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.
Oh My Papa
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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Won't somebody tell me where?
I don't care what she says
I don't care what she's done
Won't somebody tell me where's my Bess?
Bess, no, Lord, my Bess, I want her now
Without her I can't go on
Till I got home to see her face
Won't somebody tell me where's my Bess?
I want her so, my gal, where is she?
Oh Lord, in your big heaven
Show me where I must go
Oh, give me the strength, show me the way
Tell me the truth, where is she? Where is my gal?
Where is my Bess?
Louis Armstrong's "Bess, Oh Where's My Bess?" is a song that appeals to the audience's emotions through the expression of love, longing, and confusion. The singer is searching for his beloved Bess, and he does not care what has happened in the past or what she has done; he only knows that he cannot continue without her. The lyrics express his desperation as he questions where she is and pleads for someone, even God, to show him the way and the truth about her whereabouts.
The lyrics of the song showcase Armstrong's vocal range as he oscillates between soft and tender moments and more urgent and intense ones. The song's melody moves seamlessly from a slow and pensive tone to a more upbeat and soulful one, creating an emotional crescendo that reflects the singer's inner turmoil. The lyrics are simple but poignant, with repetition emphasizing the singer's desperation and eagerness to be reunited with the one he loves.
Line by Line Meaning
Bess, oh, where's my Bess?
I am desperately searching for my beloved Bess, and I need to know where she is.
Won't somebody tell me where?
I need someone to come forward and tell me where Bess is, as I am lost without her.
I don't care what she says
Regardless of what Bess may say or do, I still need to find her.
I don't care what she's done
No matter what Bess has done in the past, I still long for her and want to be reunited.
Bess, no, Lord, my Bess, I want her now
Bess is the only one for me, and I cannot wait any longer to be with her again.
Without her I can't go on
My life is incomplete without Bess, and I need her by my side to keep going.
I counted the days that I was gone
While I was away from Bess, I kept track of every day as I longed to be with her more and more.
Till I got home to see her face
All I wanted was to return home and be greeted by Bess's loving presence.
I want her so, my gal, where is she?
My desire for Bess is so strong that I cannot rest until I find her.
Oh Lord, in your big heaven
I am turning to a higher power to help guide me in my search for Bess.
Show me where I must go
I am lost in my search for Bess, and I need direction to find her.
Oh, give me the strength, show me the way
I am asking for strength and guidance to keep searching for Bess and to not lose hope.
Tell me the truth, where is she? Where is my gal?
I need someone to reveal the truth about Bess's whereabouts, as I cannot live without her and need to know where she is.
Where is my Bess?
I am consumed by the need to find Bess, and I will not be at peace until we are reunited.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dorothy Heyward, Du Bose Heyward, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
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