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.
My Man's Gone Now
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ain't no use a listenin'
For his tired footsteps
Climbin' up the stairs
Old man sorrow's
Come to keep me company
Whisperin' beside me
When I say my prayers
He come around
He come up, he come around
Ain't that I mind workin'
Workin' means travelers
Journeyin' together
To the promised land
But old man sorrow
Mountin' all the way with me
Tell me that I'm old now
Since I lose my man
Since I lose my man
Since I lose my man
Louis Armstrong's "My Man's Gone Now" is a poignant song about the aftermath of losing a loved one. The opening line, "My man's gone now," sets the tone for the rest of the song, which is filled with loneliness and heartbreak. The singer describes how they can no longer hear their lover's footsteps and how they are haunted by old man sorrow. They long for their lover's return, even though they know it's impossible.
The singer tries to find solace in work, describing how it means traveling to the promised land. But no matter what they do, they can't escape the grief that consumes them. Old man sorrow is always there, even when they say their prayers. The song ends with the singer acknowledging that they are old now, since they lost their man.
Overall, "My Man's Gone Now" is a moving tribute to love and loss. It captures the depth of emotion that comes with losing someone you love and how that loss can impact every aspect of your life.
Line by Line Meaning
My man's gone now
My lover has departed, never to return
Ain't no use a listenin'
It's pointless to even try to hear his footsteps again
For his tired footsteps
In remembrance of his wearied steps climbing up the stairs
Old man sorrow's
Grief and sorrow have come to replace the lost love
Come to keep me company
Staying to comfort and remain with me in my sorrow
Whisperin' beside me
Speaking in whispers beside me, reminding me of what is lost
When I say my prayers
During my nightly prayers and meditations
He come aroud
But when I call, he never comes around
He come up, he come around
He doesn't visit me, even though I know he's not far
Ain't that I mind workin'
I don't mind working to stay busy and productive
Workin' means travelers
Working means we are all just passing through, journeying together
Journeyin' togheter
We are all on a shared journey, headed towards the same destination
To the promised land
The promised land of our dreams and hopes
But old man sorrow
However, grief and sadness are my constant companions
Mountin' all the way with me
Never leaving my side as I make my way through life
Tell' me that I'm old now
Reminding me that the loss of my lover has aged me beyond my years
Since I lose my man
Because I lost my love
Since I lose my man
Since the day my lover departed
Since I lose my man
Since my heart was broken and my world was forever changed
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: IRA GERSHWIN, GEORGE GERSHWIN, DU BOSE HEYWARD, DOROTHY HEYWARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tootsierool8624
My man's gone now
Ain't no use a listenin'
For his tired footsteps
Climbin' up the stairs
Old man sorrow's
Come to keep me company
Whisperin' beside me
When I say my prayers
Sint that i mind working working i a travellers journeying together to the promised land I say my prayers
He come aroud
He come up, he come around
Ain't that I mind workin'
Workin' means travelers
Journeyin' togheter
But old man sorrow
Mountin' all the way with me
Tell' me that I'm old now
Since I lose my man
Since I lose my man
Since I lose my man
@iwpchi303
Spectacular jazz arrangement of the Gershwin classic, performed by an amazing jazz string & horn section arranged by jazz genius Russell Garcia and sung by the immortal Ella Fitzgerald. Congratulations on your web journey to this location on the Internet where the soul of music never dies! This version is the standard against which all others must be judged!
Thanks for posting this!
Workers of the World, Unite!
Independent Workers Party of Chicago
@danielboyer3272
Ella Fitzgerald !! La voix d'un Ange !
@justice5992
SANG!!!
@arsenalius6855
Ella & Louis forever!!!
👍❤️
🙏
@EricPeron
Sometimes, the best can born from a combination of many talents. Often, it can't pleasing to everyone...
@MrBassflute
Love Ella and Louis...listen to Audra McDonald's performance of the classical version.
@robertofernandesbastos218
Ella can not have the pathos of Mc Rae, but her voice and sense of the melody are so strong that made her version unpair
@juliolazzagonzalez
RIP #GeorgeGershwin
@larrycohen5830
Just listened to Carmen McRae's and am in total agreement with jazzyscookie (although Ella's voice is that of Hashem.)
@jazzyscookie
Attached Carmen's version to this video