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Louis Armstrong : An Extraordinary Life
Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong was a man of epic proportions: a musical genius; a brilliant innovator; a showman who rose from poverty to international fame. This "full-bodied portrait of the artist and the man (is) far more interesting than his already colorful legend" ("USA Today"). of photos. Full description
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First published June 16, 1997
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February 26, 2021
Louis Armstrong is right up there with the great musical innovators and entertainers of the 20th century. There’s jazz and then there is Louis Armstrong! He brought jazz out of New Orleans to the rest of the United States and then the world.
Louis Armstrong came out of abject poverty in the slums of New Orleans. There were times in his early years growing up where he did not have enough to eat. It was only on moving to Chicago in the 1920s that he had an indoor toilet. The numerous jazz bars where he accomplished his musical training in New Orleans were run by local mobsters and frequented by pimps and prostitutes who carried knifes and pistols. Fights were frequent. Often jazz was used as entertainment in the many brothels. All this was a large part of Louis’s growing up.
The author gives us many details of Louis’s early life and the personalities inhabiting the vibrant zesty world of New Orleans. Many musicians migrated north. One of them, known as King Oliver, offered Louis a cornet job in his Chicago band so he left for the big city in mid-1920s. He was already known as a prodigy by this time and it did not take him long to become known in Chicago.
There he met Lil Hardin who was to become his second wife. She was already an accomplished pianist who believed in Louis’s potential. She pushed him, gave him the confidence that he sometimes lacked, and bought him new clothes to better project himself in his new urban scene. And Louis started to sing – and then to scat.
Louis realized more than others the value of the new technology of records. His Hot-fives and Hot-Sevens recordings – became famous and advertised his talent to others. These recordings are valued to this day and symbolize the start of the artistic form of jazz. Louis moved jazz from orchestral to having expressive solo performances.
Louis migrated a lot between New York and Chicago, plus tours through-out the country where he had to deal constantly with Jim Crow.
The author provides us with many aspects of Louis Armstrong ebullient life. Louis was a massive extrovert and developed this persona to his stage performance. Louis enjoyed smoking marijuana throughout his life – and was repeatedly told not to advertise this! He also got bit parts in movies – some of which would be considered demeaning today – but in that era he was the first Black person to break down barriers.
Louis was a compulsive memoirist – constantly typing out his daily thoughts and also chronicling his early life in New Orleans. This was sometimes written in his New Orleans vernacular – so it had to be deciphered. Despite all the obstacles he faced Louis was not much for holding resentments – like against white people.
He was criticized for using a mobster – Joe Glaser – as his manager starting in 1935, but Louis had dealt with people like this all his life. And he didn’t want to be bothered with the day-to-day procedures of managing his career and band – he just wanted to play the trumpet and entertain.
Page 380 (my book) – after Joe Glaser became his manager
No longer did armed thugs show up in his dressing room to shake him down, threaten his life, or run him out of town; he had a thug of his own managing him.
Under Glaser he toured Europe and Africa where he had tremendous success.
This book is more on the early stages of Louis’s magnificent life. The author has only 150 pages (out of 500) on the last 40 years of Louis’s life. He almost glosses over the extraordinary affect of Louis’s vocals on jazz. He was the first Black man to sing in front of white audiences and become a superstar. Louis instilled himself into each of the songs he sung. It was a compensation, as he was aging, for the diminishing strength of his trumpet playing. His unique voice took over.
The author writes passionately of Louis’s life.
Page 478-79 Herb Snitzer photographer accompanying the band in the 1950s
“I will never forget the look on Louis’s face [when refused the use of a bathroom]. Hero that he was, world-famous, a favorite to millions of people. America’s single most identifiable entertainer, and yet excluded in the most humiliating fashion from a common convenience.”
Among the most popular of all blacks, he was still, after all these years, condemned to this treatment – not in Louisiana, Alabama, or Mississippi, but in Connecticut.
Page 297
Mary Albert Armstrong [Mayann, Louis’s mother] lived just forty-one years [she died in 1927]. Her life began in the dregs of the Civil War, and ended in the bright lights of modern-day Chicago. She had grown up in a world stifled by the oppressive memory of slavery, but lived long enough to see the glimmer of a new role for blacks in society, a role her son was struggling to make his own. Her passage through life had not been easy; she had endured hard times for most of her days. But if Mayann bent under the weight of circumstances, she never broke. She loved fun, and finery, and most of all, her son. Mayann was no one’s idea of a conventional mother, but it was from her that Louis derived his love of spontaneity, his enjoyment of people, his appetite, and his lack of envy of those who were born more fortunate than he.
Louis Armstrong came out of abject poverty in the slums of New Orleans. There were times in his early years growing up where he did not have enough to eat. It was only on moving to Chicago in the 1920s that he had an indoor toilet. The numerous jazz bars where he accomplished his musical training in New Orleans were run by local mobsters and frequented by pimps and prostitutes who carried knifes and pistols. Fights were frequent. Often jazz was used as entertainment in the many brothels. All this was a large part of Louis’s growing up.
The author gives us many details of Louis’s early life and the personalities inhabiting the vibrant zesty world of New Orleans. Many musicians migrated north. One of them, known as King Oliver, offered Louis a cornet job in his Chicago band so he left for the big city in mid-1920s. He was already known as a prodigy by this time and it did not take him long to become known in Chicago.
There he met Lil Hardin who was to become his second wife. She was already an accomplished pianist who believed in Louis’s potential. She pushed him, gave him the confidence that he sometimes lacked, and bought him new clothes to better project himself in his new urban scene. And Louis started to sing – and then to scat.
Louis realized more than others the value of the new technology of records. His Hot-fives and Hot-Sevens recordings – became famous and advertised his talent to others. These recordings are valued to this day and symbolize the start of the artistic form of jazz. Louis moved jazz from orchestral to having expressive solo performances.
Louis migrated a lot between New York and Chicago, plus tours through-out the country where he had to deal constantly with Jim Crow.
The author provides us with many aspects of Louis Armstrong ebullient life. Louis was a massive extrovert and developed this persona to his stage performance. Louis enjoyed smoking marijuana throughout his life – and was repeatedly told not to advertise this! He also got bit parts in movies – some of which would be considered demeaning today – but in that era he was the first Black person to break down barriers.
Louis was a compulsive memoirist – constantly typing out his daily thoughts and also chronicling his early life in New Orleans. This was sometimes written in his New Orleans vernacular – so it had to be deciphered. Despite all the obstacles he faced Louis was not much for holding resentments – like against white people.
He was criticized for using a mobster – Joe Glaser – as his manager starting in 1935, but Louis had dealt with people like this all his life. And he didn’t want to be bothered with the day-to-day procedures of managing his career and band – he just wanted to play the trumpet and entertain.
Page 380 (my book) – after Joe Glaser became his manager
No longer did armed thugs show up in his dressing room to shake him down, threaten his life, or run him out of town; he had a thug of his own managing him.
Under Glaser he toured Europe and Africa where he had tremendous success.
This book is more on the early stages of Louis’s magnificent life. The author has only 150 pages (out of 500) on the last 40 years of Louis’s life. He almost glosses over the extraordinary affect of Louis’s vocals on jazz. He was the first Black man to sing in front of white audiences and become a superstar. Louis instilled himself into each of the songs he sung. It was a compensation, as he was aging, for the diminishing strength of his trumpet playing. His unique voice took over.
The author writes passionately of Louis’s life.
Page 478-79 Herb Snitzer photographer accompanying the band in the 1950s
“I will never forget the look on Louis’s face [when refused the use of a bathroom]. Hero that he was, world-famous, a favorite to millions of people. America’s single most identifiable entertainer, and yet excluded in the most humiliating fashion from a common convenience.”
Among the most popular of all blacks, he was still, after all these years, condemned to this treatment – not in Louisiana, Alabama, or Mississippi, but in Connecticut.
Page 297
Mary Albert Armstrong [Mayann, Louis’s mother] lived just forty-one years [she died in 1927]. Her life began in the dregs of the Civil War, and ended in the bright lights of modern-day Chicago. She had grown up in a world stifled by the oppressive memory of slavery, but lived long enough to see the glimmer of a new role for blacks in society, a role her son was struggling to make his own. Her passage through life had not been easy; she had endured hard times for most of her days. But if Mayann bent under the weight of circumstances, she never broke. She loved fun, and finery, and most of all, her son. Mayann was no one’s idea of a conventional mother, but it was from her that Louis derived his love of spontaneity, his enjoyment of people, his appetite, and his lack of envy of those who were born more fortunate than he.
July 29, 2016
You get not only a bio of a great musician & person, you get a detailed description how Blacks lived New Orleans through the turn of the century. You also get a better understanding of how the pre-recording (and therefore unrecorded) sounds of untutored musicians became the roots of the New Orleans musical genre and how the odds were stacked against Louis. You come to understand his workaholism and his deference to his eventual agent, who probably exploited him.
As the book progresses, the historical descriptions are not as detailed but you feel the music and the person developing. Ironically, the two best known pieces "Hello Dolly" & "It's a Wonderful World", were late stage, not representative, but somehow routine work for the prolific Louis.
It's hard to imagine from the impoverished roots, the raw deals and the omnipresent daily racism (even to his death in 1971 segregation both de facto and Jim Crow continued), how Louis kept his optimism and exuberance. It was not self deceptive, when the chips were down, he supported the Brown v Board of Ed decision, not just in his heart, but words and actions.
He was an unfaithful lover and husband. We don't know if he ever promised otherwise... all his wives but the first (who was common law married) knew he was a married man when they started "dating" him. The world owes Mrs. Armstong the 2nd (Lil) a debt. She gave him confidence and a platform to be the star he became.
In the Acknowledgments the author says this is the first bio he's written where his admiration for his subject grows.
Louis Armstrong blazed a trail. He was a tough cat, much tougher than all the supposedly macho dudes who posture now. He doesn't have to posture because he's dealt with the mob and prostitutes who slash with the knifes in their shoes, and somehow reminds us, that despite all this, it's a wonderful world.
As the book progresses, the historical descriptions are not as detailed but you feel the music and the person developing. Ironically, the two best known pieces "Hello Dolly" & "It's a Wonderful World", were late stage, not representative, but somehow routine work for the prolific Louis.
It's hard to imagine from the impoverished roots, the raw deals and the omnipresent daily racism (even to his death in 1971 segregation both de facto and Jim Crow continued), how Louis kept his optimism and exuberance. It was not self deceptive, when the chips were down, he supported the Brown v Board of Ed decision, not just in his heart, but words and actions.
He was an unfaithful lover and husband. We don't know if he ever promised otherwise... all his wives but the first (who was common law married) knew he was a married man when they started "dating" him. The world owes Mrs. Armstong the 2nd (Lil) a debt. She gave him confidence and a platform to be the star he became.
In the Acknowledgments the author says this is the first bio he's written where his admiration for his subject grows.
Louis Armstrong blazed a trail. He was a tough cat, much tougher than all the supposedly macho dudes who posture now. He doesn't have to posture because he's dealt with the mob and prostitutes who slash with the knifes in their shoes, and somehow reminds us, that despite all this, it's a wonderful world.
January 14, 2020
Laurence Bergreenin "Louis Armstrong" (Art House, 2001) on ihan mainio elämäkerta maailman tunnetuimpiin ja tärkeimpiin jazzmuusikoihin kuuluvasta Louis Armstrongista (1901-1971). Hänet tunnetaan "What a Wonderful Worldin" ja "Hello Dollyn" kaltaisista suosikki-iskelmistä, mutta varsinaista populaarimusiikin historiaa hän kirjoitteli kornetillaan 1920-luvun loppupuolella Hot Five- ja Hot Seven -yhtyeittensä kanssa. Levytykset ovat edelleenkin mainiota kuunneltavaa - jos et usko, niin etsi YouTubesta vaikka "Potato Head Blues" vuodelta 1927. Harva muusikko on esittänyt yhtä merkittävää roolia populaarimusiikin historiassa!
Syvällisiin jazz-analyyseihin ei kirjoittaja ryhdy, mutta kylläpä kirjassa riittää lukemista ilman niitäkin. Louis oli nimittäin kaveri, jolle sattui ja tapahtui. Naisia riitti neljään avioliittoon ja lukuisiin sivusuhteisiin, henkikulta oli vaarassa rasistisissa etelävaltioissa, marisätkä paloi niin levystudiossa kuin sen ulkopuolella, järjestäytynyt rikollisuus vaikutti kulisseissa... Myöhemmällä iällään hän otti myös tiukasti kantaa rotuerottelua kohtaan, vaikka monelle uudemman polven muusikolle hän oli ns. Setä Tuomo.
Louis Armstrongin lapsuudesta ja nuoruudesta 1900-luvun alkupuolen New Orleansissa - eräässä suosikkikaupungissani - oli mukava lukea, ja samaten pidin kirjan sivupoluista, joilla harhauduttiin kertomaan muiden varhaisten jazz-legendojen kuten Buddy Boldenin tai Bunk Johnsonin elämänvaiheista.
Suosittelen lämpimästi myös Louisin muistelmateosta Elämäni New Orleansissa.
Syvällisiin jazz-analyyseihin ei kirjoittaja ryhdy, mutta kylläpä kirjassa riittää lukemista ilman niitäkin. Louis oli nimittäin kaveri, jolle sattui ja tapahtui. Naisia riitti neljään avioliittoon ja lukuisiin sivusuhteisiin, henkikulta oli vaarassa rasistisissa etelävaltioissa, marisätkä paloi niin levystudiossa kuin sen ulkopuolella, järjestäytynyt rikollisuus vaikutti kulisseissa... Myöhemmällä iällään hän otti myös tiukasti kantaa rotuerottelua kohtaan, vaikka monelle uudemman polven muusikolle hän oli ns. Setä Tuomo.
Louis Armstrongin lapsuudesta ja nuoruudesta 1900-luvun alkupuolen New Orleansissa - eräässä suosikkikaupungissani - oli mukava lukea, ja samaten pidin kirjan sivupoluista, joilla harhauduttiin kertomaan muiden varhaisten jazz-legendojen kuten Buddy Boldenin tai Bunk Johnsonin elämänvaiheista.
Suosittelen lämpimästi myös Louisin muistelmateosta Elämäni New Orleansissa.
March 9, 2021
This Bergreen is a peculiar fellow. Now an apologist, downplaying his subject's most vicious moments & attitudes, now a cheeky sensualist, eager to solicit such images as Louis' instrument 'ejaculating on-stage' because of his skilled caresses. It's not that I can't appreciate these flights of fancy, but you sometimes wonder, when reading, whether they really have a place even here, in a jazz biography.
But in his efforts to ground the various characters as they roll onto of the scene of Louis' life, both in terms of raw history & cultural-societal atmosphere (& we must keep in mind that Mr. Bergreen was born into the age of Louis-in-decline), it is clear that he means business. I learned a good deal in this book that I didn't count on learning, and this is a fact which other reviewers seem to agree with me upon.
What matters most is that the author provides a fairly candid picture of an impossibly beautiful (despite his many flaws) human being, to whom this nation & the world at large owe a great debt in music, in the advancement of black standing in America & racial brotherhood (he never gave a damn who he blew with so long as they loved the same music he did), and in the very doctrine of living life.
Whether you dig jazz or no, please read. And if you're still in doubt, Satchmo says,
Leave it all behind ya'.
But in his efforts to ground the various characters as they roll onto of the scene of Louis' life, both in terms of raw history & cultural-societal atmosphere (& we must keep in mind that Mr. Bergreen was born into the age of Louis-in-decline), it is clear that he means business. I learned a good deal in this book that I didn't count on learning, and this is a fact which other reviewers seem to agree with me upon.
What matters most is that the author provides a fairly candid picture of an impossibly beautiful (despite his many flaws) human being, to whom this nation & the world at large owe a great debt in music, in the advancement of black standing in America & racial brotherhood (he never gave a damn who he blew with so long as they loved the same music he did), and in the very doctrine of living life.
Whether you dig jazz or no, please read. And if you're still in doubt, Satchmo says,
Leave it all behind ya'.
October 29, 2024
It took me a while to finish this biography. Having lived in New Orleans as a young child and having a southern mother, this biography of Louis Armstrong really hit home. My mom was a huge fan. Lots of memories.
This is my second biography researched and written by Laurence Bergreen. His mastery of detail and research accompanied by great writing allows for very interesting and detailed reading.
This is my second biography researched and written by Laurence Bergreen. His mastery of detail and research accompanied by great writing allows for very interesting and detailed reading.
April 2, 2019
One might think, not unfairly, that if jazz music isn’t their thing, a biography on the life of one of its truly influential pioneers wouldn’t be something to generate enough interest to want to read. Well, another way to think of it is its offering of the history of early 1900’s New Orleans, a city unlike any other then and now. I found such fascination in the descriptions of how sections of the town developed and the truly remarkable characters that inhabited its wild and anything goes persona. This is the New Orleans that Louis Armstrong grew up in. How a dirt-poor kid with a fully dysfunctional upbringing was able to become the world’s most renowned cornet player is a story worthy of…a biography that is a great read. For any of us who enjoy learning about people and situations that are galaxies apart from our own, I highly recommend this book as a time machine escape back to a time of numerous bordellos, gangsters, pimps, and the birth of jazz. Laurence Bergreen’s vast research into all things Armstrong and of that era is obvious and I commend him for producing the fully enjoyable compilation of this man’s life and character, as well as those colorful cast of other true-life associations he compiled in his incredible and ‘extravagant’ history.
And for any jazz fan out there, this is a must-read book.
And for any jazz fan out there, this is a must-read book.
December 7, 2013
When I was fourteen years old I went to a Louis Armstrong concert and was absolutely mesmerized by the man who filled the entire fieldhouse with his awesome presence and brilliant musicianship. Fifty-plus years later, I'm quick to tell you that Louis Armstrong is still my favorite musician. In the years following that October 1961 concert, Louis came across as the ambassador of goodwill around the world, and his gravelly-voiced rendition of Hello, Dolly and What a Wonderful World reintroduced his name to a younger generation.
Laurene Bergreen's 1997 biography of Louis Armstrong is filled with the reality of the man behind the legend, and the world and times in which he lived.
Laurene Bergreen's 1997 biography of Louis Armstrong is filled with the reality of the man behind the legend, and the world and times in which he lived.
July 19, 2007
Bergreen tells a good story, but that's not enough to make this biography work. Too many of his facts are wrong and he doesn't provide particularly good documentation of his sources. It seems clear that he doesn't know too much about jazz music either. Louis Armstrong deserves much better than that.
July 5, 2018
I read biography of the greats to learn their wisdom and to be inspired, which unfortunately I didn't have those with Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life.
His life is full of sex, prostitutes (he married one who continued to walk the street after marriage), drugs, infidelity .... He grew up around prostitutes (his mom was probably one, unacknowledged by him). So besides his raw talent, there is hardly anything to learn from him or his life. The biggest lesson is probably to marry the right person. He had 4 wives.
I only recommend the book for Louis Amstrong fan. If not, forget it, there are better dead people to learn from.
His life is full of sex, prostitutes (he married one who continued to walk the street after marriage), drugs, infidelity .... He grew up around prostitutes (his mom was probably one, unacknowledged by him). So besides his raw talent, there is hardly anything to learn from him or his life. The biggest lesson is probably to marry the right person. He had 4 wives.
I only recommend the book for Louis Amstrong fan. If not, forget it, there are better dead people to learn from.
January 29, 2021
I read this so long ago, that what I mainly remember was that Louis Armstrong was very into weed and laxatives.
November 17, 2016
I lingered over reading this biography for a number of years. Was at one point probably one of the stronger Armstrong bios out there, but a) it dwells too much on the salacious (even if his life story welcomes such attention) and b) not enough is written about the later career, e.g. collaborations with Fitzgerald and Ellington. Still good to learn, esp. the earlier part of the career. Comes with a unique insider view into the underworld of the players, including music managers, who surrounded Satchmo.
February 16, 2024
no hate to louis armstrong i just hate the outdated white man terminology this author uses by referring to black people as 'colored' and prostitutes as 'whores' and 'sluts' like questionable biography
June 6, 2017
I've read several other books by Bergreen, and this one is also well-written, organized well, and interesting.
I am reminded of "two" books about musicians. Edmund Morris's Beethoven, where Morris's efforts to sound really smart about music--not his specialty--feel a lot like Bergreen's efforts. And I think, Bergreen is reaching too far. Part of it is that words can't possibly communicate musical sound, and much of the early playing is lost forever. But how many ways can one write that Armstrong was an amazing trumpeter?
The other books I think of are the 2-part autobiographies by Arthur Rubinstein, the greatest pianist of the 20th century. His accounts focus on connections with people, what he thought of others, and how the life of a star musician unfolded. This reminds me of the life story of Armstrong, and this is the strength of Bergreen's biography. If it weren't for music, Armstrong would have led a very sad life with lots of lows. It was a life without parameters, much like how Rubinstein's life unfolded--although his situation was completely different (e.g., sent to live with other people to hone his craft, whereas Armstrong essentially also grew up with little parental focus due to poverty).
All in all, if you're a jazz lover who has a lot of musical knowledge (which I lacked), I think a reader would be disappointed. But if you enjoy books about amazing lives of amazing people with a lot of flaws, well Louse Armstrong An Extravagant Life is the book for you.
I am reminded of "two" books about musicians. Edmund Morris's Beethoven, where Morris's efforts to sound really smart about music--not his specialty--feel a lot like Bergreen's efforts. And I think, Bergreen is reaching too far. Part of it is that words can't possibly communicate musical sound, and much of the early playing is lost forever. But how many ways can one write that Armstrong was an amazing trumpeter?
The other books I think of are the 2-part autobiographies by Arthur Rubinstein, the greatest pianist of the 20th century. His accounts focus on connections with people, what he thought of others, and how the life of a star musician unfolded. This reminds me of the life story of Armstrong, and this is the strength of Bergreen's biography. If it weren't for music, Armstrong would have led a very sad life with lots of lows. It was a life without parameters, much like how Rubinstein's life unfolded--although his situation was completely different (e.g., sent to live with other people to hone his craft, whereas Armstrong essentially also grew up with little parental focus due to poverty).
All in all, if you're a jazz lover who has a lot of musical knowledge (which I lacked), I think a reader would be disappointed. But if you enjoy books about amazing lives of amazing people with a lot of flaws, well Louse Armstrong An Extravagant Life is the book for you.
August 22, 2024
Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential figures in history of jazz. Armstrong was a virtuosic cornet and trumpet player who help pioneer jazz in its infancy. Despite immense technical skills he could not read music and learned purely by ear the only way to play jazz.
In this biography of a great musician & person, you get a detailed description how Armstrong grew up and lived in New Orleans through the turn of the century. His move to Chicago where he made his famous recordings with the Hot Five and Hot Seven, and on to New York and Europe. From it you get a better understanding of how the pre-recording (and therefore unrecorded) sounds of untutored musicians became the roots of the New Orleans musical genre. It's hard to imagine from the impoverished roots, the raw deals and the omnipresent daily racism (even to his death in 1971 segregation both de facto and Jim Crow continued), how Louis kept his optimism and exuberance. But at the same time, he was quite a complex character (four marriages, daily marijuana use, managers with mob connections, laxative proselytization's). Aside from his musical genius, he was a cultural icon-the first African American entertainer to cross over to broad popularity throughout America.
Bergreen paints Armstrong as such an amazing character. Armstrong's blowing and singing, his restless amiable spirit, is a bracing ode to being alive. Bergreen's meticulous empathy lets us share the extravagance. Armstrong’s trumpet improvisations influenced every jazz musician who appeared after him. Even if you aren't a jazz fan this is just a great book about a great man.
In this biography of a great musician & person, you get a detailed description how Armstrong grew up and lived in New Orleans through the turn of the century. His move to Chicago where he made his famous recordings with the Hot Five and Hot Seven, and on to New York and Europe. From it you get a better understanding of how the pre-recording (and therefore unrecorded) sounds of untutored musicians became the roots of the New Orleans musical genre. It's hard to imagine from the impoverished roots, the raw deals and the omnipresent daily racism (even to his death in 1971 segregation both de facto and Jim Crow continued), how Louis kept his optimism and exuberance. But at the same time, he was quite a complex character (four marriages, daily marijuana use, managers with mob connections, laxative proselytization's). Aside from his musical genius, he was a cultural icon-the first African American entertainer to cross over to broad popularity throughout America.
Bergreen paints Armstrong as such an amazing character. Armstrong's blowing and singing, his restless amiable spirit, is a bracing ode to being alive. Bergreen's meticulous empathy lets us share the extravagance. Armstrong’s trumpet improvisations influenced every jazz musician who appeared after him. Even if you aren't a jazz fan this is just a great book about a great man.
February 14, 2020
Erittäin hieno ja kaunistelematon elämäkerta, jonka lukeminen oli nautinnollista, vaikka en jazzista enkä Armstrongista tietänyt ennen kirjaa juuri mitään. Kirja tarjoaa Armstrongin elämäkerran ohella myös hienon pläjäyksen jazz-musiikin historiaa.
Kirjalta ei kannata odottaa viisaan miehen viisaita elämänohjeita, vaan realistista kuvausta mustan miehen elämästä rasistisessa eilispäivän Amerikassa. Armstrong eli hyvin värikkään elämän, niin hyvässä kuin pahassakin mielessä.
Kirjalta ei kannata odottaa viisaan miehen viisaita elämänohjeita, vaan realistista kuvausta mustan miehen elämästä rasistisessa eilispäivän Amerikassa. Armstrong eli hyvin värikkään elämän, niin hyvässä kuin pahassakin mielessä.
March 15, 2023
An extravagant life indeed. Louis worked very hard from an early age. Nothing was given to him. He had a soft heart, great talent, and a true love for performing.
It was a tough life without a father, but he had musical talent from an early age and many father figures.
From new Orleans to Chicago to New York and across the world, from the streets to speakeasys to the big screen, this book takes you on a ride through the life of an amazing Jazz musician.
It was a tough life without a father, but he had musical talent from an early age and many father figures.
From new Orleans to Chicago to New York and across the world, from the streets to speakeasys to the big screen, this book takes you on a ride through the life of an amazing Jazz musician.
January 24, 2019
Armstrong had an amazing life and Bergreen showcases it well. Like I noted for the other books of his I've read, this one has many unique words. If you love learning new ones, it's a bonus, but if not, it may be a handicap. Aside from that feature, this thick book is worth reading. Now to work my way through the rest of the Hot Five's discography.
April 15, 2022
This is one of the best biographies that I have ever read. Bergreen's writing truly brings you into the world of turn-of-the-century New Orleans, roarin-20's Chicago, and so on. He chronicles Armstrong's professional and personal life in a way that is captivating, entertaining, and informative. The discographical notes at the end of the book are also very helpful. I highly recommend this book.
January 1, 2025
I certainly learned a lot about Louis Armstrong, but once this gets past the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings, it feels like it's rushing through a lot of things. Sure, his later work wasn't as innovative, but I still want to know more about it. On the other hand, this is already five hundred pages and might feel too long with much more added.
May 14, 2025
This is a terrific biography of the jazz legend, written by Lawrence Bergreen. The book covers such topics as the history of New Orleans from its founding through the 20th Century, Voodooism, racism, gangsters and of course, Jazz history. Obviously it is a story of Satchmo’s life including his childhood, youth and fascinating career. I recommend this book highly.
February 6, 2023
Pops Tops
Excellent book! Great read but my only criticism is that it did not mention recording the James Bond song for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - We have all the time in the world, I highly recommend this book.
Excellent book! Great read but my only criticism is that it did not mention recording the James Bond song for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - We have all the time in the world, I highly recommend this book.
June 3, 2019
In hindsight, I would have preferred to watch a documentary and hear Louis Armstrong's voice and music. The book is thorough and I learned a lot about the origins and development of jazz.
May 31, 2021
Technical review if the greatest
This book is a wonderful view of a life of a workaholic. Specific to a level of boredom sometimes, but complete.
This book is a wonderful view of a life of a workaholic. Specific to a level of boredom sometimes, but complete.
June 26, 2022
Louis Armstrong truly had an extraordinary life. Reading this made me appreciate jazz even more.
I think the author did a good job of presenting the tough realities at the time.
I think the author did a good job of presenting the tough realities at the time.
February 15, 2024
I absolutely love this book. It is so detailed and interesting throughout.
May 27, 2024
A wonderful, enthralling book.
December 11, 2016
Really powerful book that goes deep not just into the great Satchmo but also more broadly into how Jazz evolved & grew in his age...
- Louis grew up an illegitimate child in New Orleans. He would grow up with his grandmother while his mother gave him up early in his life. His grandmother was both a strong believer in both Catholicism & voodoo which influenced him. At age 5 though his mother would get ill & sent for him to join her and his younger sister.
- He was in school until dropping out in the 5th grade. He would go on to work night and day for a Jewish family that had a junk wagon that went from neighborhood to neighborhood. That family nurtured Louis and often fed him because he was working with them so much. They encouraged him to get into music & bought him his first trumpet (coronet).
- Louis in what little free time he had started to join fellow kids who wanted to play music. They started playing on the streets before he was 10 and started to get noticed. But at age 11 while playing a prank with a loaded gun he had taken from the family home he was arrested & sent to a waif home for lost kids for a few years. He was pulled out of the home at age 15 to work full time to support his family.
- He was signed by a promoter & jazz musician to be in a band playing riverboats. The South was still segregated at this time making it difficult to broaden his appeal unless he was playing at other gigs or on the street. In 1919 he joined the band of King Joe Oliver & moved to Chicago. In the age of the roaring 20's he really started to establish himself there as money poured into the city.
- He married Lil Harden while in Chicago & she pushed him to get to a point where he would front a band. He started to become more of a singing getting broader appeal with his solos. After 2 & 1/2 years he moved to NY where he started recording. As radio became more prominent as well he grew even more popular. He would move to play in the Cotton club in a time that became known as the Harlem Renaissance.
- He kept recording with his band the Hot 5 but the depression really hammered Harlem causing a lot of clubs to close. Louis would continue to play by going on the road.
This is only a fraction of the book it is beautiful in its detail. A part of it is also sad because most of the real jazz recordings from that time were lost. Because of race Jazz wasn't given the respect nor were the performers. Most of us might know Armstrong's song 'What a wonderful World' but that song wasn't even promoted in the United States. If you want to learn a lot about Jazz this is a great book that shows Jazz through telling Armstrong's life story...
- Louis grew up an illegitimate child in New Orleans. He would grow up with his grandmother while his mother gave him up early in his life. His grandmother was both a strong believer in both Catholicism & voodoo which influenced him. At age 5 though his mother would get ill & sent for him to join her and his younger sister.
- He was in school until dropping out in the 5th grade. He would go on to work night and day for a Jewish family that had a junk wagon that went from neighborhood to neighborhood. That family nurtured Louis and often fed him because he was working with them so much. They encouraged him to get into music & bought him his first trumpet (coronet).
- Louis in what little free time he had started to join fellow kids who wanted to play music. They started playing on the streets before he was 10 and started to get noticed. But at age 11 while playing a prank with a loaded gun he had taken from the family home he was arrested & sent to a waif home for lost kids for a few years. He was pulled out of the home at age 15 to work full time to support his family.
- He was signed by a promoter & jazz musician to be in a band playing riverboats. The South was still segregated at this time making it difficult to broaden his appeal unless he was playing at other gigs or on the street. In 1919 he joined the band of King Joe Oliver & moved to Chicago. In the age of the roaring 20's he really started to establish himself there as money poured into the city.
- He married Lil Harden while in Chicago & she pushed him to get to a point where he would front a band. He started to become more of a singing getting broader appeal with his solos. After 2 & 1/2 years he moved to NY where he started recording. As radio became more prominent as well he grew even more popular. He would move to play in the Cotton club in a time that became known as the Harlem Renaissance.
- He kept recording with his band the Hot 5 but the depression really hammered Harlem causing a lot of clubs to close. Louis would continue to play by going on the road.
This is only a fraction of the book it is beautiful in its detail. A part of it is also sad because most of the real jazz recordings from that time were lost. Because of race Jazz wasn't given the respect nor were the performers. Most of us might know Armstrong's song 'What a wonderful World' but that song wasn't even promoted in the United States. If you want to learn a lot about Jazz this is a great book that shows Jazz through telling Armstrong's life story...
August 23, 2010
Bought this after reading a favorable review some 13 years ago but then read a bunch of less than favorable reviews so it took me awhile to get around to it. Mostly the unfavorable reviews are right. This is only a serviceable biography with its best feature being the amount of talking the author allows Armstrong to do through his own writings. Armstrong wrote for almost all of his adult life. Letters, scraps of memoirs, articles. So his papers are a great resource and they pepper this biography with humor and with fond recollections of a rough childhood and a rough and tumble apprenticeship in the New Orleans music scene where jazz first emerged. Bergreen is a chronicler, not an historian or any kind of interpreter. He flounders between hyperbole and clumsy co-opting of jazz slang to say little that is insightful or even much informed. Don’t get me wrong, you can’t overstate Armstrong’s accomplishments as a musician or singer. It would be hard to argue for anyone in 20th century American music as more influential…not Frank or Elvis or Ella or Billie or Woody or Bob or Duke—great and influential as they each are. But it takes someone more knowledgeable than the author to actually capture Armstrong’s genius and document his influence. A definitive biography is still overdue Armstrong.
February 9, 2014
Thoroughly engaging and notably enlightening biography. I went into it an Armstrong fan, but came away with a full understanding of why he's arguably the most important figure in American popular music (at least in the first half of the 20th century). Crucially, Bergreen paints a fine-grained picture of New Orleans as Armstrong lived it in his formative years, including the stint at a boy's home which was a major turning point in his life. We also get nice portraits of jazz giants like Buddy Bolden, Armstrong's mentor King Oliver, and more, and vivid depictions of Louis's complicated relationships with women (at least one of which, his marriage to Lil Hardin, was very important in his musical career). You'll also learn about his struggles with and against racism, in complicated New Orleans, the North, overseas and in the segregated South; the origin of the nickname Satchmo; the ins and outs of Louis' lifelong love affair with ganja (he was as tight with it as any Rasta); and how he basically invented the solo as we know it. Armstrong was a much more complex character, as a person and a musician, than is generally recognized, and Bergreen's biography will tell you why, even as it sends you scurrying for Armstrong recordings.
November 25, 2015
This biography makes the man palpable. The biographer never makes the mistake of appearing to dissect his subject as though he were conducting an autopsy, an all too common mistake.
Most of the recordings mentioned in this book are available free on the Web, adding a postmodern dimension to the text. Armstrong's life, work, social relations, and musicality legacy have so many facets that readers doubtless would do well to read more than one book about him.
He has written an autobiography and I am adding it to my reading list.
Most of the recordings mentioned in this book are available free on the Web, adding a postmodern dimension to the text. Armstrong's life, work, social relations, and musicality legacy have so many facets that readers doubtless would do well to read more than one book about him.
He has written an autobiography and I am adding it to my reading list.
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