also speaks of feeling a sense of emptiness and sorrow, as if love has taken away all of the happiness that once existed. Ultimately, the song is a bitter reflection on how love can sometimes be destructive and cruel.
Line by Line Meaning
Love, oh love, oh careless love
The singer addresses love as if it is a person and describes it as careless.
You've fly through my head like wine
Love has a strong and intoxicating effect on the singer.
You've wrecked the life of a many poor girl
Love has ruined the lives of many women.
And you nearly spoiled this life of mine
The artist's life was almost ruined by love.
In your clutches of desire
Love is portrayed as a powerful force that controls the artist.
You've made me break a many true vow
Love has caused the singer to break many promises.
Then you set my very soul on fire
The singer feels consumed by passion and desire.
All my happiness bereft
Love has taken away all of the artist's joy.
You've filled my heart with weary old blues
The artist's heart is filled with sadness and despair.
Now I'm walkin', talkin' to myself
The artist feels alone and lost.
Trusted you now, it's too late
The singer trusted love but now regrets it.
You've made me throw my old friend down
Love has caused the artist to betray a longtime friend.
That's why I sing this song of hate
The singer sings this song as an expression of anger and frustration towards love.
Night and day, I weep and moan
The singer is in constant emotional pain because of love.
You brought the wrong man into this life of mine
The singer blames love for attracting the wrong kind of person into their life.
For my sins, till judgment I'll atone
The artist believes they must pay for their mistakes related to love until the end of their life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ANGELO BADALAMENTI, JOHN MAYBURY
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