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 Music Goes Round And Round
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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The music goes 'round and around
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
And it comes out here
I push the first valve down
The music goes down and around
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
I push the middle valve down
The music goes down around below
Below, below, deedle-dee-ho-ho-ho
Listen to the jazz come out
I push the other valve down
The music goes 'round and around
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
And it comes out here
Louis Armstrong’s song, “The Music Goes ‘Round and Around”, is a playful and entertaining tune about the mechanics and magic of making music. The song is a jazz-inspired piece backed by a lively horn section and Armstrong’s signature gritty vocals. The lyrics are a whimsical portrayal of how the music is made through the movement of air and the manipulation of valves in a brass instrument.
The first verse talks about the initial step in producing music - blowing through a horn. The “music” created by this initial act then goes “‘round and around” inside the horn, as the air moves around its inner walls. Finally, it “comes out” through the bell of the horn, creating the initial sound. The second verse describes how the sound is further defined through the use of valves. Armstrong explains that as he pushes down on valves, the pitch of the music goes “down and around” and then “below”. Finally, with the push of the “other valve”, the music returns to its original form, swirling “‘round and around” and out the bell again.
One interpretation of the song centers around the cyclical nature of music creation, and how the process becomes an infinite loop of sound. This is highlighted through the repeated use of the phrase “‘round and around”, emphasizing that the music is constantly circulating in a never-ending cycle. Another interpretation is that the song is a tribute to the intricate and skillful nature of jazz music, where each instrument plays a significant role in creating the final sound. This is exemplified by Armstrong’s explanation of the different valves and how they influence the music that is played.
Line by Line Meaning
I blow through here
I blow air through this instrument to create music.
The music goes 'round and around
The notes played on the instrument create a circular melody that repeats.
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
This is an exclamation of joy and enthusiasm for the music being made.
And it comes out here
The melody that is played on the instrument is heard by others through this end of the instrument.
I push the first valve down
By pressing the first valve, I change the pitch of the notes that are played.
The music goes down and around
The circular melody shifts down in pitch due to the change in valve position.
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
Still filled with joy and enthusiasm for the music being made.
And it comes out here
The melody can still be heard through the same end of the instrument.
I push the middle valve down
By pressing the second valve, a new set of notes are introduced, creating a new sound for the melody.
The music goes down around below
The circular melody shifts down and adds a new layer of notes due to the second valve position.
Below, below, deedle-dee-ho-ho-ho
An onomatopoeic rendering of the new sound being created by the second valve position.
Listen to the jazz come out
The music being made is referred to as jazz, and this line asks the listener to pay attention to the unique sound that is being created.
I push the other valve down
By pressing the third valve, the pitch of the notes is changed once again to create a new sound for the melody.
The music goes 'round and around
The circular melody shifts again due to the third valve position and repeats in the same pattern.
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho
The joy and enthusiasm for the music continue throughout the performance.
And it comes out here
Through the same end of the instrument, the melody can still be heard as it repeats in the circular pattern.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ED FARLEY, MICHAEL RILEY, RED HODGSON
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