Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong
Armstrong in 1953
Background information
Born	(1901-08-04)August 4, 1901 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	July 6, 1971(1971-07-06) (aged 69) Corona, Queens, New York City, U.S.
Genres	Dixieland, jazz, swing, traditional pop
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Trumpet, cornet, vocals
Years active	c. 1914–1971
Associated acts	Joe "King" Oliver, Ella Fitzgerald, Kid Ory, Jack Teagarden

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Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971),^[1] nicknamed Satchmo^[2] or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and singer who became one of the pivotal and most influential figures in jazz music. His career spanned from the 1920s to the 1960s, covering many different eras of jazz.

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.

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 extremely 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 which were highly restricted for black men of his era.

Early life

Armstrong often stated that he was born on July 4, 1900,^[3][4] a date that has been noted in many biographies. Although he died in 1971, it was not until the mid-1980s that his true birth date of August 4, 1901 was discovered by researcher Tad Jones through the examination of baptismal records.^[5]

Armstrong was born into a poor family in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was the grandson of slaves. He spent his youth in poverty, in a rough neighborhood known as "the Battlefield", which was part of the Storyville legal prostitution district. His father, William Armstrong (1881–1922), abandoned the family when Louis was an infant and took up with another woman. His mother, Mary "Mayann" Albert (1886–1927), then left Louis and his younger sister, Beatrice Armstrong Collins (1903–1987), in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong, and at times, his Uncle Isaac. At five, he moved back to live with his mother and her relatives, and only saw his father in parades.

He attended the Fisk School for Boys, where he most likely had early exposure to music. He brought in some money as a paperboy and also by finding discarded food and selling it to restaurants, but it was not enough to keep his mother from prostitution. He hung out in dance halls close to home, where he observed everything from licentious dancing to the quadrille. For extra money he also hauled coal to Storyville, and listened to the bands playing in the brothels and dance halls, especially Pete Lala's, where Joe "King" Oliver performed as well as other famous musicians who would drop in to jam.

After dropping out of the Fisk School at age eleven, Armstrong joined a quartet of boys who sang in the streets for money. He also started to get into trouble. Cornet player Bunk Johnson said he taught Armstrong (then 11) to play by ear at Dago Tony's Tonk in New Orleans,^[6] although in his later years Armstrong gave the credit to Oliver. Armstrong hardly looked back at his youth as the worst of times but drew inspiration from it instead: "Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine—I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans... It has given me something to live for."^[7]

He also worked for a Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant family, the Karnofskys, who had a junk hauling business and gave him odd jobs. They took him in and treated him like family; knowing he lived without a father, they fed and nurtured him.^[8] He later wrote a memoir of his relationship with the Karnofskys titled, Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., the Year of 1907. In it he describes his discovery that this family was also subject to discrimination by "other white folks" nationalities who felt that they were better than the Jewish race... "I was only seven years old but I could easily see the ungodly treatment that the White Folks were handing the poor Jewish family whom I worked for."^[9] Armstrong wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life and wrote about what he learned from them: "how to live—real life and determination."^[10] The influence of Karnofsky is remembered in New Orleans by the Karnofsky Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to accepting donated musical instruments to "put them into the hands of an eager child who could not otherwise take part in a wonderful learning experience."^[11]

Armstrong developed his cornet playing skills by playing in the band of the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs, where he had been sent multiple times for general delinquency, most notably for firing his stepfather's pistol into the air at a New Year's Eve celebration, but it was only a empty shot, as police records confirm. Professor Peter Davis (who frequently appeared at the home at the request of its administrator, Captain Joseph Jones)^[12] instilled discipline in and provided musical training to the otherwise self-taught Armstrong. Eventually, Davis made Armstrong the band leader. The home band played around New Orleans and the thirteen-year-old Louis began to draw attention by his cornet playing, starting him on a musical career.^[13] At fourteen he was released from the home, living again with his father and new step-mother, Gertrude, and then back with his mother and thus back to the streets and their temptations. Armstrong got his first dance hall job at Henry Ponce's where Black Benny became his protector and guide. He hauled coal by day and played his cornet at night.

He played in the city's frequent brass band parades and listened to older musicians every chance he got, learning from Bunk Johnson, Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, and above all, Joe "King" Oliver, who acted as a mentor and father figure to the young musician. Later, he played in brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans, and began traveling with the well-regarded band of Fate Marable, which toured on a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River. He described his time with Marable as "going to the University," since it gave him a much wider experience working with written arrangements.

In 1919, Joe Oliver decided to go north and resigned his position in Kid Ory's band; Armstrong replaced him. He also became second trumpet for the Tuxedo Brass Band, a society band.^[14]

Career

1920s

Through all his riverboat experience Armstrong's musicianship began to mature and expand. At twenty, he could read music and started to be featured in extended trumpet solos, one of the first jazz men to do this, injecting his own personality and style into his solo turns. He had learned how to create a unique sound and also started using singing and patter in his performances.^[15] In 1922, Armstrong joined the exodus to Chicago, where he had been invited by his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to join his Creole Jazz Band and where he could make a sufficient income so that he no longer needed to supplement his music with day labor jobs. It was a boom time in Chicago and though race relations were poor, the city was teeming with jobs available also for black people, who were making good wages in factories and had plenty to spend on entertainment.

Oliver's band was among the most influential jazz bands in Chicago in the early 1920s, at a time when Chicago was the center of the jazz universe. Armstrong lived luxuriously in Chicago, in his own apartment with his own private bath (his first). Excited as he was to be in Chicago, he began his career-long pastime of writing nostalgic letters to friends in New Orleans. As Armstrong's reputation grew, he was challenged to "cutting contests" by hornmen trying to displace the new phenomenon, who could blow two hundred high Cs in a row.^[16] Armstrong made his first recordings on the Gennett and Okeh labels (jazz records were starting to boom across the country), including taking some solos and breaks, while playing second cornet in Oliver's band in 1923. At this time, he met Hoagy Carmichael (with whom he would collaborate later) who was introduced by friend Bix Beiderbecke, who now had his own Chicago band.

Armstrong enjoyed working with Oliver, but Louis' second wife, pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong, urged him to seek more prominent billing and develop his newer style away from the influence of Oliver. Armstrong took the advice of his wife and left Oliver's band. For a year Armstrong played in Fletcher Henderson's band in New York on many recordings. After playing in New York, Armstrong returned to Chicago, playing in large orchestras; there he created his most important early recordings.^[17] Lil had her husband play classical music in church concerts to broaden his skill and improve his solo play and she prodded him into wearing more stylish attire to make him look sharp and to better offset his growing girth. Lil's influence eventually undermined Armstrong's relationship with his mentor, especially concerning his salary and additional moneys that Oliver held back from Armstrong and other band members. Armstrong and Oliver parted amicably in 1924. Shortly afterward, Armstrong received an invitation to go to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the top African-American band of the time. Armstrong switched to the trumpet to blend in better with the other musicians in his section. His influence upon Henderson's tenor sax soloist, Coleman Hawkins, can be judged by listening to the records made by the band during this period.

Armstrong quickly adapted to the more tightly controlled style of Henderson, playing trumpet and even experimenting with the trombone. The other members quickly took up Armstrong's emotional, expressive pulse. Soon his act included singing and telling tales of New Orleans characters, especially preachers.^[18] The Henderson Orchestra was playing in prominent venues for white-only patrons, including the famed Roseland Ballroom, featuring the arrangements of Don Redman. Duke Ellington's orchestra would go to Roseland to catch Armstrong's performances and young horn men around town tried in vain to outplay him, splitting their lips in their attempts.

During this time, Armstrong made many recordings on the side, arranged by an old friend from New Orleans, pianist Clarence Williams; these included small jazz band sides with the Williams Blue Five (some of the most memorable pairing Armstrong with one of Armstrong's few rivals in fiery technique and ideas, Sidney Bechet) and a series of accompaniments with blues singers, including Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter.

Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 due mostly to the urging of his wife, who wanted to pump up Armstrong's career and income. He was content in New York but later would concede that she was right and that the Henderson Orchestra was limiting his artistic growth. In publicity, much to his chagrin, she billed him as "the World's Greatest Trumpet Player". At first, he was actually a member of the Lil Hardin Armstrong Band and working for his wife.^[19] He began recording under his own name for Okeh with his famous Hot Five and Hot Seven groups, producing hits such as "Potato Head Blues", "Muggles", (a reference to marijuana, for which Armstrong had a lifelong fondness), and "West End Blues", the music of which set the standard and the agenda for jazz for many years to come.

The group included Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), wife Lil on piano, and usually no drummer. Armstrong's band leading style was easygoing, as St. Cyr noted, "One felt so relaxed working with him, and he was very broad-minded ... always did his best to feature each individual."^[20] Among the most notable of the Hot Five and Seven records were "Cornet Chop Suey," "Struttin' With Some Barbecue," "Hotter Than that" and "Potato Head Blues,", all featuring highly creative solos by Armstrong. His recordings soon after with pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines (most famously their 1928 "Weatherbird" duet) and Armstrong's trumpet introduction to and solo in "West End Blues" remain some of the most famous and influential improvisations in jazz history. Armstrong was now free to develop his personal style as he wished, which included a heavy dose of effervescent jive, such as "whip that thing, Miss Lil" and "Mr. Johnny Dodds, Aw, do that clarinet, boy!"^[21]

Armstrong also played with Erskine Tate's Little Symphony, which played mostly at the Vendome Theatre. They furnished music for silent movies and live shows, including jazz versions of classical music, such as "Madame Butterfly", which gave Armstrong experience with longer forms of music and with hosting before a large audience. He began to scat sing (improvised vocal jazz using nonsensical words) and was among the first to record it, on the Hot Five recording "Heebie Jeebies" in 1926. The recording was so popular that the group became the most famous jazz band in the United States, even though they had not performed live to any great extent. Young musicians across the country, black or white, were turned on by Armstrong's new type of jazz.^[22]

After separating from Lil, Armstrong started to play at the Sunset Café for Al Capone's associate Joe Glaser in the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra, with Earl Hines on piano, which was soon renamed Louis Armstrong and his Stompers,^[23] though Hines was the music director and Glaser managed the orchestra. Hines and Armstrong became fast friends and successful collaborators.^[24]

Armstrong returned to New York, in 1929, where he played in the pit orchestra of the successful musical Hot Chocolate, an all-black revue written by Andy Razaf and pianist/composer Fats Waller. He also made a cameo appearance as a vocalist, regularly stealing the show with his rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'", his version of the song becoming his biggest selling record to date.^[25]

1930s

Armstrong started to work at Connie's Inn in Harlem, chief rival to the Cotton Club, a venue for elaborately staged floor shows,^[26] and a front for gangster Dutch Schultz. Armstrong also had considerable success with vocal recordings, including versions of famous songs composed by his old friend Hoagy Carmichael. His 1930s recordings took full advantage of the new RCA ribbon microphone, introduced in 1931, which imparted a characteristic warmth to vocals and immediately became an intrinsic part of the 'crooning' sound of artists like Bing Crosby. Armstrong's famous interpretation of Carmichael's "Stardust" became one of the most successful versions of this song ever recorded, showcasing Armstrong's unique vocal sound and style and his innovative approach to singing songs that had already become standards.

Armstrong's radical re-working of Sidney Arodin and Carmichael's "Lazy River" (recorded in 1931) encapsulated many features of his groundbreaking approach to melody and phrasing. The song begins with a brief trumpet solo, then the main melody is introduced by sobbing horns, memorably punctuated by Armstrong's growling interjections at the end of each bar: "Yeah! ..."Uh-huh" ..."Sure" ... "Way down, way down." In the first verse, he ignores the notated melody entirely and sings as if playing a trumpet solo, pitching most of the first line on a single note and using strongly syncopated phrasing. In the second stanza he breaks into an almost fully improvised melody, which then evolves into a classic passage of Armstrong "scat singing".

As with his trumpet playing, Armstrong's vocal innovations served as a foundation stone for the art of jazz vocal interpretation. The uniquely gritty coloration of his voice became a musical archetype that was much imitated and endlessly impersonated. His scat singing style was enriched by his matchless experience as a trumpet soloist. His resonant, velvety lower-register tone and bubbling cadences on sides such as "Lazy River" exerted a huge influence on younger white singers such as Bing Crosby.

The Great Depression of the early 1930s was especially hard on the jazz scene. The Cotton Club closed in 1936 after a long downward spiral, and many musicians stopped playing altogether as club dates evaporated. Bix Beiderbecke died and Fletcher Henderson’s band broke up. King Oliver made a few records but otherwise struggled. Sidney Bechet became a tailor and Kid Ory returned to New Orleans and raised chickens.^[27]

Armstrong moved to Los Angeles in 1930 to seek new opportunities. He played at the New Cotton Club in Los Angeles with Lionel Hampton on drums. The band drew the Hollywood crowd, which could still afford a lavish night life, while radio broadcasts from the club connected with younger audiences at home. Bing Crosby and many other celebrities were regulars at the club. In 1931, Armstrong appeared in his first movie, Ex-Flame and was also convicted of marijuana possession but received a suspended sentence.^[28] He returned to Chicago in late 1931 and played in bands more in the Guy Lombardo vein and he recorded more standards. When the mob insisted that he get out of town,^[29] Armstrong visited New Orleans, had a hero's welcome and saw old friends. He sponsored a local baseball team known as "Armstrong's Secret Nine" and had a cigar named after him.^[30] But soon he was on the road again and after a tour across the country shadowed by the mob, Armstrong decided to go to Europe to escape.

After returning to the United States, he undertook several exhausting tours. His agent Johnny Collins' erratic behavior and his own spending ways left Armstrong short of cash. Breach of contract violations plagued him. Finally, he hired Joe Glaser as his new manager, a tough mob-connected wheeler-dealer, who began to straighten out his legal mess, his mob troubles, and his debts. Armstrong also began to experience problems with his fingers and lips, which were aggravated by his unorthodox playing style. As a result, he branched out, developing his vocal style and making his first theatrical appearances. He appeared in movies again, including Crosby's 1936 hit Pennies from Heaven. In 1937, Armstrong substituted for Rudy Vallee on the CBS radio network and became the first African American to host a sponsored, national broadcast.^[31]

1940s

After spending many years on the road, Armstrong settled permanently in Queens, New York in 1943 in contentment with his fourth wife, Lucille. Although subject to the vicissitudes of Tin Pan Alley and the gangster-ridden music business, as well as anti-black prejudice, he continued to develop his playing. He recorded Hoagy Carmichael's Rockin' Chair for Okeh Records.

During the subsequent thirty years, Armstrong played more than three hundred gigs a year. Bookings for big bands tapered off during the 1940s due to changes in public tastes: ballrooms closed, and there was competition from television and from other types of music becoming more popular than big band music. It became impossible under such circumstances to support and finance a 16-piece touring band.

The All Stars

During the 1940s, a widespread revival of interest in the traditional jazz of the 1920s made it possible for Armstrong to consider a return to the small-group musical style of his youth. Following a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17, 1947, featuring Armstrong with trombonist/singer Jack Teagarden, Armstrong's manager, Joe Glaser dissolved the Armstrong big band on August 13, 1947 and established a six-piece traditional jazz small group featuring Armstrong with (initially) Teagarden, Earl Hines and other top swing and Dixieland musicians, most of them ex-big band leaders. The new group was announced at the opening of Billy Berg's Supper Club.

This group was called Louis Armstrong and his All Stars and included at various times Earl "Fatha" Hines, Barney Bigard, Edmond Hall, Jack Teagarden, Trummy Young, Arvell Shaw, Billy Kyle, Marty Napoleon, Big Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, Tyree Glenn, Barrett Deems, Joe Darensbourg, Eddie Shu and percussionist Danny Barcelona. During this period, Armstrong made many recordings and appeared in over thirty films. He was the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time magazine, on February 21, 1949. In 1948, he participated in the Nice Jazz Festival, where Suzy Delair sang "C'est si bon", by Henri Betti and André Hornez, for the first time in public.

1950s-1970s

With the publishers' permission, Armstrong recorded the first American version of "C'est si bon" on June 26, 1950, in New York, with English lyrics by Jerry Seelen. When it was released, the disc garnered worldwide sales. In the 1960s, he toured Ghana and Nigeria, performing with Victor Olaiya during the Nigerian Civil war.^[32][33] In 1964, he recorded his biggest-selling record, "Hello, Dolly!", a song by Jerry Herman, originally sung by Carol Channing. Armstrong's version remained on the Hot 100 for 22 weeks, longer than any other record produced that year, and went to No. 1 making him, at 62 years, 9 months and 5 days, the oldest person ever to accomplish that feat. In the process, he dislodged the Beatles from the No. 1 position they had occupied for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs.^[34]

Armstrong kept up his busy tour schedule until a few years before his death in 1971. He also toured Africa, Europe, and Asia under the sponsorship of the US State Department with great success, earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch" and inspiring Dave Brubeck to compose his jazz musical The Real Ambassadors.^[35]

Personal life

Pronunciation of name

The Louis Armstrong House Museum website states:

Judging from home recorded tapes now in our Museum Collections, Louis pronounced his own name as "Lewis." On his 1964 record "Hello, Dolly," he sings, "This is Lewis, Dolly" but in 1933 he made a record called "Laughin’ Louie." Many broadcast announcers, fans, and acquaintances called him "Louie" and in a videotaped interview from 1983 Lucille Armstrong calls her late husband "Louie" as well. Musicians and close friends usually called him "Pops."^[36]

In a memoir written for Robert Goffin between 1943 and 1944, Armstrong states, "All white folks call me Louie," suggesting that he himself did not.^[37] That said, Armstrong was registered as "Lewie" for the 1920 U.S. Census. On various live records he's called "Louie" on stage, such as on the 1952 "Can Anyone Explain?" from the live album In Scandinavia vol.1. It should also be noted that "Lewie" is the French pronunciation of "Louis" and is commonly used in Louisiana.

Family

On March 19, 1918, at the age of 16, Louis married Daisy Parker, a prostitute from Gretna, Louisiana.^[38] They adopted a 3-year-old boy, Clarence Armstrong, whose mother, Louis' cousin Flora, died soon after giving birth. Clarence Armstrong was mentally disabled (the result of a head injury at an early age) and Louis would spend the rest of his life taking care of him.^[39] Louis' marriage to Parker failed quickly and they separated in 1923.

On February 4, 1924, Louis married Lil Hardin Armstrong, who was Oliver's pianist and had also divorced her first spouse only a few years earlier. His second wife was instrumental in developing his career, but in the late 1920s Hardin and Louis grew apart. They separated in 1931 and divorced in 1938, after which Louis married longtime girlfriend Alpha Smith.^[40] His marriage to his third wife lasted four years, and they divorced in 1942. Louis then married Lucille Wilson, a singer at the Cotton Club, to whom he was married until his death in 1971.^[41]

Armstrong's marriages never produced any offspring, though he loved children.^[42] However, in December 2012, 57-year-old Sharon Preston-Folta claimed to be his daughter, from a 1950s affair between Armstrong and Lucille "Sweets" Preston, a dancer at the Cotton Club.^[43] In a 1955 letter to his manager, Joe Glaser, Armstrong affirmed his belief that Preston's newborn baby was his daughter, and ordered Glaser to pay a monthly allowance of $400 to mother and child.^[44]

Personality

Armstrong was noted for his colorful and charismatic personality. His own biography vexed some biographers and historians, as he had a habit of telling tales, particularly of his early childhood, when he was less scrutinized, and his embellishments of his history often lack consistency.

In addition to an entertainer, Armstrong was a leading personality of the day. He was beloved by an American public that gave even the greatest African American performers little access beyond their public celebrity, and he was able to live a private life of access and privilege afforded to few other African Americans during that era.

He generally remained politically neutral, which at times alienated him from members of the black community who looked to him to use his prominence with white America to become more of an outspoken figure during the Civil Rights Era of U.S. history.

Nicknames

The nicknames Satchmo and Satch are short for Satchelmouth. Like many things in Armstrong's life, which was filled with colorful stories both real and imagined, many of his own telling, the nickname has many possible origins.

The most common tale that biographers tell is the story of Armstrong as a young boy dancing for pennies in the streets of New Orleans, who would scoop up the coins off of the streets and stick them into his mouth to avoid having the bigger children steal them from him. Someone dubbed him "satchel mouth" for his mouth acting as a satchel. Another tale is that because of his large mouth, he was nicknamed "satchel mouth" which became shortened to Satchmo.

Early on he was also known as Dipper, short for Dippermouth, a reference to the piece Dippermouth Blues.^[45] and something of a riff on his unusual embouchure.

The nickname Pops came from Armstrong's own tendency to forget people's names and simply call them "pops" instead. The nickname was soon turned on Armstrong himself. It was used as the title of a 2010 biography of Armstrong by Terry Teachout.

Race

Armstrong was largely accepted into white society, both on stage and off, a privilege reserved for very few African-American public figures, and usually those of either exceptional talent or fair skin tone. As his fame grew, so did his access to the finer things in life usually denied to a black man, even a famous one. His renown was such that he dined in reputable restaurants and stayed in hotels usually exclusively for whites.^[46] It was a power and privilege that he enjoyed, although he was very careful not to flaunt it with fellow performers of color, and privately, he shared what access that he could with friends and fellow musicians.

That still did not prevent members of the African-American community, particularly in the late 1950s to the early 1970s, from calling him an Uncle Tom, a black-on-black racial epithet for someone who kowtowed to white society at the expense of their own racial identity. Billie Holiday countered, however, "Of course Pops toms, but he toms from the heart."^[47] He was criticized for accepting the title of "King of The Zulus" for Mardi Gras in 1949. In the New Orleans African-American community it is an honored role as the head of leading black Carnival Krewe, but bewildering or offensive to outsiders with their traditional costume of grass-skirts and blackface makeup satirizing southern white attitudes.

Some musicians criticized Armstrong for playing in front of segregated audiences, and for not taking a strong enough stand in the civil rights movement.^[48] The few exceptions made it more effective when he did speak out. Armstrong's criticism of President Eisenhower, calling him "two-faced" and "gutless" because of his inaction during the conflict over school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 made national news. As a protest, Armstrong canceled a planned tour of the Soviet Union on behalf of the State Department saying "The way they're treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell" and that he could not represent his government abroad when it was in conflict with its own people.^[49]

The FBI kept a file on Armstrong, for his outspokenness about integration.^[50]

Religion

When asked about his religion, Armstrong would answer that he was raised a Baptist, always wore a Star of David, and was friends with the Pope.^[51] Armstrong wore the Star of David in honor of the Karnofsky family, who took him in as a child and lent him the money to buy his first cornet. Louis Armstrong was, in fact, baptized as a Catholic at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in New Orleans,^[51] and he met popes Pius XII and Paul VI, though there is no evidence that he considered himself Catholic. Armstrong seems to have been tolerant towards various religions, but also found humor in them.

Personal habits

Armstrong was concerned with his health. He used laxatives to control his weight, a practice he advocated both to acquaintances and in the diet plans he published under the title Lose Weight the Satchmo Way. Armstrong's laxative of preference in his younger days was Pluto Water, but he then became an enthusiastic convert when he discovered the herbal remedy Swiss Kriss. He would extol its virtues to anyone who would listen and pass out packets to everyone he encountered, including members of the British Royal Family. (Armstrong also appeared in humorous, albeit risqué, cards that he had printed to send out to friends; the cards bore a picture of him sitting on a toilet—as viewed through a keyhole—with the slogan "Satch says, 'Leave it all behind ya!'")^[52] The cards have sometimes been incorrectly described as ads for Swiss Kriss.^[53] In a live recording of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Velma Middleton, he changes the lyric from "Put another record on while I pour" to "Take some Swiss Kriss while I pour."^[54]

The concern with his health and weight was balanced by his love of food, reflected in such songs as "Cheesecake", "Cornet Chop Suey,"^[55] though "Struttin’ with Some Barbecue" was written about a fine-looking companion, not about food.^[56] He kept a strong connection throughout his life to the cooking of New Orleans, always signing his letters, "Red beans and ricely yours..."^[57]

Writings

Armstrong’s gregariousness extended to writing. On the road, he wrote constantly, sharing favorite themes of his life with correspondents around the world. He avidly typed or wrote on whatever stationery was at hand, recording instant takes on music, sex, food, childhood memories, his heavy "medicinal" marijuana use—and even his bowel movements, which he gleefully described.^[58] He had a fondness for lewd jokes and dirty limericks as well.

Social organizations

Louis Armstrong was not, as is often claimed, a Freemason. Although he is usually listed as being a member of Montgomery Lodge No. 18 (Prince Hall) in New York, no such lodge has ever existed. Armstrong states in his autobiography, however, that he was a member of the Knights of Pythias, which is not a Masonic group.^[59]

Music

Horn playing and early jazz

In his early years, Armstrong was best known for his virtuosity with the cornet and trumpet. The most lauded recordings on which Armstrong plays trumpet include the Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions, as well as those of the Red Onion Jazz Babies. Armstrong's improvisations, while unconventionally sophisticated for that era, were also subtle and highly melodic.

Prior to Armstrong, most collective ensemble playing in jazz, along with its occasional solos, simply varied the melodies of the songs. Armstrong was virtually the first to create significant variations based on the chord harmonies of the songs instead of merely on the melodies. This opened a rich field for creation and improvisation, and significantly changed the music into a soloist's art form.

Often, Armstrong re-composed pop-tunes he played, simply with variations that made them more compelling to jazz listeners of the era. At the same time, however, his oeuvre includes many original melodies, creative leaps, and relaxed or driving rhythms. Armstrong's playing technique, honed by constant practice, extended the range, tone and capabilities of the trumpet. In his records, Armstrong almost single-handedly created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what had been essentially a collective folk music and turning it into an art form with tremendous possibilities for individual expression.

Armstrong was one of the first artists to use recordings of his performances to improve himself. Armstrong was an avid audiophile. He had a large collection of recordings, including reel-to-reel tapes, which he took on the road with him in a trunk during his later career. He enjoyed listening to his own recordings, and comparing his performances musically. In the den of his home, he had the latest audio equipment and would sometimes rehearse and record along with his older recordings or the radio.^[60]

Vocal popularity

As his music progressed and popularity grew, his singing also became very important. Armstrong was not the first to record scat singing, but he was masterful at it and helped popularize it with the first recording on which he scatted, "Heebie Jeebies". At a recording session for Okeh Records, when the sheet music supposedly fell on the floor and the music began before he could pick up the pages, Armstrong simply started singing nonsense syllables while Okeh president E.A. Fearn, who was at the session, kept telling him to continue. Armstrong did, thinking the track would be discarded, but that was the version that was pressed to disc, sold, and became an unexpected hit. Although the story was thought to be apocryphal, Armstrong himself confirmed it in at least one interview as well as in his memoirs.^[61] On a later recording, Armstrong also sang out "I done forgot the words" in the middle of recording "I'm A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas."

Such records were hits and scat singing became a major part of his performances. Long before this, however, Armstrong was playing around with his vocals, shortening and lengthening phrases, interjecting improvisations, using his voice as creatively as his trumpet.

Composing

Armstrong was a gifted composer wrote more than fifty songs, which in a number of cases have become jazz standards (e.g., “Gully Low Blues,” “Potato Head Blues,” and “Swing That Music”).

Colleagues and followers

During his long career he played and sang with some of the most important instrumentalists and vocalists of the time; among them were Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines, Jimmie Rodgers, Bessie Smith and perhaps most famously Ella Fitzgerald. His influence upon Crosby is particularly important with regard to the subsequent development of popular music: Crosby admired and copied Armstrong, as is evident on many of his early recordings, notably "Just One More Chance" (1931). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz describes Crosby's debt to Armstrong in precise detail, although it does not acknowledge Armstrong by name:

Crosby... was important in introducing into the mainstream of popular singing an Afro-American concept of song as a lyrical extension of speech... His techniques—easing the weight of the breath on the vocal cords, passing into a head voice at a low register, using forward production to aid distinct enunciation, singing on consonants (a practice of black singers), and making discreet use of appoggiaturas, mordents, and slurs to emphasize the text—were emulated by nearly all later popular singers.

Armstrong recorded two albums with Ella Fitzgerald: Ella and Louis, and Ella and Louis Again for Verve Records, with the sessions featuring the backing musicianship of the Oscar Peterson Trio and drummers Buddy Rich (on the first album), and Louie Bellson (on the second). Norman Granz then had the vision for Ella and Louis to record Porgy and Bess which is the most famous and critically acclaimed version of the Gerswhin brothers' masterpiece.

His recordings for Columbia Records, Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (1954) and Satch Plays Fats (all Fats Waller tunes) (1955) were both being considered masterpieces, as well as moderately well selling. In 1961 the All Stars participated in two albums - "The Great Summit" and "The Great Reunion" (now together as a single disc) with Duke Ellington. The albums feature many of Ellington's most famous compositions (as well as two exclusive cuts) with Duke sitting in on piano. His participation in Dave Brubeck's high-concept jazz musical The Real Ambassadors (1963) was critically acclaimed, and features "Summer Song," one of Armstrong's most popular vocal efforts.

In 1964 his recording of the song "Hello Dolly" went to number one. An album of the same title was quickly created around the song, and also shot to number one (knocking The Beatles off the top of the chart). The album sold very well for the rest of the year, quickly going "Gold" (500,000). His performance of "Hello Dolly" won for best male pop vocal performance at the 1964 Grammy Awards.

Hits and later career

Armstrong had nineteen "Top Ten" records^[62] including "Stardust", "What a Wonderful World", "When The Saints Go Marching In", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "You Rascal You", and "Stompin' at the Savoy". "We Have All the Time in the World" was featured on the soundtrack of the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and enjoyed renewed popularity in the UK in 1994 when it featured on a Guinness advert. It reached number 3 in the charts on being re-released.

In 1964, Armstrong knocked The Beatles off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Hello, Dolly!", which gave the 63-year-old performer a U.S. record as the oldest artist to have a number one song. His 1964 song "Bout Time" was later featured in the film Bewitched.

Armstrong performed in Italy at the 1968 Sanremo Music Festival where he sang "Mi Va di Cantare"^[63] alongside his friend, the Eritrean-born Italian singer Lara Saint Paul.^[64] In February 1968, he also appeared with Lara Saint Paul on the Italian RAI television channel where he performed "Grassa e Bella," a track he sang in Italian for the Italian market and C.D.I. label.^[65]

In 1968, Armstrong scored one last popular hit in the United Kingdom with "What a Wonderful World", which topped the British charts for a month; however, the single did not chart at all in America. The song gained greater currency in the popular consciousness when it was used in the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam, its subsequent re-release topping many charts around the world. Armstrong even appeared on the October 28, 1970, Johnny Cash Show, where he sang Nat King Cole's hit "Rambling Rose" and joined Cash to re-create his performance backing Jimmie Rodgers on "Blue Yodel No. 9".

Stylistic range

Armstrong enjoyed many types of music, from blues to the arrangements of Guy Lombardo, to Latin American folksongs, to classical symphonies and opera. Armstrong incorporated influences from all these sources into his performances, sometimes to the bewilderment of fans who wanted him to stay in convenient narrow categories. Armstrong was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence. Some of his solos from the 1950s, such as the hard rocking version of "St. Louis Blues" from the WC Handy album, show that the influence went in both directions.

Literature, radio, films and TV

Armstrong appeared in more than a dozen Hollywood films, usually playing a band leader or musician. His most familiar role was as the bandleader cum narrator in the 1956 musical, High Society, in which he sang the title song and performed a duet with Bing Crosby on "Now You Has Jazz". In 1947, he played himself in the movie New Orleans opposite Billie Holiday, which chronicled the demise of the Storyville district and the ensuing exodus of musicians from New Orleans to Chicago.^[66] In the 1959 film, The Five Pennies (the story of the cornetist Red Nichols), Armstrong played himself as well as singing and playing several classic numbers. With Danny Kaye Armstrong performed a duet of "When the Saints Go Marching In" during which Kaye impersonated Armstrong. Armstrong also had a part in the film alongside James Stewart in The Glenn Miller Story in which Glenn (played by Stewart) jammed with Armstrong and a few other noted musicians of the time.

He was the first African American to host a nationally broadcast radio show in the 1930s. In 1969, Armstrong had a cameo role in the film version of Hello, Dolly! as the bandleader, Louis, to which he sang the title song with actress Barbra Streisand. His solo recording of "Hello, Dolly!" is one of his most recognizable performances.

He was heard on such radio programs as The Story of Swing (1937) and This Is Jazz (1947), and he also made countless television appearances, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, including appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, a self-described Armstrong admirer, asserted that a 1952 Louis Armstrong concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris played a significant role in inspiring him to create the fictional creatures called Cronopios that are the subject of a number of Cortázar's short stories. Cortázar once called Armstrong himself "Grandísimo Cronopio" (The Great Cronopio).

Armstrong appears as a minor fictionalized character in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series. When he and his band escape from a Nazi-like Confederacy, they enhance the insipid mainstream music of the North. A young Armstrong also appears as a minor fictionalized character in Patrick Neate's 2001 novel Twelve Bar Blues, part of which is set in New Orleans, and which was a winner at that year's Whitbread Book Awards.

There is a pivotal scene in Stardust Memories (1980) in which Woody Allen is overwhelmed by a recording of Armstrong's "Stardust" and experiences a nostalgic epiphany.^[67] The combination of the music and the perfect moment is the catalyst for much of the film's action, prompting the protagonist to fall in love with an ill-advised woman.^[68]

Terry Teachout wrote a one-man play about Armstrong called Satchmo at the Waldorf that was premiered in 2011 in Orlando, Fla., and has since been produced by Shakespeare & Company, Long Wharf Theater, and the Wilma Theater. The production ran off Broadway in 2014.

Death

Against his doctor's advice, Armstrong played a two-week engagement In March 1971 at the Waldorf-Astoria's Empire Room, at the end of which he was hospitalized for a heart attack.^[69] He was released from the hospital in May, and died of a heart attack in his sleep on July 6, 1971, a month before his 70th birthday.^[70] He was residing in Corona, Queens, New York City, at the time of his death.^[71] He was interred in Flushing Cemetery, Flushing, in Queens, New York City.^[72] His honorary pallbearers included Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Harry James, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan, Earl Wilson, Alan King, Johnny Carson and David Frost.^[73] Peggy Lee sang The Lord's Prayer at the services while Al Hibbler sang "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and Fred Robbins, a long-time friend, gave the eulogy.^[74]

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

Armstrong was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972 by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.^[75]

Grammy Award
Year	Category	Title	Genre	Label	Result
1964	Male Vocal Performance	"Hello, Dolly!"	Pop	Kapp	Winner

Grammy Hall of Fame

Recordings of Armstrong were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."^[76][77]

Grammy Hall of Fame
Year recorded	Title	Genre	Label	Year inducted	Notes
1925	"St. Louis Blues"	Jazz (Single)	Columbia	1993	Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong, cornet
1926	"Heebie Jeebies"	Jazz (Single)	OKeh	1999
1928	"West End Blues"	Jazz (Single)	OKeh	1974
1928	"Weather Bird"	Jazz (Single)	OKeh	2008	with Earl Hines
1929	"St. Louis Blues"	Jazz (Single)	OKeh	2008	with Bessie Smith
1930	"Blue Yodel No. 9 (Standing on the Corner)"	Country (Single)	Victor	2007	Jimmie Rodgers (featuring Louis Armstrong)
1932	"All of Me"	Jazz (Single)	Columbia	2005
1955	"Mack the Knife"	Jazz (Single)	Columbia	1997
1958	Porgy and Bess	Jazz (Album)	Verve	2001	with Ella Fitzgerald
1964	"Hello Dolly!"	Pop (Single)	Kapp	2001
1967	"What a Wonderful World"	Jazz (Single)	ABC	1999

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Armstrong's West End Blues on the list of 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll.^[78]

Year recorded	Title	Label	Group
1928	West End Blues	Okeh	Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five

Inductions and honors

In 1995, the U.S. Post Office issued a Louis Armstrong 32 cents commemorative postage stamp.

Year inducted	Title	Results	Notes
1952	Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame
1960[79]	Hollywood Walk of Fame	Star	at 7601 Hollywood Blvd.
1978	Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
2004	Nesuhi Ertegün Jazz Hall of Fame at Jazz at Lincoln Center
1990	Rock and Roll Hall of Fame		Early influence
2007	Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
2007	Gennett Records Walk of Fame, Richmond, Indiana
2007	Long Island Music Hall of Fame

Legacy

The influence of Armstrong on the development of jazz is virtually immeasurable. Yet, his irrepressible personality both as a performer, and as a public figure later in his career, was so strong that to some it sometimes overshadowed his contributions as a musician and singer.

As a virtuoso trumpet player, Armstrong had a unique tone and an extraordinary talent for melodic improvisation. Through his playing, the trumpet emerged as a solo instrument in jazz and is used widely today. Additionally, jazz itself was transformed from a collectively improvised folk music to a soloist's serious art form largely through his influence. He was a masterful accompanist and ensemble player in addition to his extraordinary skills as a soloist. With his innovations, he raised the bar musically for all who came after him.

Though Armstrong is widely recognized as a pioneer of scat singing, Ethel Waters precedes his scatting on record in the 1930s according to Gary Giddins and others.^[80] Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra are just two singers who were greatly indebted to him. Holiday said that she always wanted Bessie Smith's 'big' sound and Armstrong's feeling in her singing. Even special musicians like Duke Ellington have praised Armstrong through strong testimonials. Duke Ellington said, "If anybody was a master, it was Louis Armstrong." In 1950, Bing Crosby, the most successful vocalist of the first half of the 20th century, said, "He is the beginning and the end of music in America."

In the summer of 2001, in commemoration of the centennial of Armstrong's birth, New Orleans's main airport was renamed Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

In 2002, the Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925–1928) were preserved in the United States National Recording Registry, a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.^[81]

The US Open tennis tournament's former main stadium was named Louis Armstrong Stadium in honor of Armstrong who had lived a few blocks from the site.^[82]

Today, there are many bands worldwide dedicated to preserving and honoring the music and style of Satchmo, including the Louis Armstrong Society located in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Home turned National Historic Landmark

The house where Armstrong lived for almost 28 years was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and is now a museum. The Louis Armstrong House Museum, at 34-56 107th Street (between 34th and 37th Avenues) in Corona, Queens, presents concerts and educational programs, operates as a historic house museum and makes materials in its archives of writings, books, recordings and memorabilia available to the public for research. The museum is operated by the City University of New York's Queens College, following the dictates of Lucille Armstrong's will. The museum opened to the public on October 15, 2003. A new visitors center is planned.^[83]

Discography

Singles

Year	Title(s)	Label	Credit (if not Louis Armstrong)
1923	"Froggie Moore" / "Chimes Blues"	Gennett Records 5135	King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
1923	"Mandy Lee Blues" / "I'm Going Away to Wear You Off My Mind"	Gennett Records 5134	King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
1923	"Riverside Blues" / "Mabel's Dream" [Take 1]	Claxtonola 40292	King Oliver's Jazz Band
1924	"Prince of Wails" [Take 2] / "Mandy Make Up Your Mind" [Take 2]		Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra
1928	"Hotter Than That" / "Savoy Blues"	OKeh 8535
1930	"I Ain't Got Nobody (And Nobody Cares for Me)" / "Rockin' Chair"	OKeh 8756
1930	"I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas" / "I'm in the Market for You"	Odeon 36141
1930	"Song of the Islands" / "Blue Turning Grey Over You"	Odeon 36039
1938	"Elder Eatmore's Sermon on Generosity" / "Elder Eatmore's Sermon on Throwing Stones"	Decca Records 15043
1939	"Jeepers Creepers" / "What Is This Thing Called Swing?"	Decca Records 2267
1940	"Marie" / "Sleepy Time Gal"	Decca Records 3291	Louis Armstrong and Mills Brothers / Mills Brothers
1946	"Endie" / "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans"	RCA Victor 20-2087
1951	"(When We Are Dancing) I Get Ideas" / "A Kiss to Build a Dream On"	Decca Records 27720
1952	"It Takes Two to Tango" / "I Laughed at Love"	Decca Records 28394
1962	"Mack the Knife" / "The Faithful Husar"	CBS CA 281.144 [France]
1967	"What a Wonderful World" / "Cabaret"	ABC Records 10982 [7-inch vinyl]
1968	"What a Wonderful World" / "Cabaret"	His Master's Voice [Great Britain]
1968	"I Will Wait for You" / "Talk to the Animals"	[7-inch vinyl]

Original albums

These LPs and EPs were released during Armstrong's lifetime and contained original studio and/or live recordings. The year and label information is for the first vinyl release, unless otherwise noted. Additional information such as number of tracks is given only when necessary to distinguish between different releases under the same title. In most cases, the number of CD releases listed is limited, with preference given to the label that originally released the album.

Year	Title	Label	CD release(s)	Credit (if not Louis Armstrong) and additional notes
1947	Satchmo at Symphony Hall	GRP
1951	Satchmo at Pasadena	Decca
1954	Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy	Columbia CL 591 (11 tracks)	Columbia: 1986 (12 tracks), 1997 (16 tracks), 1999 (16 tracks, SACD)	composer W. C. Handy
1954	Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers, Volume One	Decca Records ED 2113 (4 tracks) [Decca Records 3291?]		Louis Armstrong & The Mills Brothers
1955	Satch Plays Fats: A Tribute to the Immortal Fats Waller	Columbia CL 708 (9 tracks)	Columbia: 2000 (20-track SACD); Legacy: 2008 (20-track CD); Sony Music: 2009 (20-track CD)	composer Fats Waller
1955	Louis Armstrong at the Crescendo, Vol. 1	Decca
1956	Louis Armstrong and Eddie Condon at Newport	Columbia CL-931		Louis Armstrong & Eddie Condon
1956	Satchmo the Great		Columbia: 1994, 2000	songs are introduced by excerpts from interviews with Edward R. Murrow
1956	An Evening With Louis Armstrong and His All Stars
1956	Ella and Louis	Verve MG V-4003	Verve: 1985, 2000, 2002 (SACD)	Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
1957	Ella and Louis Again	Verve Records MGV 4006-2 [double LP]	Verve: 2003	Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
1957	I've Got the World on a String	[10 tracks]
1957	Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson	Verve Records [12 tracks]	Verve: 1997 (16 tracks)	Louis Armstrong & Oscar Peterson
1957	Under the Stars	Verve Records MGV 4012
1957	Louis and the Angels	Decca	Universal/MCA: 2000; Verve: 2001
1958	Porgy & Bess	Verve Records MGV 4011-2 [double LP]	Verve: 1986; Verve Music Group: 2008; Essential Jazz Classics	Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
1958	Louis and the Good Book	Decca Records DL 8741 [12 tracks]	MCA [France]: 1987, 1992; Verve [Germany]: 2001 (20 tracks)
1959	Satchmo In Style	Decca
1959	The Five Pennies	London Records SAH-U 6044		Danny Kaye & Louis Armstrong
1960	Bing & Satchmo	MGM E3882P	DRG: 2009	Bing Crosby & Louis Armstrong
1961	Recording Together for the First Time	Roulette Records SR52074 [10 tracks]		Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington
1961	The Great Reunion			Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington
1962	The Real Ambassadors	Columbia OL 5850 [15 tracks]	CBS: 1990 [20 tracks], 1994 [20 tracks]; Poll Winners: 2012 [25 tracks]	with Dave Brubeck, Carmen McRae, and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
1964	Hello, Dolly!	Kapp KL-1364 [mono], KS-3364 [stereo]	MCA: 2000
1968	Disney Songs the Satchmo Way	Buena Vista Records STBV 4044	Walt Disney: 1996, 2001
1968	The One and Only	Vocalion VL 73871
1970	What a Wonderful World	Bluebird

Posthumous releases

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

These LPs and CDs were released after Armstrong's 1971 death.

• Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions
  • Hot Fives & Sevens (JSP, 1998)
  • The Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings (Columbia/Legacy)
• Struttin' (Drive Archive, 1996) — 8 February 1947 concert with Edmond Hall's All-Stars
• The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve (1997) — repackaging of Ella and Louis, Ella and Louis Again, and Porgy and Bess
• rereleases of Together For The First Time and The Great Reunion
  • The Great Summit: The Master Takes (2001)
  • Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington: The Great Summit/Complete Sessions (2000) — includes additional CD of alternate takes
• The Legendary Berlin Concert (Jazzpoint Records, 2000) — 22 March 1965 concert with Billy Kyle, Tyree Glenn, Eddie Shu, Arvell Shaw and Danny Barcelona

List of songs recorded

Chronology of the recordings of Armstrong's songs:

Song title	Year(s) recorded
Just Gone	1923-04-05[84][85]
Canal Street Blues	1923[85]
Mandy Lee Blues	1923[85]
I'm Going Away to Wear You Off My Mind	1923[85]
Chimes Blues	1923[85]
Weather Bird Rag	1923[86]
Dipper Mouth Blues[86] (Dippermouth Blues)	1923, 1946[87]
Froggie Moore	1923[86]
Snake Rag	1923
Sweet Lovin' Man	1923[88]
High Society Rag	1923[89]
Sobbin' Blues	1923[89]
Where Did You Stay Last Night?	1923[89]
Jazzin' Babies' Blues	1923[90]
Buddy's Habit	1923[89]
Tears	1923[89]
I Ain't Gonna Tell Nobody	1923[89]
Room Rent Blues	1923[89]
Riverside Blues	1923[89]
Sweet Baby Doll	1923[91]
Workin' Man Blues	1923
Mabel's Dream	1923[89]
Chattanooga Stomp	1923
London (Cafe) Blues	1923
Camp Meeting Blues	1923[92]
New Orleans Stomp	1923[93]
Manda	1924
Go 'Long, Mule	1924
Tell Me Dreamy Eyes	1924
My Rose Marie	1924
Don't Forget You'll Regret Day by Day	1924
Shanghai Shuffle	1924
See See Blues	1924[94]
See See Rider Blues	1924
Jelly Bean Blues	1924
Countin' the Blues	1924
Texas Mooner Blues	1924
Early in the Morning	1924[95]
Of All the Wrongs You've Done to Me	1924
One of These Days	1924
My Dream Man	1924
The Meanest Kind of Blues	1924
Naughty Man	1924[96]
How Come You Do Me Like You Do	1924
Araby[97] (The Sheik of Araby)	1924
Everybody Loves My Baby	1924
Papa, Mama's All Alone Blues	1924
Changeable Daddy of Mine	1924[97]
Terrible Blues	1924
Santa Claus Blues	1924[98]
Baby I Can't Use You No More	1924
Trouble Everywhere I Roam	1924
Prince of Wails	1924[98]
Mandy Make Up Your Mind	1924
Poor House Blues	1924
Anybody Here Want to Try My Cabbage	1924
Thunderstorm Blues	1924
If I Lose, Let Me Lose (Mama Don't Mind)	1924
Screamin' the Blues	1924[99]
Good Time Flat Blues	1924
I'm a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird	1924
Nobody Knows the Way I Feel Dis Mornin'	1924
Early Every Morn	1924[100]
You've Been a Good Ole Wagon	1925
I'll See You in My Dreams	1925
Sobbin' Hearted Blues	1925
Cold in Hand Blues	1925
Why Couldn't It Be Poor Little Me?	1925[101]
Bye and Bye	1925[102][103]
Play Me Slow	1925[103]
Alabamy Bound	1925
Swanee Butterfly	1925
Poplar Street Blues	1925
12th Street Blues	1925
Me Neenyah (My Little One)	1925
You've Got to Beat Me to Keep Me	1925[104]
Mining Camp Blues	1925
Cast Away	1925
Papa De-Da-Da	1925
The World's Jazz Crazy and So Am I	1925
Railroad Blues	1925[105]
Shipwrecked Blues	1925
Court House Blues	1925
My John Blues	1925
Memphis Bound	1925
When You Do What You Do	1925[106]
Just Wait 'Til You See My Baby Do the Charleston	1925
Livin' High Sometimes	1925
Coal Cart Blues	1925
T N T	1925[107]
Carolina Stomp	1925
Squeeze Me	1925,[108] 1928[109]
You Can't Shush Katie (The Gabbiest Girl in Town)	1925
Lucy Long	1925
I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle	1925
Low Land Blues	1925
Kid Man Blues	1925[108]
Lazy Woman's Blues	1925[110]
Lonesome Lovesick	1925[110]
Gambler's Dream	1925[110]
Sunshine Baby	1925[110]
Adam and Eve Had the Blues	1925[110]
Put it Where I Can Get it	1925[110]
Washwoman Blues	1925[110]
I've Stopped My Man	1925[110]
My Heart	1925-11-12[111]
Yes! I'm In The Barrel	1925-11-12[111]
Gut Bucket Blues	1925-11-12[111]
Come Back Sweet Papa	1926[112]
Lonesome, All Alone And Blue	1926[112]
Trouble In Mind	1926[112]
A Georgia Man[113]	1926[112]
You've Got To Go Home On Time[113]	1926[112]
What Kind O' Man Is That[113]	1926[112]
Deep Water Blues	1926[113]
G'wan, I Told You	1926[113]
Lonesome hours	1926[113]
Georgia Grind	1926[113]
Heebie Jeebies	1926[114]
Cornet Chop Suey	1926[113]
Oriental Strut	1926[113]
You're Next	1926[113]
Muskrat Ramble	1926
A Jealous Woman Like Me	1926[113]
Special Delivery Blues	1926[113]
Jack O'diamond Blues	1926[113]
The Mail Train Blues	1926[113]
I Feel Good	1926[113]
A Man For Every Day Of The Week	1926[113]
After I Say I'm Sorry	1926[113]
Georgia Bo Bo	1926[113]
Static Strut	1926[113]
Stomp Off, Let's Go	1926[113]
Drop That Sack	1926[113]
Willie the Weeper	1927[115]
Wild Man Blues	1927[116]
Melancholy	1927[116]
Dead Drunk Blues	1927[116]
Have You Ever Been Down?	1927[116]
Lazy Man Blues	1927[116]
The Flood Blues	1927[116]
Chicago Breakdown	1927[117]
Alligator Crawl	1927[117]
Potato Head Blues	1927[117]
Weary Blues	1927[118]
Twelfth Street Rag	1927[117]
Keyhole Blues	1927[118]
S. O. L. Blues	1927[119]
Gully Low Blues	1927[119]
That's When I'll Come Back To You	1927[119]
The Last Time	1927[119]
Struttin' With Some Barbeque	1927[120]
Got No Blues	1927[120]
Once In A While	1927[120]
I'm Not Rough	1927[120]
Hotter Than That	1927[121]
Savoy Blues	1927[122]
A Monday Date	1928[121]
Don't Jive Me	1928[121]
West End Blues	1928[122]
Sugar Foot Strut	1928[109]
Two Deuces	1928[109]
Save It Pretty Mama	1928[123]
Weather Bird	1928[123]
Muggles	1928[123]
I Can't Give You Anything But Love	1928[123]
Baby!	1928[124]
I Sweathearts On Parade	1928[124]
I Must Have That Man!	1928[123]
I Heah Me Talkin' To Ya?	1928[124]
St. James Infirmary[125]	1928[126]
St. James Infirmary Blues	1928[127]
Tight Like This	1928[126]
Knockin' A Jug	1929[128]
Mahogany Hall Stomp	1929[128]
S'Posin'	1929[129]
To Be In Love (Espesh'lly With You)	1929[129]
Funny Feathers	1929[129]
How Do You Do It That Way?	1929[129]
When You're Smiling	1929[130]
After You've Gone	1929[130]
I Ain't Got Nobody	1929[130]
Dallas Blues	1929[131]
Saint Louis Blues	1929[131]
Rockin' Chair	1929[131]
Ain't Misbehavin'	1929
Song Of The Islands	1930[132]
What It Takes To Bring You Back	1930[131]
Bessie Couldn't Help It	1930[131]
Blue Turning Grey Over You	1930[132]
Dear Old Southland	1930,[133] 1947[134]
My Sweet	1930[133]
I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me	1930[133]
If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight)	1930[135]
EX-FLAME	1930[135]
Body and Soul	1930[135]
Memories of You	1930[136]
You're Lucky to Me	1930[136]
Sweethearts on Parade	1930 (December[62])
Just a Gigolo	1931[137]
Shine	1931[137]
Walkin' My Baby Back Home	1931[137]
I Surrender Dear	1931[137]
When It's Sleepy Time Down South	1931,[138] 1944[139]
Blue Again	1931[138]
Little Joe	1931[138]
I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You	1931[138]
Them There Eyes	1931[140]
When Your Lover Has Gone	1931[140]
Lazy River[140] (Up A) Lazy River)	1931[141]
Chinatown, My Chinatown	1931,[140] 1932[142]
You Can Depend on Me	1931[143]
Georgia On My Mind	1931[143]
The Lonesome Road	1931[143]
I Got Rhythm	1931[143]
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea	1932[144]
Kickin' the Gong Around	1932[144]
All of Me	1932[144]
Rhapsody in Black and Blue	1932[142]
High Society	1932,[145] 1933[146]
That's My Home	1932[147]
Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train	1932[147]
I Hate to Leave You Now	1932[147]
You'll Wish You'd Never Been Born	1932[147]
Love, You Funny Thing	1932 - charted in March[62]
I've Got the World on a String	1933[148]
I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues	1933[148]
Hustlin' and Bustlin' for Baby	1933[148]
Sittin' in the Dark	1933[148]
He's a Son of the South	1933[149]
Some Sweet Day	1933[149]
Basin Street Blues	1933[149]
Honey, Do!	1933[150]
Snow Ball	1933[150]
"I'm in the Mood for Love"/"You Are My Lucky Star"	1935
Swing You Cats	1933[150]
Alexander's Ragtime Band	1937
"Public Melody Number One"	1937
When the Saints Go Marching In	1938, 1946[87]
No Love No Nothing	1944[139]
Is My Baby Blue Tonight	1944[139]
Blues in the Night	1944[139]
Keep on Jumpin'	1944[139]
Harlem on Parade	1944[139]
(Unknown titles)	1944-06-07[139]
King Porter Stomp	1944[139]
It's Love, Love, Love	1944[139]
Whatcha Say	1944[151]
Groovin'	1944[151]
Baby Don't You Cry	1944[151]
Louise	1944[151]
Goin' My Way?	1944[151]
Sweet and Lovely	1944[151]
Is You or Is You Ain't My Baby	1944[151]
Perdido	1944[152]
Me and Brother Bill	1944[152]
Swingin' on a Star	1944[152]
Confessin'	1944[152]
It Had to be You	1944[152]
Solid Sam	1944[152]
Dance with the Dolly	1944[153]
I'll Walk Alone	1944[153]
Jack-Armstrong Blues	1944[153]
Confessin' that I Love You	1944[153]
I Wonder	1945
Raymond Street Blues	1946[87]
Flee as a Bird	1946[87]
Shimme-Sha-Wabble	1946[87]
Ballin' the Jack	1946[87]
Brahms' Lullaby	1946[87]
The Blues Are Brewin'	1946[87]
Endie	1946[154]
Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?	1946[154]
Where the Blues Were Born in New Orleans	1946[154]
You Won't Be Satisfied	1946 and[155] 1947
Stompin' at the Savoy	1947[155]
If I Loved You	1947[155]
Mop Mop	1947[155]
Back O'Town Blues	1947[155]
Roll 'Em	1947[155]
I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder	1947[156]
I Believe	1947[156]
Why Douby My Love?	1947[156]
It Takes Time	1947[156]
You Don't Learn That in School	1947[156]
Reminiscin' with Louis	1947[157]
Way Down Yonder in New Orleans and Intro	1947[157]
2:19 Blues	1947[157]
'Way Down Yonder in New Orleans	1947[158]
Pennies from Heaven	1947[159]
Royal Garden Blues	1947[160]
Panama	1947[160]
Someday You'll Be Sorry	1947[134]
Tiger Rag	1947[134]
Before Long	1947[161]
Lovely Weather We're Having	1947[161]
Black and Blue	1947[161]
Lover	1947[162]
On the Sunny Side of the Street	1947[163]
Baby Won't You Please Come Home	1947[163]
That's My Desire	1947[163]
C-Jam Blues	1947[163]
How High the Moon	1947[163]
Boff Boff	1947[163]
Blues from the Sky	1948[164]
The Flat Footed Foogie	1948[164]
I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly	1948[164]
Roll	1948[164]
Blue Skies	1948[164]
Velma's Blues	1948[165]
I Cried Last Night	1948[165]
Steak Face	1948[165]
Boogie Woogie on St. Louis Blues	1948[165]
Stars Fell on Alabama	1948[166]
Buzz Me Baby	1948[166]
Tea for Two	1948[166]
Someone to Watch over Me	1948[166]
Honeysuckle Rose	1948[166]
The One I Love Belongs to Someone Else	1948[167]
Together	1948[167]
Don't Fence Me In	1948[167]
That's A Plenty	1948[167]
East of the Sun	1948[167]
Tin Roof Blues	1948[168]
Little White Lies	1948[168]
"Shadrack"/"When the saints go marching in"	1948[168]
Maybe You'll Be There	1948[168]
"When We Are Dancing"	1951
April in Paris	1956[169]
Autumn in New York	1957[170]
Oh Lawd, I'm On My Way	1957[171]
"Hello, Dolly!"	1964
"What a Wonderful World"	1967
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah	1968
Back Home Again in Indiana	1951[172]
Big Butter and Egg Man	1926[173]
Blueberry Hill	1947[174]
C'est si bon	1950[175]
Can't We Be Friends	1956[169]
Cheek to Cheek	1956[169]
Cold, Cold Heart	1951[176]
Cool Yule	1953[177]
Dream a Little Dream of Me	1950[178]
El Choclo	1952
Frankie and Johnny	1959[179]
Get Together	1970[180]
Gone Fishin'	1951[181]
The Gypsy in My Soul	1957[182]
Hey Lawdy Mama	1941[183]
High Society Calypso	1956[184]
I Get Ideas	1951[185]
It's Been a Long, Long Time	1964[186]
Jeepers Creepers	1938[187]
A Kiss to Build a Dream On	1951[185]
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off	1957[170]
Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love	1957[188]
Mack the Knife	1955[189]
Moon River	1964[186]
Moonlight in Vermont	1956[169]
Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen	1938[190]
Now You Has Jazz	1956[184]
On a Little Bamboo Bridge	1937[191]
On My Way	1958[192]
Red Sails in the Sunset	1935[193]
Skokiaan	1954[194]
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child	1958[195]
If We Never Meet Again	1930
Standing on the Corner (Blue Yodel No. 9)	1930[196]
Stardust	1931[197]
Takes Two to Tango	1952[197]
That Lucky Old Sun	1949[198]
They All Laughed	1957[170]
Uncle Satchmo's Lullaby	1959[199]
La Vie en rose	1950[200]
We Have All the Time in the World	1969[201]
Willow Weep for Me	1957[188]
Winter Wonderland	1952[202]

See also

• Louis Armstrong albums on Wikipedia
• Louis Armstrong songs on Wikipedia
• There Must Be Somebody Else

Notes

Further reading

• Armstrong, Louis, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans. originally 1954 ISBN 0-306-80276-7
• Armstrong, Louis and Thomas Brothers, Armstrong, in His Own Words: Selected Writings. 1999 ISBN 0-19-514046-X
• Bergreen, Laurence, Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life. 1997 ISBN 0-553-06768-0
• Brothers, Thomas, Louis Armstrong's New Orleans. 2006 ISBN 0-393-06109-4
• Cogswell, Michael, Armstrong: The Offstage Story. 2003 ISBN 1-888054-81-6
• Elie, Lolis Eric, A Letter from New Orleans. Originally printed in Gourmet. Reprinted in Best Food Writing 2006, Edited by Holly Hughes, ISBN 1-56924-287-9
• Jones, Max, "LOUIS: The Louis Armstrong Story 1900 - 1971" (with John Chilton) New York City (new preface by Dan Morgenstern) : Da Capo Press 1988 ISBN 978-0306803246
• Jones, Max and Chilton, John, Louis Armstrong Story. 1988 ISBN 0-306-80324-0
• Meckna, Michael, Satchmo: The Louis Armstrong Encyclopedia.2004 ISBN 0-313-30137-9
• Storb, Ilse, "Louis Armstrong: The Definitive Biography". 1999 ISBN 0-8204-3103-6
• Teachout, Terry, Pops - A life of Louis Armstrong. 2009; ISBN 978-0-15-101089-9
• Willems, Jos, All of Me, Scarecrow Press, 2006

External links

Library resources about Louis Armstrong
Resources in your library Resources in other libraries
By Louis Armstrong
Resources in your library Resources in other libraries

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Louis Armstrong.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Louis Armstrong

• Louis Armstrong by Nat Hentoff
• Obituary, NY Times
• Quotes and tributes
• Discography
• Filmography @ imdb.com
• The Louis Armstrong Society Jazz Band
• Louis Armstrong: A Life in Music – slideshow by Life magazine
• Seeing Black jazz critic on the Uncle Tom question
• the official website of the Louis Armstrong House & Archives
• "Louis Armstrong Transcription Project – john p birchall"
• Louis Armstrong at pbskids.org
• Louis Armstrong at Find A Grave
• David Margolick, The Day Louis Armstrong Made Noise
• Smithsonian Louis Armstrong: A Cultural Legacy
• Louis Armstrong at NPR Music
• Louis Armstrong in Athens, Blog of the Digital Library of Georgia
• Louis Armstrong: discography and early recordings (RealPlayer format) on the Red Hot Jazz website.
• Milestone Louis Armstrong recordings at Three Perfect Minutes
• Louis Armstrong's autobiography online book
  • "Satchmo – My Life in New Orleans(1954)" free download
  • "Satchmo – My Life in New Orleans" another website
• Louis Armstrong collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Louis Armstrong in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Louis Armstrong discography at Discogs

Video clips

• "Now You Has Jazz" on YouTube
• "Blueberry Hill" on YouTube
• "Stompin' At The Savoy" on YouTube Germany, 1959
• "Tiger Rag" on YouTube
• "C'est si bon" on YouTube 1962
• "Dream a Little Dream" on YouTube photo slide show
• "Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra – The Birth of The Blues" on YouTube – The Edsel Show
• "What a Wonderful World" on YouTube
• Nairn, Charlie, (1975): Earl "Fatha" Hines: . 1hr documentary, with much about Louis Armstrong, filmed at Blues Alley jazz club, Washington DC. Produced and directed by Charlie Nairn for UK ATV Television, 1975. Many refs to Louis Armstrong. Original 16mm film, plus out-takes of additional tunes, archived in British Film Institute Library at bfi.org.uk; also at http://www.itvstudios.com; DVD copies with the "Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library" (which holds The Earl Hines Collection/Archive), University of California, Berkeley, California; also at University of Chicago "Hogan Jazz Archive", Tulane University New Orleans and at the Louis Armstrong House Museum Libraries: see also www.jazzonfilm.com/documentaries.
• New Orleans Jazz Great Louis Armstrong's Jewish Connection
• "If We Never Meet Again" on YouTube

Louis Armstrong Biography Recordings Songs Films, broadcasts & literature Awards Civil Rights proponent Style Concerts Top Ten singles Muskrat Ramble (1926) Hotter than That West End Blues (1928) Ain't Misbehavin' (song) (1929) "Chinatown, My Chinatown" (1932) You Can Depend on Me (song) All of Me (Ruth Etting song) "Love, You Funny Thing" "Sweethearts on Parade" "Body and Soul" (1932) "Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train" (1933) "I'm in the Mood for Love"/"You Are My Lucky Star"(1935) "Public Melody Number One" (1937) "When the Saints Go Marching In" (1939) "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (1946) "When We Are Dancing" (1951) "Hello, Dolly! (song)" (1964) "What a Wonderful World" (1968) Albums Satchmo at Pasadena (1951) Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (1955) Louis Armstrong at the Crescendo, Vol. 1 (1955) Louis and the Angels (1957) Struttin' (1996) Bing & Satchmo The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve The Great Summit Hot Fives & Sevens Louis and the Good Book Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy Satchmo In Style With Ella Fitzgerald Ella and Louis (1956) Ella and Louis Again (1957) Porgy and Bess (1957) With Duke Ellington Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington: The Great Summit/Complete Sessions (1961) Other collaborations Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson (1957) The Real Ambassadors (1961) Songs Willie the Weeper "West End Blues" (1928) Ain't Misbehavin' (song) When the Saints Go Marching In "Mack the Knife" (1956) Autumn in New York (song) "On My Way" (1959) "Uncle Satchmo's Lullaby" (1959) "Hello, Dolly!" (1964) "What a Wonderful World" (1967) "We Have All the Time in the World" (1969) Alexander's Ragtime Band April in Paris (song) Back Home Again in Indiana Basin Street Blues Big Butter and Egg Man Blue Turning Grey Over You Blueberry Hill (song) C'est si bon Can't We Be Friends Cheek to Cheek Cold, Cold Heart Cool Yule (song) Dippermouth Blues Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? Dream a Little Dream of Me East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) El Choclo Everybody Loves My Baby Frankie and Johnny (song) Georgia on My Mind Get Together (The Youngbloods song) Gone Fishin' (song) The Gypsy in My Soul Heebie Jeebies (composition) Hello, Dolly! (song) Hey Lawdy Mama (blues song) High Society Calypso I Get Ideas I Wonder (1944 song) I've Got the World on a String It's Been a Long, Long Time Jeepers Creepers (song) A Kiss to Build a Dream On (Up A) Lazy River Let's Call the Whole Thing Off Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love Mack the Knife Moon River Moonlight in Vermont (song) Muggles (recording) Muskrat Ramble Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen Now You Has Jazz On a Little Bamboo Bridge On My Way (Louis Armstrong song) On the Sunny Side of the Street Pennies from Heaven (song) Potato Head Blues Red Sails in the Sunset (song) Rockin' Chair (1929 song) Saint Louis Blues (song) Shine (1910 song) Skokiaan Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child St. James Infirmary Blues Standing on the Corner (Blue Yodel No. 9) Stardust (song) Stars Fell on Alabama Takes Two to Tango (song) That Lucky Old Sun That's My Desire There Must Be Somebody Else They All Laughed (song) Uncle Satchmo's Lullaby La Vie en rose When It's Sleepy Time Down South When You're Smiling Willow Weep for Me Winter Wonderland Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Compilation albums Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions (1925-28) The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve (1997) Hot Fives & Sevens (2000) The Great Summit: The Master Takes (2001) Discography Jazz Portal

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 1990 Performers Hank Ballard Charlie Christian Bobby Darin The Four Seasons Four Tops The Kinks The Platters Simon & Garfunkel The Who Early influences Louis Armstrong Ma Rainey Non-performers (Ahmet Ertegun Award) Gerry Goffin and Carole King Holland–Dozier–Holland

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 195226 LCCN: n50001506 ISNI: 0000 0001 1019 8071 GND: 118504053 SELIBR: 211756 SUDOC: 033205604 BNF: cb13890884w (data) ULAN: 500335022 MusicBrainz: eea8a864-fcda-4602-9569-38ab446decd6 NLA: 36588453 NDL: 00431718 BNE: XX1038745