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: âYou canât play nothing on modern trumpet that doesnât 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.
Moonlinght In Vermont
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Falling leaves of a sycamore
Moonlight in Vermont
Icey finger waves
Ski trails on a mountain side
Snowlight in Vermont
And travel each bend in the road
People who meet, in this romantic setting
Are so hypnotized by the lovely
Evening summer breeze
Warbling of a meadowlark
Moonlight in Vermont
Telegraph cables, they sing down the highway
And travel each bend in the road
People who meet, in this romantic setting
Are so hypnotized by the lovely
Evening summer breeze
Warbling of a meadowlark
Moonlight in Vermont
You and I and moonlight in Vermont
Moonlight in Vermont
The lyrics to Louis Armstrong's song Moonlight in Vermont are a poetic portrayal of the beauty of the state of Vermont. The opening lines "Pennies in a stream, falling leaves of a sycamore, moonlight in Vermont" evoke a sense of nostalgia and romanticism. The imagery of the pennies in a stream and the falling leaves of a sycamore tree create a serene and peaceful backdrop for the moonlight to shine upon.
The next verse speaks of the winter scenery of Vermont with "icey finger waves, ski trails on a mountain side, snowlight in Vermont". This verse brings forth a completely different set of images, painting a stark and cold winter landscape. Even amidst the chilling scenery, Vermont's beauty still shines through.
The final verse brings the listener back to a romantic setting, describing how "people who meet in this romantic setting are so hypnotized by the lovely evening summer breeze, warbling of a meadowlark, moonlight in Vermont". The lyrics are written in a way that makes the listener feel like they are in Vermont, experiencing the calming and picturesque scenes for themselves.
Line by Line Meaning
Pennies in a stream
Coins floating along a river
Falling leaves of a sycamore
Sycamore tree leaves descending to the ground
Moonlight in Vermont
Vermont illuminated by the moon
Icey finger waves
Cold, wavy water
Ski trails on a mountain side
Paths carved in snow on a slope
Snowlight in Vermont
Vermont covered in snow
Telegraph cables, they sing down the highway
The sound of telegraph wires running along a road
And travel each bend in the road
Following the twists and turns of the path
People who meet, in this romantic setting
Individuals who encounter each other in this charming location
Are so hypnotized by the lovely
The beauty of it captivates them
Evening summer breeze
The gentle wind of a summer night
Warbling of a meadowlark
A meadowlark singing
Moonlight in Vermont
Vermont illuminated by the moon
You and I and moonlight in Vermont
You and I experiencing Vermont's moonlit scenery
Lyrics Š Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: John M. Blackburn, Karl Suessdorf
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
isaia273
I have written this song some Townsend if incarnations ago. Was inspired with a guy that was a great manipulator tyrant and hater of everything Slavic. He has liked a part of the sky without bigger stars. It has arisen from his wish of hiding important data about himself.
Such people end up buy knowing nothing about themselves and some other knowing everything about them.
I have seen Satchmo reincarnated in Croatia in his home and home of music.
The guy is J. B. Tito.
Such people like believe to non analysable
It is like trisection of angle is impossible so nine section is even more đ.
This is why after one girl that doesnât look so has castrated a Russian in war, and he is now in a German prison for killing a guy that has captured him. I have send a Croat to incarnate in Germany as Beethoven with a task to develop my musical ideas for the 9th symphony, for all the non analysable ones.
The girl was later sentenced to 9 years.
The guy would not seek for revenge. Would give up that idea as Townsend of others like him did, but he was called âa lover boyâ by a foreign lady living nearby. So he begged Space to let him meet the guy who captured him once in the future. And that other guy has just done his job. It wasnât he who harmed him. It is bad luck and hatred speech. From that hatred speech a lovelyâs song was produced here in the home of music.
NA
No body plays the horn like Louie.......he puts that swag on it
wanderleyfaccas
yes indeed
Captain Nemo
Totally understated and beautiful. đđĽ°
javier Azmat
ÂĄSublime!
xenoaxis6910
Nowhere is there a more beautiful view, then in Vermont
Carlos Michal
Hay que amar el mundo intensamente para hacer este tema...
Marielle Desachy
Merveilleux ! Magique
Lucas Conkling
Unbelievable!
snowngeorgia
Perfect..
good cat
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