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.
I'm Not Rough
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But the woman that gets me
Won't treat me right
'Cause I'm crasy 'bout my lovin'
And I must have it all the time
It takes a blanky woman
Too busy 'bout my mind
Too busy 'bout my mind.
Louis Armstrong's song "I'm Not Rough" is a song about a man who is looking for a woman to love him but has trouble finding the right one. He is not a rough man, nor someone who would bite or hurt a woman, but still struggles to find someone who will love him back. The singer of the song is crazy about his love and desires it all the time, which is a big reason why he can't find the right woman. The song suggests that he needs a woman who will be blanketed and attentive towards him.
The lyrics of this song speak to the idea of a man who is looking for love but can't find it because of his high desires for intimacy. Though he isn't rough or mean, he can't seem to find the right person to love him back. The song portrays a man who desires to be treated well and to be loved deeply. By the end of the song, the singer seems to have found a woman who is too busy thinking about him, which shines a positive light on the outlook for their relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Now, I ain't rough and I don't bite
I am a gentleman and not violent
But the woman that gets me
But the woman who becomes mine
Won't treat me right
Won't treat me well or satisfy my needs
'Cause I'm crasy 'bout my lovin'
Because I am passionate about my love
And I must have it all the time
And I need it constantly and consistently
It takes a blanky woman
It requires a patient and understanding woman
Too busy 'bout my mind
Someone who is more concerned with my thoughts and feelings than her own distractions
Writer(s): Lillian Hardin
Contributed by Kaelyn W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ernestoescobar1967
Lonnie Johnson in the guitar 🎸🤘
@lesterwyoung
Beautiful clear sound, as if it was recorded yesterday.
@BassetHoundTrio
Love it! As always, superb transfer!
@chazhernandez701
Great song! The J.Geils Band recorded this in 1977. Great modern version!