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.
Carry Me Back to Old Virginity
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's where the cotton and the corn and tatoes grow,
There's where the birds warble sweet in the springtime,
There's where the old darke'ys heart am long'd to go,
There's where I labored so hard for old massa,
Day after day in the field of yellow corn,
No place on earth do I love more sincerely
Than old Virginny, the state where I was born.
Carry me back to old Virginny,
There's where the cotton and the corn and tatoes grow,
There's where the birds warble sweet in the springtime,
There's where this old darkey's heart am long'd to go.
Carry me back to old Virginny,
There let me live 'till I wither and decay,
Long by the old Dismal Swamp have I wandered,
There's where this old darke'ys life will pass away.
Massa and missis have long gone before me,
Soon we will meet on that bright and golden shore,
There we'll be happy and free from all sorrow,
There's where we'll meet and we'll never part no more.
The song "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" is a sentimental ballad about the state of Virginia, written in 1878 by James Allen Bland, an African American songwriter. In Louis Armstrong's version of the song, the lyrics are sung by a former slave who reminisces about his life in Virginia, where he worked hard in the fields of yellow corn for his old master. The song is a nostalgic tribute to the old South, evoking the beauty of the countryside and the simplicity of life before the Civil War.
The opening line, "Carry me back to old Virginny," serves as a refrain that is repeated throughout the song, emphasizing the singer's deep longing to return to the place he once called home. He describes the crops that grow there, the birds that sing sweetly in the springtime, and the Dismal Swamp where he roamed as a young man. He also reflects on his life as a slave, working for his massa and missis, who have long since passed away. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the singer looking forward to the day when he will be reunited with his former master and mistress in heaven.
Overall, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" is a poignant reminder of the legacy of slavery in America and the longing for a simpler, more innocent time that many people feel, regardless of their background. The song has been covered by many artists over the years, including Bing Crosby, Ray Charles, and Johnny Cash, and remains a beloved classic of American music.
Line by Line Meaning
Carry me back to old Virginny,
Take me back to the state of Virginia where I long to be.
There's where the cotton and the corn and tatoes grow,
Virginia is where crops like cotton, corn, and potatoes are grown.
There's where the birds warble sweet in the springtime,
Virginia is where birds sing beautifully during the spring season.
There's where the old darke'ys heart am long'd to go,
The hearts of old African-Americans yearn to return to Virginia.
There's where I labored so hard for old massa,
I worked hard day after day in Virginia for my old owner.
Day after day in the field of yellow corn,
I worked tirelessly in a cornfield in Virginia every day.
No place on earth do I love more sincerely
Virginia is the place I love most genuinely on this earth.
Than old Virginny, the state where I was born.
The state of Virginia is where I was born and cherish the most.
There let me live 'till I wither and decay,
Let me live in Virginia until I die and crumble with age.
Long by the old Dismal Swamp have I wandered,
I roamed for a long time near the Dismal Swamp in Virginia.
There's where this old darkey's life will pass away.
Virginia is where my life as an African-American will end.
Massa and missis have long gone before me,
My old master and mistress have passed away long ago.
Soon we will meet on that bright and golden shore,
I will soon meet them in the afterlife in a bright and wonderful place.
There we'll be happy and free from all sorrow,
We will be joyful and free of all pain and sadness in the afterlife.
There's where we'll meet and we'll never part no more.
We will meet again and never be separated in the afterlife in Virginia.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JAMES A BLAND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@DanielSelk
He may have a bad voice but he seems like a nice person actually... poor guy.
@xedron1079
Yeah, at least Simon didn't say anything too terrible.
@lisablackson8758
I agree. He sounded normal when he gave his interview. What happened. He gave it a shot. More than what I could do.
@MrPernell27
Agreed, he seems like a really nice person. But wtf!!!
@mrscoolbeans7711
He does seem nice but why would his co-workers let him come on here?! I mean he just made a fool of himself!!
@alexanderleeart
+Daniel Selk yeah and he has a nice speaking voice. I guess he's just tone deaf
@KarmenTang100
Damn. That moment you realize that your coworkers were actually making fun of you. I can only imagine how horrible he felt after that.
@barrowlatasha86
I can imagine his Co workers face when they saw that
@lennylenz
OMG You took the thought straight out of my head!!!!! LOL
@keliseslaughter4261
Yashmin Is Amazing yeah but he didn't seem tha disappointed in himself