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.
You're Lucky Guy
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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When you consider
The highest bidder
Can't buy the gleam in your eye
You're a lucky guy
Thank your lucky star
You've got a honey
She'll take you just as you are
Thank your lucky star
Hey fella
Say fella
Don't you realize
It's fated
You rated
Open up your eyes
You're a lucky guy
You're just beginning
So have your inning
And let your troubles go fry
No one can deny
You're a lucky guy
You're a lucky guy
When you consider
The highest bidder
Can't buy the gleam in your eyes
You're a lucky guy
Thank your lucky star
You've got a honey
Who wants no money
She'll take you just as you are
Thank your lucky star
Hey fella
Say fella
Look at Mister Dough
He's ailin'
He's failin'
Even he must know
You're a lucky guy
So why not treasure
Your highest pleasure
And live right up till you die?
No one can deny
Boy, you're a lucky guy
The song "You're Lucky Guy" by Louis Armstrong is a celebration of good fortune in relationships. The lyrics convey a sense of gratitude and wonder at the luck that some people experience when they meet someone special who wants them just as they are. Armstrong sings of the gleam in his eye that money can't buy, and thanks his lucky star for the honey he has found. The song encourages the listener to open their eyes and appreciate the good things in their life, to treasure their highest pleasure and let their troubles go fly.
The song is full of positive energy and infectious joy, conveying the sense that even in difficult times, we can find happiness if we open ourselves to it. It is a reminder to be grateful for the people who love us and accept us for who we are, and to embrace the good fortune that we experience in our relationships.
Overall, "You're Lucky Guy" is a timeless song about the beauty of love and the joy that it brings to our lives. It is a song that celebrates the little things in life that make us happy, and encourages us to appreciate them as much as we can.
Line by Line Meaning
You're a lucky guy
You have good fortune and are fortunate in your life.
When you consider
When you think about
The highest bidder
The person who offers the most money
Can't buy the gleam in your eye
Money can't buy the happiness or joy that you feel
Thank your lucky star
Be grateful for your good luck
You've got a honey
You have a sweet person in your life
Who wants no money
Who loves you for who you are, not for the money you have
She'll take you just as you are
She accepts you for who you are
Hey fella
Hey man
Say fella
Speak up, man
Don't you realize
Do you not understand
It's fated
It's meant to be
You rated
You were lucky
Open up your eyes
Pay attention
You're just beginning
You are starting a new chapter in your life
So have your inning
Take advantage of this opportunity
And let your troubles go fry
And let go of your worries and stresses
No one can deny
It is true that
Boy, you're a lucky guy
You are very fortunate
Look at Mister Dough
Look at the wealthy man
He's ailin'
He is struggling with health problems
He's failin'
He is not succeeding
Even he must know
Even he must realize
So why not treasure
So why not value
Your highest pleasure
Your greatest joy
And live right up till you die?
And enjoy your life to the fullest until the very end
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SAMMY CAHN, SAUL CHAPLIN
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