While it's always dangerous to indulge in hyperbole,
we feel pretty secure in saying that if Louis Armstrong
had never been born,
American music today
would be completely different.
Armstrong (also known as "Pops" or "Satchmo") was born on August 4th, 1901
into the humblest of circumstances
-- out of wedlock in one of the roughest neighborhoods of New
Orleans.
As a child, he found himself drawn to Storyville, the city's
red-light district, where brothels and dance halls abounded -- and where a new
form of music, jazz
(or "jass,"
as it was called then) was evolving from ragtime.
One of the town's top musicians, cornetist Joe "King" Oliver,
took a shine to him, and taught him how to play the cornet,
and eventually hired him for his band.
By 1922, Armstrong had moved to America's new jazz center, Chicago, where he began his prolific
recording career. He turned out dozens of sides,
including 1928's "West End Blues,"
which featured his poetic horn solo and scat singing -- an art
form he is usually credited
with inventing. The record set a standard for virtually every jazz and pop
musician and vocalist who has ever followed.
Although musical tastes changed over his lifetime, he was able to knock the
Beatles off the top of the charts
with his 1964 recording of "Hello, Dolly!"
In 1954, his statements condemning
President Dwight D. Eisenhower as having "no guts" and being
"two-faced" during the Little Rock desegregation crisis were crucial to the formation of the Civil Rights Movement -- coming as they did from such a beloved entertainer.
Speaking of movements, there were two topics Pops never tired of talking
of: his daily use of "reefer" and Swiss Kriss laxative,
samples of which he gleefully handed out to anyone he met -- up to and
including the British Royal Family.
Suggested Sites...
- Louis Armstrong House - Pops's home in Corona, Queens, NY. Visit it and its archives.
- The Syncopated Times: Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong - illustrated biography and discography.
- You Tube: "West End Blues" - possibly the most important jazz song ever recorded.
- Wynton Marsalis on Louis Armstrong - the jazz musician discusses Armstrong's importance and influence.
- allmusic: Louis Armstrong - biography, discography, and list of musicians who influenced and were influenced by Louis.
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