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.
Mississippi Basin
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I was happy under levy
Wanna take my ride for place
In the Mississippi Basin back home
Where I did at home
Everybody was for me there
All the folks work on and free there
In that Mississippi Basin back home
There goes summer land
That's the song I'm singing all day
Even something, baby
Why did I leave you, why did I go away
Soon I'm gonna make a bee line
But an old place for me and
Way across the basin, dig line
That Mississippi Basin back home
The lyrics of Mississippi Basin by Louis Armstrong is about a person who is reminiscing about his happy experiences in the Mississippi Basin. Despite the burdens and challenges that he had to carry, the singer reflects on how content and fulfilled he was during his time in the Mississippi Basin. The singer expresses his yearning to return to the place where he feels most at home, where he feels accepted and loved by the people who live there.
The lyrics also emphasize the singer's appreciation for the Basin’s natural surroundings. He mentions how much he loved to wash his face in the Mississippi Basin, which suggests that he has a close connection to the river and its ecosystem. As he sings the song, the singer reflects on the beauty and power of the Basin and evokes a strong sense of nostalgia for a time and place that he can never fully reclaim. The song is wistful and reflective, but also joyful in a way that suggests the singer is recalling his time in the Mississippi Basin with great affection.
Line by Line Meaning
Even though the weight was heavy
Despite facing tremendous challenges
I was happy under levy
I found joy in life under the flood protection levee
Wanna take my ride for place
I yearn to return to my childhood home in the Mississippi Basin
In the Mississippi Basin back home
My heart belongs in my hometown on the Mississippi River
Where I did at home
I felt comfortable and secure in the place where I grew up
Everybody was for me there
I had the support and love of everyone in my hometown
All the folks work on and free there
No matter what their occupation, every person was valued and respected for their work in the Mississippi Basin
Used to love to wash my face
I enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, like washing my face in the river
There goes summer land
I am reminded of my happy childhood memories as I sing this song all day long
That's the song I'm singing all day
The song reminds me of my past and brings me comfort
Even something, baby
There's something special about my hometown that I can't explain
Why did I leave you, why did I go away
I regret leaving my hometown and wish I could go back
Soon I'm gonna make a bee line
I have a strong desire to return to my hometown as soon as possible
But an old place for me and
My hometown is the only place I truly belong
Way across the basin, dig line
I will travel through the entire Mississippi Basin to get back home
That Mississippi Basin back home
My true home is in the Mississippi Basin, and I will never forget that
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANDY RAZAF, REGINALD CHARLES FORESYTHE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Clarke Laidlaw
Louis Daniel Armstrong.A hero of the first degree..so much love.you hear it in his voice,you hear it in each note he plays,you see it when he smiles.
Muffs 55mercury
So glad to see these postings. That way us 78 collectors can hear the song before buying the record.
Kurt Miller
on coronavirius holiday with satchomo