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.
Indiána
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Over land and sea
Yet a moonbeam on the water
Casts a spell o'er me
A vision fair I see
Again I seem to be
[Chorus]
And it seems that I can see
The gleaming candlelight
Still burning bright
Through the sycamores for me
The new-mown hay sends all its fragrance
Through the fields I used to roam
When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash
How I long for my Indiana home
Fancy paints on memory's canvas
Scenes that we hold dear
We recall them in days after
Clearly they appear
And often times I see
A scene that's dear to me
[Chorus]
The lyrics of Louis Armstrong's "Indiana" are a nostalgic ode to the singer's home state. He begins by describing himself as a wanderer, traveling across land and sea, but the sight of a moonbeam on the water transports him back to his Indiana home. The singer describes a vision of his hometown, where he can see the gleaming candlelight still burning bright through the sycamores. The fragrance of the new-mown hay sends memories flooding back of his childhood days spent roaming the fields. The final line of the chorus, "How I long for my Indiana home," encapsulates the essence of the song - a yearning for a place that holds special meaning and memories.
The second verse reflects on the power of memory to preserve scenes and places that hold personal significance. The singer speaks of "fancy paint[ing] on memory's canvas," a metaphor that refers to the vivid, almost dreamlike quality of memories. These scenes can be recalled "clearly" in moments of nostalgia, and the singer remembers one such scene that is dear to him.
Line by Line Meaning
I have always been a wanderer
I have spent my life moving from place to place
Over land and sea
I have traveled far and wide
Yet a moonbeam on the water
But even with all my travels, a simple thing like the reflection of the moon on water can still enchant me
Casts a spell o'er me
It has a hypnotic effect on me
A vision fair I see
I can see a beautiful sight
Again I seem to be
It transports me to another time and place
Back home again in Indiana
I am back in my home state of Indiana
And it seems that I can see
I can clearly picture
The gleaming candlelight
The shining light of a candle
Still burning bright
That is still lit
Through the sycamores for me
And I can see it shining through the trees
The new-mown hay sends all its fragrance
The freshly cut grass is sending out a lovely smell
Through the fields I used to roam
It reminds me of the fields where I used to go
When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash
When I think of the moon shining on the Wabash River
How I long for my Indiana home
I really miss my home in Indiana
Fancy paints on memory's canvas
Our imagination makes memories appear more vivid
Scenes that we hold dear
Memories that we cherish
We recall them in days after
We remember them long afterwards
Clearly they appear
Our memories are still very clear
And often times I see
And I often recall
A scene that's dear to me
A memory that is very precious to me
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: James F. Hanley, Ballard McDonald
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dickmiller5208
The entire band is amazing. I could not name one of them from sight other than Pops. What a shame such talent is not famous.
@jibsmokestack1
They are all either legends or great players but other than Pops Tyree Glenn and Billy Kyle are legendary players in my book!
@Lucius_Chiaraviglio
Seems that with Louis Armstrong in his later years, you always get a hybrid of traditional New Orleans jazz with modern jazz.
@thomastimlin1724
Arval Shaw is just incredible, and I'm a trumpet player....really all of them are.
@isaackahn7188
My favourite american musical genius!
@fatdan_95
Its remarkable how well he could play in his mid 60s.
@gregaudrey4299
Absolutely, all of his notes were still clear as a bell.
@redpeaux2107
GREAT bass player, too. Louis obviously is 20th century's greatest musician, no contest.
@tyd521
I love the way “On the Banks of the Wabash Far Away” is subtly played
@wcstrawberryfields8011
That trombone! What control...