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.
Don't Be That Way
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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But darling, don't be blue
Don't cry, oh honey, please
Don't be that way
Clouds in the sky
Should never make you feel that way
The rain will bring the violets of May
Don't be that way
As long as we see it through
You'll have me, I'll have you
Sweetheart, tomorrow is another day
Don't break my heart, oh honey, please
Don't be that way
Don't cry, oh honey, please
Don't be that way
Clouds in the sky
Should never make you feel that way
The rain will bring the violets of May
Tears in vain, so honey, please
Don't be that way
As long as we will see it through
You'll have me and I'll have you
Sweetheart, tomorrow is another day
Don't break my heart, oh honey, please
Don't be that way
Don't cry
(Don't cry, don't cry)
Oh honey, please
Don't be that way
(Oh honey, please)
(Don't be that way)
Clouds in the sky
(Dig those crazy sky)
Should never make you feel that way
(So don't be that way)
Dig the rain
(Pitter, pitter, pitter, pitter patter)
Bring the violets of May
(Pitter patter of the rain drops)
Tears in vain
(Tears, tears)
So honey, please
Don't be that way
(Don't be that way)
As long as we will see it through
Oh baby, you'll have me and I'll have you
Sweetheart, tomorrow is another day
(Tomorrow is another day)
Don't break my heart
Oh honey, please
Don't be that way
Look here, baby don't cry
Oh honey, please
Don't be that way
Clouds in the sky
Should never make you feel that way
Yeah, don't cry
Honey, please don't be that way
Clouds in the sky
Oh honey, please
Don't be that way
(No, I'll never be that way)
Louis Armstrong's "Don't Be That Way" is a song about supporting a loved one through a difficult time. It begins with the singer noticing the sadness in his lover's eyes and encouraging her not to cry or be blue. He reminds her that the rain, which can sometimes bring gloominess, also brings the promise of new life in the form of the violets of May, and that tears are a futile response. The chorus is a plea for her not to let her sadness affect their relationship, with the singer expressing his willingness to see things through together. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the singer urging his lover not to break his heart and to remember that tomorrow is another day.
The main theme of the song is the power of love, and how it can help us persevere through difficult times. The song also touches on the idea that the only constant in life is change, and that we should try to stay positive and optimistic as much as possible. The song has a melancholic feel, but it remains upbeat and hopeful throughout.
Line by Line Meaning
April skies are in your eyes
You seem sad or troubled and it reflects in your eyes
But darling, don't be blue
Please don't be sad
Don't cry, oh honey, please
Please don't cry
Don't be that way
Don't act so down or depressed
Clouds in the sky
Rainy, cloudy weather
Should never make you feel that way
That kind of weather shouldn't affect your mood like that
The rain will bring the violets of May
Rain is necessary for plants to grow and bloom
Tears are in vain, so honey, please
There's no use in crying, so please don't
As long as we see it through
As long as we stick together and overcome our problems
You'll have me, I'll have you
We have each other for support
Sweetheart, tomorrow is another day
We can start fresh tomorrow
Don't break my heart, oh honey, please
Please don't hurt me by being so down
Look here, baby don't cry
Listen to me, don't cry
No, I'll never be that way
I'll never act so down or depressed
Lyrics © REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BENNY GOODMAN, EDGAR SAMPSON, MITCHELL PARISH
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