Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, … Read Full Bio ↴Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
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.

The Ballad Of Davy Crocket
Louis Armstrong Lyrics

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Born on a mountain top in Tennessee
Greenest state in the land of the free
Raised in the woods so he knew ev'ry tree
Kilt him a b'ar when he was only three
Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier

In eighteen thirteen the Creeks uprose
Addin' redskin arrows to the country's woes

Now, Injun fightin' is somethin' he knows
So he shoulders his rifle an' off he goes
Davy, Davy Crockett, the man who don't know fear

Off through the woods he's a-marchin' along
Makin' up yarns an' a-singin' a song
Itchin' fer fightin' an' rightin' a wrong
He's ringy as a b'ar an' twict as strong
Davy, Davy Crockett, the buckskin buccaneer

Andy Jackson is our gen'ral's name
His reg'lar soldiers we'll put to shame
Them redskin varmints us volunteers'll tame
'Cause we got the guns with the sure-fire aim
Davy, Davy Crockett, the champion of us all

Headed back to war from the ol' home place
But Red Stick was leadin' a merry chase
Fightin' an' burnin' at a devil's pace
South to the swamps on the Florida Trace
Davy, Davy Crockett, trackin' the redskins down

Fought single-handed through the Injun War
Till the Creeks was whipped an' peace was in store
An' while he was handlin' this risky chore
Made himself a legend for evermore
Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier

He give his word an' he give his hand
That his Injun friends could keep their land
An' the rest of his life he took the stand
That justice was due every redskin band
Davy, Davy Crockett, holdin' his promise dear

Home fer the winter with his family
Happy as squirrels in the olc1

Overall Meaning

The Ballad of Davy Crockett by Louis Armstrong tells the story of one of the greatest frontiersmen in American history, Davy Crockett. The song begins by describing his birth on a mountain top in Tennessee, the greenest state in the land of the free. Davy was raised in the woods, and his knowledge of the land made him a skilled hunter. In fact, he had killed a bear when he was only three years old. Davy Crockett was known as the King of the Wild Frontier.

The second verse speaks of the Creek Indian uprising in 1813. Davy Crockett was an experienced Indian fighter, and he joined the volunteers in their fight against the Indians. They were successful in their mission, and peace was restored. Davy Crockett is described as a man who does not know fear, and he is determined to tame the redskin varmints.

The final verse of the song speaks to Davy Crockett's character. He was a man who kept his promises, and he fought for justice for every redskin band. He made his legend by handling the risky chore that was given to him by freeing the Creeks and securing peace. Davy Crockett is a true American hero who will be remembered for generations to come.

Contributed by Miles H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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