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.
Whiffenpoof Song
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To the dear old Temple bar we love so well
Sing the Whiffenpoofs assembled, with their glasses raised on high
And the magic of their singing casts its spell
Yes, the magic of their singing, of the songs we love so well
"Shall I Wasting" and "Mavourneen" and the rest
Then we'll pass and be forgotten with the rest
We're poor little lambs who have lost our way
Baa, baa, baa
We're little black sheep who have gone astray
Baa, baa, baa
Gentleman songsters off on a spree
Doomed from here to eternity
Lord have mercy on such as we
Baa, baa, baa
Gentleman songsters off on a spree
Doomed from here to eternity
Lord have mercy on such as we
Baa, baa, baa
The Whiffenpoof Song by Louis Armstrong is a jazzy take on the original song written by Meade Minnigerode and George S. Pomeroy in 1909. The lyrics start by describing the place where Louie lives and where the Whiffenpoofs (a Yale University male a cappella group) have assembled. With their glasses raised, the Whiffenpoofs perform their magical singing that casts a spell on everyone who hears it. The songs they sing are ones that everyone loves like "Shall I Wasting" and "Mavourneen." They sing these songs in honor of Louie, and vow to keep singing until their last breaths.
The second part of the lyrics describe the Whiffenpoofs as little lost lambs or black sheep who are doomed to partying from here to eternity. The repeated "Baa, baa, baa" is a nod to the sheep metaphor. The song ends with a plea to the Lord to have mercy on them. The lyrics of this song give a feeling of nostalgia, camaraderie, and the importance of living in the moment since they will inevitably be forgotten. The song is a tribute to Yale's oldest and best-known a cappella group – The Whiffenpoofs.
Line by Line Meaning
To the tables down at Mory's, to the place where Louie dwells
We gather in the local establishment where Louie resides.
To the dear old Temple Bar we love so well
We have a strong attachment to the Temple Bar.
Sing the Whiffenpoofs assembled, with their glasses raised on high
We sing together as the Whiffenpoofs, holding up our glasses in a festive mood.
And the magic of their singing casts its spell
The enchantment of our singing captivates and mesmerizes others.
Yes, the magic of their singing, of the songs we love so well
Our love for the songs we sing creates a magical atmosphere.
"Shall I Wasting" and "Mavourneen" and the rest
We sing these and other classics with great affection.
We will serenade our Louie while life and voice shall last
We'll sing for Louie as long as we live and have a voice.
Then we'll pass and be forgotten with the rest
Eventually we'll all leave this world and fade into obscurity along with everyone else.
We're poor little lambs who have lost our way
We're like lost sheep, vulnerable and uncertain.
Baa, baa, baa
We express ourselves like sheep do.
We're little black sheep who have gone astray
We're like wayward dark sheep.
Gentleman songsters off on a spree
We're well-bred men, carousing boisterously.
Doomed from here to eternity
We're destined to live this way forever.
Lord have mercy on such as we
We ask for divine mercy because of our waywardness.
Baa, baa, baa
We keep expressing ourselves like sheep do.
Gentleman songsters off on a spree
We keep up with our singing and partying.
Doomed from here to eternity
We can't help but keep going with our lifestyle.
Lord have mercy on such as we
Our need for mercy from a higher power persists.
Baa, baa, baa
Our expression continues like that of sheep.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: TOD GALLOWAY, TOD B GALLOWAY, MOSS HART, MEADE MINNIGERODE, GEORGE S POMEROY, RUDY VALLEE
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