{"id":15907,"date":"2016-08-04T11:50:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T15:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=15907"},"modified":"2021-04-19T14:55:54","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T18:55:54","slug":"anniversary-of-the-birth-of-louis-satchmo-armstrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/anniversary-of-the-birth-of-louis-satchmo-armstrong.html","title":{"rendered":"Anniversary of the Birth of Louis \u2018Satchmo\u2019 Armstrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn more about the legendary jazz trumpeter Louis \u201cSatchmo\u201d Armstrong. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Jazz. It\u2019s a uniquely American style of music \u2013 and one of the kings of jazz was trumpeter, composer, and singer Louis \u201cSatchmo\u201d Armstrong.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Louis Armstrong, 1953. Credit: U.S. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Born in New Orleans on 4 August 1901, Armstrong\u2019s early troubled life included the absence of his parents, poverty, and a stint in a home for boys after he fired a gun into the air on New Year\u2019s Eve. But like some mistakes, that one changed his life for the better. It was while he was in that boy\u2019s home that he learned how to play the trumpet. Eventually, his jazz career would lead to roles in movies and accolades like \u201cbest hot trumpet\u201d and \u201cthe country\u2019s top jazz singer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), 24 March 1944, page 47<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 1920s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Armstrong\u2019s career in jazz was a long and successful one. He began his five-decade career in the jazz scene of 1920s Chicago. It was there that he played with the famous King Oliver Creole Jazz Band, followed by a succession of jazz bands. Newspaper articles of the time raved about Armstrong, as in this example from Walter Winchell\u2019s \u201cOn Broadway\u201d column with the heading \u201cThings I Could See and Hear Again.\u201d Winchell ends the column remarking that one of the things he would like to see and hear again was Louis Armstrong\u2019s \u201chorn-tooting and warbling of \u2018Ain\u2019t Misbehavin\u2019 from the pit during the \u2018Hot Chocolates\u2019 intermission.\u201d Winchell was referring to the popular Hot Chocolates All Black Music Review.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Richmond Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), 4 December 1929, page 15<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You can listen to Louis Armstrong play and sing \u201cAin\u2019t Misbehavin\u2019\u201d on YouTube here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ztwugWeK0fQ<\/a><\/p>\n

Jazz Hits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two of Louis Armstrong\u2019s most memorable songs are the 1964 recording of \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d and the 1967 single \u201cWhat a Wonderful World.\u201d But those are just two of the dozens of Armstrong\u2019s hits that continue to be played today. He was a prolific artist who released over 29 albums; additional albums have been released after his death.<\/p>\n

This Texas newspaper article provides a posthumous look at his career and hits.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 7 July 1971, section D, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Last Note<\/strong><\/p>\n

Louis Armstrong never stopped working. After playing a two-week engagement at New York\u2019s Waldorf Astoria in July 1971, Louis \u201cSatchmo\u201d Armstrong died of a heart attack.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 7 July 1971, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Numerous articles reported on his death and eulogies were printed in newspapers long after his funeral. One newspaper article printed just days after his death speaks to the love people had for him and the colorblindness of music:<\/p>\n

The diverse turnout proved what Satchmo used to preach: that music has no color line, that it discriminates not between the rich and the poor and that where Armstrong and his music are concerned there is no generation gap.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 9 July 1971, page 12<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lilian Armstrong<\/strong><\/p>\n

An interesting side note to the death of Louis Armstrong is the death of Armstrong\u2019s second wife, a jazz musician in her own right, Lilian Hardin Armstrong. (Married to Hardin from 1924-1938, Louis Armstrong was married a total of four times). The couple met while playing in the King Oliver band and their collaboration resulted in Satchmo\u2019s early success.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Lillian Armstrong. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though divorced in 1938 the pair remained friends. On 27 August 1971, just seven weeks after Louis died, Lil Armstrong was playing in a tribute to her legendary ex-husband when she collapsed and died from a heart attack.<\/p>\n

As this Kansas newspaper article reports:<\/p>\n

She died as she would have wished \u2013 swinging the blues at a piano, leading some of those \u2018cats\u2019 who made the Chicago style of the 1920\u2019s the great sound it was \u2013 and the jazz world today mourned.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kansas), 30 August 1971, page 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Louis Armstrong\u2019s Legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Armstrong\u2019s legacy lives on and he continues to be an influence on jazz musicians today. His song \u201cWhat a Wonderful World\u201d was not popular in the United States when it was released, but grew in popularity after Armstrong\u2019s death and was featured in the movies Good Morning Vietnam<\/em> and the new movie Finding Dory<\/em>. A new generation of music fans is being introduced to the great Satchmo even today.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, Arkansas), 8 March 1988, page 42<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you have a favorite Louis Armstrong song? Tell us about it in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn more about the legendary jazz trumpeter Louis \u201cSatchmo\u201d Armstrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12441],"tags":[12,11919,11911,11939,2020],"class_list":["post-15907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-musicians","tag-genealogy","tag-lillian-armstrong","tag-louis-satchmo-armstrong","tag-music-musicians","tag-newspaper-archives"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/photo-0804-2016-featured-graphic-louis-armstrong.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66947,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15907\/revisions\/66947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}