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 in the Market for You
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Find out what he can do,
'Cause I'm in the market for you.
There won't be any joker,
With margin I'm all through,
'Cause I want you outright, it's true.
I want a thousand shares of your caresses, too.
We'll count the hugs and kisses,
When dividends are due,
'Cause I'm in the market for you!
Louis Armstrong's song "I'm in the Market for You" is a playful romantic tune that presented the theme of love and the stock market in a unique way. The lyrics start with the singer saying that they'll have to consult their broker and find out what they can do since they're in the market for the person they're singing to. The singer makes it clear that there won't be any joker with a margin; they want the person outright because it's true. The singer goes on to say that the person they're singing to is going up, up, up in their estimation, and they want a thousand shares of their caresses, too. They declare that they will count the hugs and kisses as dividends due because they're in the market for the person they love.
The song's juxtaposition of romantic love with the stock market is clever and entertaining. The singer views their love as an investment and goes through the usual language of trading stocks, using words such as broker, margin, and dividends. The song shows how the singer has put everything on the line to get the attention of the person they love. They are not content with just a piece of them; they want them outright.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll have to see my broker,
I need to consult my financial advisor
Find out what he can do,
Determine the feasibility of investing
'Cause I'm in the market for you.
Because I want to invest in you
There won't be any joker,
There will be no foolish or risky investments made
With margin I'm all through,
No more borrowing or taking risks on an investment
'Cause I want you outright, it's true.
I want total ownership of what I invest in
You're going up, up, up in my estimation,
You are increasing in value in my eyes
I want a thousand shares of your caresses, too.
I desire an abundance of your affection
We'll count the hugs and kisses,
We will reap the benefits of our relationship
When dividends are due,
When we receive returns on our investment
'Cause I'm in the market for you!
Because I am committed to investing in our relationship
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JAMES F. HANLEY, JOSEPH ALLAN MCCARTHY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Thomas .Hennessey
The official "swing era" in jazz is usually 1935-1945 but a lot of big band material between 1929 and 1935 including most of Armstrong's recordings after Ain't Misbehavin' in 1929 is setting the mood and style of arranged jazz with improvised solos. See From Jazz to Swing by Thomas J. Hennessey for lots more details This is a Los Angeles-based band that Armstrong used when he played Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club in that area in the early 1930s.
Thomas .Hennessey
The record was made in Los Angeles not New York. Louis records in NY from March 1929 to May 1930. His really big crossover hit AIn't Misbehavin is recorded July 19,1929. Armstrong is playing in Los Angeles in1930-31.
ROGER OFFORD
Must have been sad for all those folks who had lost money in the 1929 crash. Still a good record despite those strained high notes-we can forgive Louis anything. Nice Laurence Brown on trombone.
Nelson Smith
I can't imagine the song was very popular in 1930 when it was recorded. I'm pretty sure if the phrase "too soon" had been around someone would've surely used it.
rareblues78daddy
Man, you can really tell the group just wasn't into this one. So lethargic....
Kirk Barkley
Was it called Swing 'way back in '3O? Fascinating.
Richard Salvucci
Harry James recorded this--I gotta think he got it from Pops, whom he loved--can someone help me with the chord progression?
Heinz Becker
When do you want Swing to be?
Albert Duke Of Edinburgh
A "strained high note" from Louis Armstrong even on a " cross over " where the band were " clearly not engaged" is equivalent to the best output of 100 of the mainstay horn players of the " mainstream" of this era ....