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.
What You Want wid Bess
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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She's gettin' ole now;
Take a fine young gal
For to satisfy Crown.
Look at this chest
An' look at these arms you got.
You know how it always been with me,
You could kick me in the street,
Then when you wanted me back,
You could whistle, an' there I was
Back again, lickin' yo' hand.
There's plenty better lookin' gal than Bess.
Can' you see, I'm with Porgy,
Now and forever
I am his woman, he would die without me.
Oh, Crown, won't you let me go to my man, to my man.
He is a cripple an' needs my love, all my love.
What you want wid Bess? Oh, let me go to my man. . .
What I wants wid other woman,
I gots a woman, yes,
An' dat is you, yes, dat is you, yes,
I need you now an' you're mine jus' as long as I want you.
No cripple goin' take my woman from me.
You got a man tonight an' that is Crown, yes, Crown, yes crown.
You're my woman, Bess, I'm tellin' you, now I'm your man.
What you want with Bess?
Lemme go, Crown dat boat, it's goin' wiout me!
You ain't goin' nowhere!
Take yo' hands off me, I say, yo' hands, yo' hands, yo hands.
I knows you' ain' change - wid you and me it always be the same.
Git in dat thicket.
In the song "What You Want wid Bess" by Louis Armstrong, the lyrics depict a conversation between two characters, Bess and Crown, regarding their tumultuous relationship. Bess is pleading with Crown to let her go and be with her true love, Porgy, who is a cripple and relies on her for love and support. However, Crown insists that Bess belongs to him and refuses to let her leave.
The opening lines, "Oh... What you want wid Bess? She's gettin' ole now; Take a fine young gal For to satisfy Crown," suggest that Crown is possessive and wants Bess to fulfill his desires. He acknowledges that Bess is aging, but he still sees her as an object to satisfy himself rather than considering her feelings.
Bess, on the other hand, expresses her loyalty and devotion to Porgy, stating, "You know how it always been with me, These five years I been yo' woman." She reveals that she has endured mistreatment from Crown but has always returned to him when he called. However, now she has found love and security with Porgy and no longer wants to be with Crown.
Crown tries to assert his dominance over Bess by claiming that there are plenty of better-looking women than her, but she counters by affirming her commitment to Porgy, saying, "Now and forever I am his woman, he would die without me." Bess realizes her worth and believes that she is better off with Porgy, who truly loves and needs her.
As Bess pleads with Crown to let her go to Porgy, Crown refuses, asserting his possession over her, stating, "No cripple goin' take my woman from me." He takes pride in his role as Bess's man, and he is unwilling to let her escape his control.
In the final lines, Bess desperately tries to escape from Crown, insisting that she wants to board a boat without him. However, Crown prevents her from leaving, physically restraining her. Bess understands that Crown will never change and that their relationship will always remain toxic.
Overall, "What You Want wid Bess" explores themes of possessiveness, loyalty, and the desire for true love. Bess longs to break free from a destructive relationship and find happiness with someone who genuinely appreciates her, while Crown refuses to let go, driven by his need to control and possess her. The lyrics capture the emotional struggle and power dynamic between the two characters, highlighting the complexity of human relationships.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DUBOSE HEYWARD, GEORGE GERSHWIN, IRA GERSHWIN, ISRAEL GERSHVIN, JACOB GERSHVIN
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