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.
Louise
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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Birds in the trees twitter Louise
Each little rose tells me it knows I love you
Love you
Every little beat that I feel in my heart
Seems to repeat what I felt at the start
Each little sign tells me that I adore you
Oh, just to see and hear you
Brings joy I never knew
But to be so near you
Thrills me through and through
Well, anyone can see why I wanted your kiss
It had to be, but the wonder is this
Can it be true someone like you could love me?
Oh, Louise
Oh, just to see and hear you
Brings joy I never knew
But to be so near you
Thrills me through and through
So anyone can see why I wanted your kiss
It had to be, but the wonder is this
Can it be true someone like you could love me?
Oh, Louise
The song "Louise" by Louis Armstrong And His Band is an ode to a woman named Louise whom the singer loves deeply. The song speaks of how every little thing in nature - the breeze, birds, and roses - reminds the singer of her. The singer confesses that every beat of his heart seems to repeat the love he felt for Louise when he first fell for her, and every sign tells him that he adores her. The joy she brings to the singer's life is unmatched, and just being near her thrills him inside out. The listener can sense the singer's wonder at finding someone like Louise, who could love him back.
The lyrics evoke a sense of romance and passion that is hard to miss. The repeated use of phrases such as "love you" and "adore you" emphasize the depth of the singer's feelings for Louise, and his excitement at being able to love and be loved in return. The song's simple, yet effective lyrics, are a testament to the power of love in transforming an individual's world, and the joy it brings to life.
Line by Line Meaning
Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise
Every soft gust of wind carries your name, Louise, a name that seems to be all around me.
Birds in the trees twitter Louise
Even the birds perched on the trees tweet and knowingly sing of my affection for you, Louise.
Each little rose tells me it knows I love you
As I look at each rose, its beauty tells me it knows about the love I have for you, Louise.
Love you
Simply put, I love you, Louise.
Every little beat that I feel in my heart
Every pulsation I feel in my heart, Louise, reminds me of the love you have awakened within me.
Seems to repeat what I felt at the start
The constant thumping echoes the same feeling I had when I first fell in love with you, Louise.
Each little sign tells me that I adore you
Each sign that appears at every juncture, Louise, I interpret it as a reminder that I adore you deeply.
Oh, just to see and hear you
Oh, just a sight of you and the sound of your voice nourshes a powerful feeling in me, Louise.
Brings joy I never knew
Hearing you and seeing you gives me a feeling so beautiful that I never knew existed before, Louise.
But to be so near you
Closer proximity to you, Louise is a dream come true.
Thrills me through and through
Being near you, Louise sends a sensation through my whole body, filling me with an overpowering joy, physical and emotional pleasure.
Well, anyone can see why I wanted your kiss
Well, dear Louise, it's evident to anyone why I yearned to kiss you because of the love that I have for you.
It had to be, but the wonder is this
It was a foregone conclusion that I would love to kiss you, Louise, the wonder is why someone as wonderful as you chooses to love me back.
Can it be true someone like you could love me?
I still find it hard to believe someone as magnificent as you could love me, Louise.
Oh, Louise
All of these thoughts and feelings point to one person, you, Louise.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: EARL CARROLL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Trombonology Erstwhile
Always wonderful to hear non-commercially recorded Louis!