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 Bridwell Blues
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I was standing on the corner mama, did not mean no harm
And the police came, led me by the hand
As the prosecutor questioned me papa, the clerk he wrote it down
The prosecutor questioned me papa, the clerk he wrote it down
____ ____ ____ "I'd give you one chance Nolan, but you would not leave this town"
And I got to the ______ , bent down on my knees
Trying kill me jailers, then go on kill me please
As they sent me to the stone quarry, out standing in the dawn (now it's good times)
They sent me to the stone quarry, out standing in the dawn
I say want you meet this a-way people, you know I've been here before
The Bridwell Blues by Louis Armstrong is a song that tells a story of a man who finds himself in trouble with the law. The song begins with the singer or the singer mentioning that he was just standing on the corner and did not mean any harm. But unfortunately, the police come and lead him by the hand. The prosecutor then questions him, and the clerk writes everything down. The singer's chances of leaving the town are slim, as the prosecutor says "I'd give you one chance Nolan, but you would not leave this town."
The next verse talks about the singer being taken to jail, where he kneels down and faces his impending death. He pleads with the jailers to just kill him and get it over with. He is then sent to a stone quarry, where he has been before, and he asks the people that he meets there to treat him in a better way this time. The song has a haunting quality to it, and the lyrics are dark and melancholic. It describes the African American experience in the United States in the early 19th century.
Line by Line Meaning
I was standing on the corner, did not mean no harm
I was innocently standing on the street corner, not intending to cause trouble
I was standing on the corner mama, did not mean no harm
I was just standing around, no intentions of causing any harm or breaking any laws
And the police came, led me by the hand
The police came up to me and took me away, probably arrested me for no reason
The prosecutor questioned me papa, the clerk he wrote it down
The prosecutor interrogated me while the clerk recorded every word being said
__ __ __ "I'd give you one chance Nolan, but you would not leave this town"
The prosecutor said to me, "I would have given you a warning, but you refuse to leave this town"
And I got to the ______ , bent down on my knees
I arrived at some place, and was forced to kneel down
Trying kill me jailers, then go on kill me please
I'd rather the jailers just kill me instead of torturing me and making me suffer
They sent me to the stone quarry, out standing in the dawn
The authorities exiled me to a stone quarry, leaving me to stand outside in the early morning
I say want you meet this a-way people, you know I've been here before
I want to introduce myself to people in a polite way, and let them know that I have been to this town before
Contributed by Isabella L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@jazzwatch64
Nolan sings unusual, but I LIKE it....also dig Richard Jones (who was responsible for getting Louis Armstrong to Okeh records) and LOVE the blues from Armstrong's horn.....3 1/2 stars....
@hilmarwensorra1215
In very loving memory of Mr. Noland Arther Welsh (1892 - 1962 R.I.P. // gone but NOT forgotten).
@leonblum7898
!!!HOLA HANS PFAALL!!!;TE ESTOY MUY AGRADECIDO POR LA ACLARACIÓN.-TENGO 77 AÑOS Y ME EMOCIONA MUCHO CUANDO RECIBO UNA RESPUESTA,Y MUCHO MÁS SOBRE ÉSTE GÉNERO DE ''JAZZ TRADICIONAL''DE LOS AÑOS 20''DEL CUÁL SOY UN ''FANÁTICO''.-BUENOS AIRES-
ARGENTINA.@bixlives
this is wonderful--however it is playing in "B". It should be played back at 80 rpm --this will change the key to "C"
@carlwelsh9327
That's not my grand dad's photo but that's his voice wrong photos that's understandable for 1920's 30's grandson CARL WELSH. JUST WOLF thanx
@leonblum7898
QUESTION;ARMSTRON PLAYED TRUMPET OR CORNET TOO?.-THANKS.-I ÁM FROM ARGENTINE.-ME ENGLISH HIS VERY BAD.-
@JuanFecit
Hola León.
Louis Armstrong comenzó tocando la corneta y fue con ese instrumento con el que hizo sus primeras grabaciones con la King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, luego con la orquesta de Fletcher Henderson, los Blue Five de Clarence Williams y las cantantes de blues. Parece que se cambió a la trompeta por allá en el 26 cuando estuvo con Erskine Tate y sus propios Hot Five; sin embargo, el cuándo hizo exactamente la transición de un instrumento a otro así como las dudas acerca de si en algunas grabaciones toca la trompeta o la corneta es un tema de constante discusión incluso entre los conocedores.
En estas grabaciones con Nolan Welsh parece que utilizó la corneta, al menos así aparece en las discografías.