Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Satchmo vs the British Invasion

Daniel Louis Armstrong.  Born in crushing poverty in 1900, he was no spring chicken when he bumped the unstoppable juggernaut that was the Beatles off the #1 spot on the charts.   With "Hello Dolly" no less!  "Can't Buy Me Love" just couldn't hack it.  "Dolly" may seem a bit staid but some of Armstrong's best work is chockfull of his improvised solos.  And even more of his songs have the best names! "Big Butter and Egg Man", "Struttin' with Some Barbecue", "Potato Head Blues", and that's just the tip of the hankie. "I'm a Ding Dong Daddy (From Dumas)", "Sittin' in the Sun Countin' My Money", "Gut Bucket Blues", "Gully Low Blues", and waaay before the Captain found Tennille, "Muskrat Ramble"! The man could do anything.  Even make us cry with his version of "Wonderful World".

Sources:  Biography in Context
Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890-1954

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Loved Satchmo