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.
That Rhythm Man
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the children play to rhythm
All the birdies flap their wings in rhythm too
Oh, the breezes float to rhythm
And the rivers flow to rhythm
Every flower nods in rhythm all day through
And the children play to rhythm
All the birdies flap their wings in rhythm too
Oh, the breezes float to rhythm
And the rivers flow to rhythm
Every flower nods in rhythm all day through
Every dance and every melody
Acts according to this recipe
Everybody walks to rhythm
Everybody talks to rhythm
Seems like the world can do without that rhythm man
Bob-bee-doh-bob-bee-doh-doh
Bib-bee-doh-bee-bo-bee-dee-doh
Bob-bee-doh-bo-bob-bob-bee-doh
The lyrics of Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra's song That Rhythm Man celebrate the power and ubiquity of rhythm in the natural world and in human life. The song portrays a world where rhythm is an essential element of everything from the swaying of trees to the flapping of bird wings, from the flowing of rivers to the nodding of flowers. The lyrics evoke a strong sense of the interconnectedness of all things, united and animated by the pulse of rhythm. The song also suggests that the human ability to walk, talk, dance, and create music is similarly built on the bedrock of rhythm. In the end, the lyrics suggest that the world cannot do without "that rhythm man," the figure who provides the beat that keeps the world moving.
In essence, the song is a joyful celebration of the power and beauty of rhythm, and it invites listeners to experience the world as a harmonious and rhythmic whole. The use of onomatopoeic sounds, such as "bob-bee-doh," "bib-bee-doh," and "bee-bo-bee-dee-doh," reinforces the rhythmic quality of the lyrics and adds to the playful and joyful mood of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Now the tress all sway to rhythm
The trees move back and forth in time to a musical beat
And the children play to rhythm
Kids engage in rhythmic activities
All the birdies flap their wings in rhythm too
The birds also move to the musical beat
Oh, the breezes float to rhythm
The wind blows in a rhythmic pattern
And the rivers flow to rhythm
The water currents move in a rhythmic pattern
Every flower nods in rhythm all day through
Even the flowers sway back and forth to the beat all day long
Every dance and every melody
Every type of music and movement
Acts according to this recipe
They manifest rhythm in the same way
Everybody walks to rhythm
Everyone moves their feet to a musical beat
Everybody talks to rhythm
Speeches and conversations come out rhythmically
Seems like the world can do without that rhythm man
It seems the world would be fine without the person responsible for rhythm
Bob-bee-doh-bob-bee-doh-doh
Vocalization of a musical beat
Bib-bee-doh-bee-bo-bee-dee-doh
Vocalization of a musical beat
Bob-bee-doh-bo-bob-bob-bee-doh
Vocalization of a musical beat
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: ANDY RAZAF, FATS WALLER, HARRY BROOKS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Hughes
I love this tune! It's perfect.
Heinz Becker
right
BigSpiderback
Mancy Cara,Pete Briggs & Zutty Singleton The greatest rhythm PERFECT for Louis
Thomas .Hennessey
This is the band Louis had been playing in live almost nightly in Chicago for a couple of years while making the last of his Chicago small group recordings. They came to NY in early 1929 but did not succeed as a group. Armstrog started to become a crossover star. This tune was recorded at the same session as Black and Blue that was the B side of his first huge hit Ain't Misbehavin'
camous joel
Dans ce morceau il y a une tension dramatique qui commence à augmenter juste apres le vocal d'Armstrong ...
Heinz Becker
right
Lee Berry
brilliant! t/y
bob boscarato
Good Louie!
little jo
Does anyone know who would have written the arrangement for this?
Heinz Becker
Carrol Dickerson was the leader in this recording - so maybe Carrol