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 Memphis Blues
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's where the people smile, smile on you all the while.
Hospitality, they were good to me.
I couldn't spend a dime, and had the grandest time.
I went out a dancing with a Tennessee dear,
They had a fellow there named Handy with a band you should hear
And while the folks gently swayed, all the band folks played Real harmony.
I never will forget the tune that Handy called the Memphis Blues.
They've got a fiddler there that always slickens his hair
And folks he sure do pull some bow.
And when the big Bassoon seconds to the Trombones croon.
It moans just like a sinner on Revival Day, on Revival Day.
Oh that melody sure appealed to me.
Just like a mountain stream rippling on it seemed.
Then it slowly died, with a gentle sigh
Soft as the breeze that whines high in the summer pines.
Hear me people, hear me people, hear I pray,
I'm going to take a million lesson's 'til I learn how to play
Because I seem to hear it yet, simply can't forget
That blue refrain.
There's nothing like the Handy Band that played the Memphis Blues so grand.
Oh play them Blues.
That melancholy strain, that ever haunting refrain
Is like a sweet old sorrow song.
Here comes the very part that wraps a spell around my heart.
It sets me wild to hear that loving tune a gain, the Memphis Blues.
The Memphis Blues, initially composed by W.C. Handy in 1912, is a song about the beautiful town of Memphis, Tennessee. The lyrics by George Norton depict Handy's blues tunes and, in particular, his song, The Memphis Blues. The song tells a narrative of the singer's trip to the town, describing the people of Memphis as hospitable and welcoming. He meets a girl from Tennessee with whom he goes dancing while listening to W.C. Handy and his band play their beautiful and harmonious melodies. The singer particularly recalls the tune that Handy called the "Memphis Blues," initially recorded by Victor Military Band, and how it captivated him.
The tune appeals to the singer in a way that he can't forget, and he decides to take up music lessons so he can learn to play it himself. He describes the song with an intense emotion that wraps a spell around his heart and sets him wild. The melody is mesmerizing like a mountain stream rippling on, and it carries an ever haunting refrain that is like a sweet old sorrow song.
Line by Line Meaning
Folks I've just been down, down to Memphis town,
I recently visited Memphis city
That's where the people smile, smile on you all the while.
The people of Memphis are very hospitable
Hospitality, they were good to me.
I was treated well by the people of Memphis
I couldn't spend a dime, and had the grandest time.
I had a great time in Memphis without spending any money
I went out a dancing with a Tennessee dear,
I went dancing with a girl from Tennessee
They had a fellow there named Handy with a band you should hear
There was a musician named Handy in Memphis with an amazing band
And while the folks gently swayed, all the band folks played Real harmony.
The band played in harmony while the people of Memphis danced along
I never will forget the tune that Handy called the Memphis Blues.
I will always remember the song 'Memphis Blues' by Handy
Oh yes, them Blues.
Those blues were amazing
They've got a fiddler there that always slickens his hair
There is a fiddler in Memphis who always grooms his hair
And folks he sure do pull some bow.
He is a very skilled fiddler
And when the big Bassoon seconds to the Trombones croon.
The sound of the Bassoon blends perfectly with the Trombones
It moans just like a sinner on Revival Day, on Revival Day.
The sound of the Bassoon is haunting and melancholic
Oh that melody sure appealed to me.
The melody was very pleasing to me
Just like a mountain stream rippling on it seemed.
The melody was beautiful and soothing like a stream flowing down a mountain
Then it slowly died, with a gentle sigh
The song ended slowly and peacefully
Soft as the breeze that whines high in the summer pines.
The ending was as calm and gentle as the breeze blowing through pine trees in the summer
Hear me people, hear me people, hear I pray,
Listen to me, my fellow people
I'm going to take a million lesson's 'til I learn how to play
I am determined to take many lessons until I can play music like Handy's band
Because I seem to hear it yet, simply can't forget
I still hear the music in my mind and cannot forget it
That blue refrain.
The melancholic melody still lingers in my thoughts
There's nothing like the Handy Band that played the Memphis Blues so grand.
Handy's band that played 'Memphis Blues' was truly amazing
Oh play them Blues.
Please play that wonderful blues music again
That melancholy strain, that ever haunting refrain
The melody was melancholic and haunting
Is like a sweet old sorrow song.
It is like a beautiful and nostalgic song of sorrow
Here comes the very part that wraps a spell around my heart.
This is the part of the music that captivates my heart
It sets me wild to hear that loving tune a gain, the Memphis Blues.
Hearing the Memphis Blues again sets my heart ablaze with excitement
Lyrics © PAUL RODRIGUEZ MUSIC LTD.
Written by: KENNY DAVERN, RALPH SUTTON, W C HANDY (DP)
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Robert Fletcher
Great stuff and as James pointed out the quality is amazing.
James flynn
Marvellous Louis Armstrong AI great record good shape I'll be on the lookout for this I usually don't go for 50s records but this one I will cheers james
Trevor Morris
James flynn
Look out for the whole 1954 LP, Louis Armstrong Plays W C Handy, or a CD version. The whole album is superb, including the sound quality. Probably his last great recording session.
OldiesAl
Thanks James, it is a beautiful clear copy, the flip side will be coming up it's another great tune. Special one for you tomorrow.
IVORIESMAN
I could listen to Louis' trumpet all day long - although sadly I never warmed to his singing - sounded painful bless him...:-)
Trevor Morris
@MrKlemps
I like pretty well all Louis' vocals on this album. It's his ballad singing I don't like, to a large extent because I don't like the songs, but I also feel that he lapses so often into clichés. Admittedly they are his own clichés but still it's phrases and runs hat he's used over and over again.
He doesn't do that on the album W C Handy album and I enjoy his singing on it. His phrasing and pitch are superb, and his trumpet playing is so authoritative, majestic even. Probably Louis' last really great album.
MrKlemps
@Trevor Morris If you listen carefully, it is amazing really to discover how impeccable Pope's intonation was. Even in those big packages with Ella Fitzgerald in which he was singing (and playing) so many songs he never actively performed, you'll hear him never making a mistake. Try listening to "A Foggy Day in London Town. The verse, which nobody ever bothered with, probably because it is really difficult to sing, is done here as if Pops just owned it.
Trevor Morris
@IVORIESMAN 👍
IVORIESMAN
@Trevor Morris …thanks Trevor.
Trevor Morris
IVORIESMAN
I'm not a huge fan of Louis' singing either. However, even for m he pulls it off with Beale Street Blues and Aunt Hagar's blues that are on the album Louis Armstrong Plays W C Handy that this track is from. You might enjoy those two numbers. The sound quality is excellent throughout the whole album.