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.
Introduction To Georgia Grind
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Out in the backyard, shakin' like this
Doin' that Georgia Grind
That old Georgia Grind
Now everybody's ravin' 'bout that old Georgia Grind
I can shake it East
But way down South I can shake it best
Doin' the Georgia Grind
I's just doin' the Georgia Grind
Everybody's talkin' 'bout that old Georgia Grind
Come in here, gal; come in here right now
I see you're tryin' to be bad, but if you don't know how
You do the Georgia Grind
Oh, the Georgia Grind
Everybody's tryin'
To do the Georgia Grind
Well, old Miss Jones was in second place
She did the Georgia Grind through a stick of waste
She did the Georgia Grind
She went crazy 'bout that Georgia Grind
Now everybody's ravin' 'bout that old Georgia Grind
The lyrics of Louis Armstrong's song Georgia Grind talk about a dance craze that was very popular in the early 20th century, particularly in the Southern states of the US. The singer is marveling at the sight of someone doing the Georgia Grind and says that everyone is raving about it. He then declares that he himself is good at shaking his body in different directions, but he can do it best when he's doing the Georgia Grind. He invites a girl to come and try it, saying that it's easy to be bad if you know how to do it right, and encourages everyone to join in on the fun.
The verses of the song are interspersed with a repeated chorus that emphasizes the popularity of the Georgia Grind, as everyone is trying to do it and going crazy about it. The lyrics are simple and playful, serving as a celebration of a lively and entertaining dance.
Overall, the Georgia Grind was a dance that involved shaking and gyrating the hips, as well as some suggestive movements involving the arms and legs. It was seen as scandalous and indecent by some, but it was beloved by many and became a significant part of early 20th-century popular culture.
Line by Line Meaning
Papa, papa, just look at this
Hey dad, come check this out
Out in the backyard, shakin' like this
I'm outside moving my body like this
Doin' that Georgia Grind
I'm doing a dance called the Georgia Grind
That old Georgia Grind
A classic dance called the Georgia Grind
Now everybody's ravin' 'bout that old Georgia Grind
This dance is popular and everyone is talking about it
I can shake it East
I can move my body to the East
And I can shake it West
And I can move my body to the West
But way down South I can shake it best
I'm at my best when I move my body to the South
Doin' the Georgia Grind
I'm still doing the Georgia Grind dance
I's just doin' the Georgia Grind
I'm just moving to the beat of the Georgia Grind
Come in here, gal; come in here right now
Hey girl, come in here now
I see you're tryin' to be bad, but if you don't know how
I can tell you're trying to act cool, but you need to know how to move
You do the Georgia Grind
Here's how to dance, do the Georgia Grind
Oh, the Georgia Grind
Again, the dance is called the Georgia Grind
Everybody's tryin'
Everyone is attempting to do the dance
To do the Georgia Grind
To perform the Georgia Grind dance
Well, old Miss Jones was in second place
There was a competition and Miss Jones came in second
She did the Georgia Grind through a stick of waste
She danced the Georgia Grind while holding a stick of waste
She did the Georgia Grind
Miss Jones performed the Georgia Grind
She went crazy 'bout that Georgia Grind
Miss Jones loved the Georgia Grind dance
Now everybody's ravin' 'bout that old Georgia Grind
Again, everyone is talking about and enjoying the Georgia Grind dance
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALLEN WILLIAMS
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