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.
Stompin' At the Savoy #2
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Savoy, it wins you at a glance
Savoy, gives happy feet a chance to dance
Your old form just like a clinging vine
Your lips so warm and sweet as wine
Your cheek so soft and close to mine, divine
How my heart is singing
Never tired of romping
And stomping with you at the Savoy
What joy, a perfect holiday
Savoy, where we can glide and sway
Savoy, let me stomp away with you
Boo ba di ba di di bo bo bo
(Savoy) the home of sweet romance
(Savoy) wins you at a glance
(Swing it Ella) happy feet
A chance to dance at the Savoy
Like a clinging vine
So warm and sweet as wine
And close to mine, divine
How my heart is singing
While the band is swinging
I'm never tired of romping
And stomping with you at the Savoy
(Savoy) a perfect holiday
Where we can glide and sway
Let me stomp away with you
Da ba da ba di da doo loop
What joy to be together at Savoy
Romping and stomping with you at the Savoy
Never tired of romping
And stomping with you
While the band is romping
What do we do, what do we do
Jump, jump, jump, jump, swing at the Savoy
Romp, romp, romp, romp, romp at the Savoy
Could be was it
Atlantic city
Lord we would talk about that night
Yeah we're talking about some boy
Bet to the Savoy
Bet to the Savoy
To the Savoy
Never romping stomp away
We're shakin' at the Savoy
You shake my hand
In "Stompin' At The Savoy," Louis Armstrong describes the Savoy Ballroom as an oasis for a couple seeking a romantic escape from reality. The Savoy Ballroom was a famous dance hall in Harlem, New York City that was operating from 1926 to 1958. The ballroom was known for its grandeur and size: the dance floor was 10,000 square feet in area, and the venue could accommodate up to 4,000 dancers at one time.
The first stanza celebrates the sensuality of the female partner in the dance. The first line, "Savoy, the home of sweet romance," sets the stage for the ballroom as a space of love and attraction. The next two lines focus on the seductiveness of the dance: the woman wins the man over with a glance from across the room, and the dance floor gives them a chance to "romp and stomp" together, the physical expressions of desire. The second stanza chooses similes to describe the male partner's attraction to the woman. He describes her form as a "clinging vine" and her lips as "warm and sweet as wine," both images of natural beauty associated with passion.
Throughout the song, the refrain mentions the band as a third, equal participant in the experience. The phrase "while the band is swinging" is repeated twice, emphasizing the importance of the music to the dance's environment. The song concludes by highlighting the joys of unity and togetherness. The last two lines encourage the couple to dance without stopping at the Savoy: "What joy to be together at Savoy / Romping and stomping with you at the Savoy."
Line by Line Meaning
Savoy, the home of sweet romance
Savoy is known for its romantic atmosphere
Savoy, it wins you at a glance
Savoy captivates you immediately upon arrival
Savoy, gives happy feet a chance to dance
Savoy provides a dance floor for people to enjoy themselves
Your old form just like a clinging vine
Your body is soft and supple
Your lips so warm and sweet as wine
Your lips are inviting and pleasurable
Your cheek so soft and close to mine, divine
The closeness of our bodies is truly heavenly
How my heart is singing
My heart is filled with happiness
While the band is swinging
The music is lively and upbeat
Never tired of romping
I never tire of dancing and enjoying myself
And stomping with you at the Savoy
I love to dance with you at Savoy
What joy, a perfect holiday
It's a perfect vacation spot filled with joy
Savoy, where we can glide and sway
At Savoy, we can dance gracefully and elegantly
Savoy, let me stomp away with you
Let's dance together at Savoy
Boo ba di ba di di bo bo bo
Musical interlude
Swing it Ella
An encouragement for Ella Fitzgerald to sing
What joy to be together at Savoy
It's wonderful to be with you at Savoy
While the band is romping
The band is playing music energetically
What do we do, what do we do
What dance moves should we do?
Jump, jump, jump, jump, swing at the Savoy
Jump and swing to the music at Savoy
Romp, romp, romp, romp, romp at the Savoy
Dance energetically at Savoy
Could be was it Atlantic city
Possibly we were in Atlantic City
Lord we would talk about that night
We would reminisce about that night
Yeah we're talking about some boy
We're talking about a guy we saw
Bet to the Savoy
Wagered to dance at Savoy
To the Savoy
Let's go to dance at Savoy
Never romping stomp away
Don't stop dancing and enjoy yourself
We're shakin' at the Savoy
We're dancing and having fun at Savoy
You shake my hand
We share our joy and appreciation for each other through a handshake
Lyrics © REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Benny Goodman, Edgar Sampson, Chick Webb
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