Louis Armstrong--singer, trumpet player, actor, entertainer, icon, public figure. Few have paralleled his pervasive and profound effect on musicians and non-musicians all over the world. This biography, divided into three sections, highlights significant aspects of Armstrong's fascinating life as a man, musician, and celebrity. The first section walks you through Armstrong's life from his roots in New Orleans to his final years in New York City. In the second section, we examine Armstrong's powerful influence on vocal and instrumental music, and in the final section, we describe how this great musician affected the world even when he wasn't playing or singing. In addition, we have also included an informative glossary, which you can access at the end of this biography to help you become familiar with commonly used jazz terminology (highlighted in bold throughout the text). For a condensed version, focusing mainly on the significant moments in Armstrong's life, click here.
Who would have thought that Louis Armstrong, raised in New Orleans's run-down Storyville--a neighborhood teeming with slums, brothels, gangs, and honky-tonks-would become one of the most prominent and influential figures of the twentieth century?
Although it would be fitting for American icon Louis Armstrong to be born on July 4, 1900, which Armstrong himself stated was his date of birth, evidence from a baptismal certificate indicates that his true birthday was August 4, 1901. The discrepancy surrounding Armstrong's birth date is just one example of how the rags-to-riches Louis Armstrong had become a mythic figure whose fascinating story continues to be explored--and consequently revised--even to this day.
With his parents frequently absent, Armstrong's early childhood was often spent on the streets of New Orleans, singing with neighborhood kids for loose change and searching garbage cans for food. He was the son of Mary Albert, who was probably a part-time prostitute, and William Armstrong, a laborer in a turpentine factory. When William left the family and Mary Albert (referred to as Mayann by Armstrong) moved to Perdido Street, an area known for prostitution, Armstrong moved in with his grandmother Josephine Armstrong.
After a few years, he returned to his mother's custody and moved to the indigent neighborhood of Storyville, where the many seedy dance halls and honky-tonks provided Armstrong's first experiences with blues music and a variation of ragtime that was the predecessor of jazz.
New Year's Day 1913 marked a turning point in Armstrong's life, taking him off of the Storyville streets. Armstrong fired a pistol in the air and was arrested. He was sent to a reform school called the Colored Waif's Home for Boys, which in the end proved positive for Armstrong. Under the tutelage of the Waif Home's band instructor Peter Davis, he received his first formal music lessons. After short stints with vocal music, percussion, and the bugle, Armstrong eventually settled with the cornet. With the band, he learned traditional ensemble music, such as marches and rags; and during this time period, he was given his first cornet.
In 1914, Armstrong was released from the Waif's Home and--much to his dismay--returned to his old way of life. Having no formal education, he was resigned to doing various odd jobs like selling papers, unloading boats, and hauling coal in order to feed himself, his mother, and his sister.
Determined to become a musician, Armstrong frequented many honky-tonks and
dance halls in town, including the Come Clean Dance Hall, Funky Butt Hall, and
Mahogany Hall. During this period, he met cornetist Joe "King" Oliver
of the Kid Ory Band, a then-noted musician in New Orleans whose band was well-received
for its blues and ragtime renditions. Oliver became a pivotal figure in Armstrong's
life, taking on various roles as mentor, teacher, and in some respects the father
he never had.
In 1918, Armstrong began his short-lived marriage to Daisy Parker, a prostitute
from Gretna, Louisiana. During this time, his obvious skills started to attract
the attention of local musicians. Armstrong began receiving more and more gigs,
playing in Zutty Singleton's Trio and The Silver Leaf Band, on the bandstand
with Papa Celestin's Tuxedo Orchestra, and in parades with the Allen Brass Band.
And when Joe Oliver left for Chicago in 1919, Armstrong took his place in the
Kid Ory Band.
Despite his battles with poverty and his struggles as a musician in New Orleans, Armstrong spoke highly of his hometown's diversity and vitality, particularly appreciating the wide variety of music--from ragtime and blues to opera and church music--that permeated the streets. Still, Armstrong left New Orleans in 1919 and played with Fate Marable's riverboat band in St. Louis. During his two-year tenure on the Strekfus Mississippi River Boat Lines, Armstrong refined his ability to read music and reproduce songs requested of him.
King Oliver, at this point a well-known and prolific musician in Chicago, decided he wanted to add a second cornetist to his Creole Jazz Band, which was somewhat of an unusual move for cornetists at that time. Until Armstrong eventually paved the way for the soloist, jazz music had emphasized the importance of the group as a whole, where each musician must fulfill a particular role.
But when Oliver requested Armstrong to join his band at Lincoln Gardens in 1922, Armstrong did not hesitate. "I felt it was a great break for me," Armstrong wrote in his 1954 autobiography Satchmo, "even to sit beside a man like Joe Oliver with all his prestige."
Indeed, Oliver provided Armstrong with more connections in the music business and venues in which to play, and through his work with the Creole Jazz Band, Armstrong further honed his sense of harmony, developed his ear, and made his first recordings with the band at the Gennett Studios in Richmond, Indiana. However, Armstrong, an innovative musical genius, quickly exhibited his superiority over the other band members.
By now, the Creole Jazz Band's pianist Lil Hardin had become Armstrong's second wife, and she pressured Armstrong to leave the band and join Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra at the Roseland Ballroom in New York. Although he had to accept a pay cut to join Henderson, Armstrong seized the opportunity to play with such a well-known band.
Some historians claim that Armstrong was really Henderson's second choice after cornetist Joe Smith, who was not available at the time. Whether or not this is true, Henderson could not have ended up with a more proficient cornetist than Louis Armstrong. His virtuosic improvisational skills greatly influenced the Orchestra and all jazz musicians for generations to come.
During his period with Henderson's Orchestra, Armstrong's name became synonymous with the finest new 'hot' music of the day. His innovative use of syncopation, particularly in songs like "Shanghai Shuffle," had never been heard before. He also recorded with many blues singers, including Clara Smith and Trixie Smith, and his recording of "St. Louis Blues" with Bessie Smith had become a huge success.
In 1925, Armstrong returned to Chicago, switched from the cornet to the trumpet, and recorded the first album as leader of his own band, the Hot Five. The recordings Armstrong made with the Hot Five and its successor, the Hot Seven, at Okeh Records were--and still remain--some of the most influential jazz recordings in history. With Armstrong's masterful technique, pieces like "Cornet Chop Suey," "Potato Head Blues," and "West End Blues" helped give rise to the solo as the centerpiece in jazz music.
The original Hot Five included Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny St. Cyr on banjo, Lil Hardin on piano, and of course Armstrong on cornet. Eventually Lil was replaced with Earl "Fatha" Hines on piano and--with the addition of Pete Briggs on tuba and Baby Dodds on drums--the Hot Seven emerged. Neither the Hot Five nor the Hot Seven played live, but they recorded their extraordinary music for three years.
Not only did the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings significantly influence all jazz instrumental music that would succeed them, but vocal music was also affected. In the 1926 recording of "Heebie Jeebies," Armstrong sang with the accompaniment of his band, but he did not use any words. Using vowels and consonants, Armstrong created vocal music in a style that became known as scat singing.
Meanwhile, Armstrong's source of income came from performances with his wife's band at the Dreamland Café and with the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra at the Sunset Café. While at the Sunset Café, he met his future manager Joe Glaser, an ex-convict who had ties to the Al Capone mob.
Just when Armstrong's musical career was reaching its peak, his involvement in the acting industry started to gestate. In 1928, Armstrong was hired to play in the orchestra of the Broadway musical Hot Chocolates, the creation of Fats Waller (music) and Andy Razaf (lyrics). The musical was well-received, and Armstrong's active participation in the theatrical arts had begun.
By the late 1920's, phonograph records started to replace sheet music, and many audiences worldwide could hear the music of Louis Armstrong. His 1929 recording of "Ain't Misbehavin" became the top selling record to date. And for the next couple of years, under the management of Tommy Rockwell, Armstrong played with various musicians, including Carroll Dickerson's Savoy Orchestra, Clarence Jones's Orchestra, and his own band, Louis Armstrong and his Stompers.
Between 1930 and 1934, Armstrong separated from Lil Hardin, hired Johnny Collins as his manager, and moved back and forth between Los Angeles, Chicago, and Paris. Around this time, many nightclubs were connected to the mob, and it was difficult for Armstrong to avoid interactions with gangsters. When Armstrong refused to return to Connie's Inn, which was co-owned by gangster Dutch Schultz, thugs followed Armstrong and his musicians around the streets of New York, and Armstrong was forced to extend tours across the country and in England.
Armstrong briefly led the Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra in California, then toured throughout the United States and Europe. Eventually, Armstrong's nickname Satchmo (short for satchel mouth) became known around the world, and "Ambassador Satch" gave international tours that were sponsored by the U.S. State Department. During this period, Armstrong appeared in his first of over fifteen films, Ex-Flame.
For all of his success and musical acumen, Armstrong was often criticized for his wacky behavior on and off the stage. Armstrong's impetuous yet jovial demeanor was exemplified in a concert performed for the English king. According to Stanley Crouch, Armstrong introduced the song "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You" by saying, "This one's for you, Rex." Another example of his quirky character is his affinity for laxatives, which he would pass out to both fans and heads of state.
When Armstrong returned to the United States in 1935, he hired the infamous Joe Glaser to be his manager and the Luis Russell Orchestra to be his backup band. Consisting of mainly New Orleans musicians, the Orchestra provided a very comfortable setting for Armstrong, and together they became known as Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra. In 1936, Armstrong recorded "Swing That Music," a song that was notorious for the trumpeter's ability to hit forty-two high C's followed by a high E-flat. Later that year, Armstrong's autobiography Swing That Music was published.
In 1937, Armstrong hosted the Fleischmann's Yeast Show, a national network radio program, and a year later, he divorced Lil Hardin and married Alpha Smith shortly thereafter. His marriage to Alpha lasted three years, and in 1942 Armstrong married for the fourth time--this time to Lucille Wilson, who would remain his wife for the rest of his life.
By the 1940's, swing bands were losing their popularity and Armstrong was growing tired of leading a large group. In 1947, promoter Ernie Anderson introduced Armstrong to a small band, featuring Jack Teagarden on trombone, Earl 'Fatha' Hines on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass, and Velma Middleton on vocals. These musicians--with various changes including the addition of Barney Bigard on clarinet, 'Big' Sid Catlett on drums, and Trummy Young on trombone--formed the Louis Armstrong All Stars, which became one of the most well-known jazz outfits in history.
Armstrong's All Stars performed relentlessly all over the world in clubs, festivals, and concert halls. No matter where they performed, they were followed by admiring audiences. Armstrong made appearances at the Nice Jazz Festival, the first international jazz festival, and in Africa, where he was greeted and hailed by thousands.
An international celebrity, Armstrong's music and face began appearing everywhere. He was pictured on the cover of Time magazine on Februray 21, 1949. He made appearances in the musical High Society and on television shows such as Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and the Ed Sullivan Show. He collaborated with the Oscar Peterson Trio and with singers Bing Crosby, Louis Jordan, and Ella Fitzgerald. He toured with Benny Goodman; recorded the still widely-acclaimed Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy and Satch Plays Fats; and published his second autobiography, Satchmo: A Musical Authobiography. His recording of "Mack the Knife" from the German opera The Three Penny Opera was a worldwide hit. The list goes on and on.
It cannot be argued that Louis Armstrong had become a household name and a worldwide popular success. However, some music critics lambasted Armstrong during this period for lacking the musical inventiveness of his earlier years. His concerts were considered predictable and easily malleable to conform to popular tastes.
In addition to the continual critiques of his music, Armstrong was openly criticized for his behavior, whether on stage or off. Some of his contemporaries, including Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, accused him of conforming to the black stereotype of a pandering "Uncle Tom," claiming that he had become merely an entertainer for white audiences.
Armstrong mostly brushed off such accusations. Contrary to what his critics believed, Armstrong was deeply incensed by racial discrimination and often voiced his disapproval. Even though his popularity had spread across the world, Armstrong was not excluded from the racism and prejudices that were pervasive during his career. He felt alienated even in his hometown New Orleans, where he refused to visit because the Jim Crow laws were still being exercised after they were ruled illegal. "I don't care if I ever see that city again," Armstrong said. "They treat me better all over the world than they do in my hometown. Ain't that stupid? Jazz was born there and I remember when it wasn't no crime for cats of any color to get together and blow."
Not only was Armstrong the first prominent African-American celebrity of international acclaim, but he was the first jazz musician to tour Africa extensively and one of the first musicians to play for integrated audiences. In 1957, Armstrong cancelled his tour in Russia to speak out against President Eisenhower and the way desegregation was handled in a school in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In 1959, Armstrong was briefly hospitalized due to a heart attack. By now, his health was starting to deteriorate, and his continual problems with his weakened lips forced him to concentrate more on singing than blowing his horn. But despite these setbacks, his love of entertaining kept Armstrong on the road, in the studio, and behind the camera.
For the next few years, Armstrong toured Eastern Europe, Canada, and Las Vegas, performed annually at the Newport Jazz Festival, and gave a concert for President John F. Kennedy. During this period, he recorded with Duke Ellington, and his 1964 hit "Hello Dolly" reached the top of the charts in the United States and England, effectively replacing the Beatles in the number one spot. In the United Kingdom, his recording of "What a Wonderful World" also rose to the top of the charts.
When Armstrong's ailing health became more of a reality, the Louis Armstrong All Stars were forced to disband. In 1969, Armstrong was hospitalized for three months due to heart problems, and two years later, the most celebrated jazz musician of the day died in his sleep in Queens, New York.
A rhythmic genius. The pioneer of scat singing. The herald of the jazz solo. A master of swing. The man who could turn a popular song into high art. This was Louis Armstrong.
Master of Scat
"Ba-ba-da-ba heebie-jeebie deh. Ay! Jeep. Dah. Boop. Dee-bah, jip bah bah, bip bip be-doo-doo-doo. Doo, doo-doo-doo deh-deh-deh da-da, deh-da-da-da dee. Oo-be-doo-de-oo..."
-Louis Armstrong in "Heebie Jeebies" (transcribed from the Louis Armstrong-The Hot Five, Vol. 1 recording)
Hailed as having perfect pitch and flawless rhythm, Armstrong could manipulate his voice like he could blow his horn. In fact, it was often stated that Armstrong used his voice like a musical instrument and his trumpet like human voice.
Indeed, when Armstrong's Hot Five recorded "Heebie Jeebies" at Okeh Records in 1926, he sang in an improvisational way that no one had ever heard before. The story is told like this: In the middle of recording "Heebie Jeebies," Armstrong dropped his sheet music. Rather than stopping the song midway, Armstrong chose to continue singing, and he did so without using actual words. Instead, he combined sounds made up of consonants and vowels, something he often did during instrumental breaks. This song became known as the first recorded example of scat singing.
The genius in Armstrong's scat singing resides partly in his ability to tell a story without using actual words. Although the lyrics consist of meaningless sounds, Armstrong's skilled phrasing, rhythm, and expression combine to produce musical sentences that portray a particular mood. Jazz journalist Stanley Crouch wrote in an article for Time magazine that Armstrong's "singing could be as lofty as a moon flight or as low-down as the blood drops of a street thug dying in the gutter."
Armstrong was able to transform popular music into works of high art due to his effortless rhythmic innovations. Many songs that Armstrong chose to cover became even more popular than the original version written by the songwriter. His version of "Mack the Knife" from Kurt Weill's Three Penny Opera was so successful that the original singer Lotte Lenya telephoned Armstrong to thank him for his rendition.
Armstrong's throaty voice has been compared to gravel, iron filings and sandpaper. Such descriptions would suggest that Armstrong's voice was harsh and abrasive, but on the contrary, his easygoing delivery and warm tone resulted in a vocal sound full of positive energy and charisma. His vocal style has influenced singers--such as Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley--generations after him.
Author Will Friedwald stated, "from Louis and his relationship with Bing Crosby, that's where all popular singing comes from. So, basically all the stuff, even going up through rock 'n' roll, can be traced back to Armstrong."
Armstrong was as adept and influential on his trumpet as he was with his voice. He revolutionized jazz with his masterful solo lines. Prior to Armstrong's arrival in the jazz world, emphasis was placed on the band as a whole rather than individuals within the band. Each musician was expected to fulfill a specific role, with each instrument dependent on its interaction with the other instruments in the band. Often, the lead musicians in early jazz would erupt in spontaneous counterpoint, which took harmonic acumen, but did not utilize the rhythmic innovation that Armstrong was so renowned for.
During his stint with King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band, Armstrong played second cornetist, a role in which he was expected to provide mostly the harmonic line to King Oliver's melodies. And although he was adept at this activity, his powerful tone and virtuosity soon made his musical talent stand out against the comparatively mediocre playing of the other band members.
His harmonic superiority and original melodies paved the way for the solo to emerge at the forefront of jazz music. According to jazz writer Ted Gioia, "because of Armstrong's presence, the King Oliver recordings from the early 1920's stand out both as a paramount example of the New Orleans collective style and also its death knell, already hinting at the more individualistic ethos that would replace it."
During his work with Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, Armstrong further refined his improvisational skills and eventually abandoned the fixed melody. In the 1924 recording of "Shanghai Shuffle" Armstrong repeats one single note and varies its sound through the length it is played, its placement within the music, and its intensity, utilizing an innovative style of syncopation that listeners had not heard before. Shortly after this recording was released, Armstrong's name became synonymous with the finest new 'hot' music of the day.
Clarinetist Sidney Bechet was often considered to be competition for Armstrong, mostly because clarinetists at that time were usually given the most complex parts in a band. However, these clarinet solos often emphasized harmonic structures over rhythmic improvisations, and brass players' heavy use of syncopation and their free use of improvisation allowed them to take the spotlight away from clarinetists.
Armstrong, of course, was heading directly towards the spotlight. Requiring more room to improvise, he rejected the early New Orleans jazz, in which the clarinet, trumpet, and trombone were all featured, and championed the solo trumpet.
Hotter than That
When Armstrong finally had the opportunity to record under his own name, the results became some of the most influential albums in jazz history. Armstrong's Hot Five, as his band was called, produced perhaps the most virtuosic recordings of jazz improvisation to date.
Armstrong's rhythmic innovations on the track, "Cornet Chop Suey," particularly impressed his contemporaries. He utilized stop-time accompaniment, in which the ensemble played a simple pattern in rhythmic unison so that Armstrong could develop his solo line. The solo itself consisted of a series of two-bar segments, each seemingly commenting on the preceding segment, and thus creating an interesting musical dialogue.
According to Murray Horowitz, Vice President of Cultural Programming at National Public Radio: "People had taken solo breaks before, but the idea of an improvised composition that had a beginning, a middle and an end, that took ideas, that played with them, that hung together structurally and told a story, that's something you can hear Armstrong develop over the four years of these recordings."
After the addition of drums and tuba to Armstrong's band in the late 1920's, the Hot Five became the Hot Seven. Their recordings show that even more emphasis was placed on the solos at the expense of the ensemble. On "Potato Head Blues," Armstrong played a solo over stop-time accompaniment, varied the timing of the notes he played, and began using syncopation to showcase his melody. In other words, Armstrong placed accents on notes where listeners did not expect them to be placed.
And "Hotter than that," recorded in 1927, was described as "possibly the most exuberant recorded performance in jazz" by jazz writer James Lincoln Collier because of both Armstrong's adept and energetic trumpet solo and the rhythmic complexity of his scat singing. Indeed, Armstrong had used his voice like a musical instrument, singing notes that rhythmically consisted of a succession of hemiolas while the ensemble played in the standard 4/4 time, as if there were two different time signatures in one work.
Similarly, jazz lovers are still raving about the 1928 recording of "West End Blues," a hallmark example of Armstrong's musical prowess. This expressive piece begins with Armstrong showing off his improvisational skills in an impressive introductory solo. Then, the piece commences a series of climaxes--with each series reaching higher than the other--and it ends as Armstrong holds a high B-flat for almost four measures just before the music descends towards the final coda.
There was something about Armstrong's music that made it "swing." Perhaps it was the way he played in front of or behind the beat but hardly ever on it. Perhaps it was the way he constantly altered the placement of accents in his music. Or the way he split a quarter note into two eighth notes and altered the length of each. Or the way he used vibrato after he struck the note. All of these characteristics were, indeed, inherent in Armstrong's melodies, but even more illuminating is the fact that they surged from Armstrong's trumpet with more adeptness than they had from any of his contemporaries.
In The History of Jazz, writer Ted Gioia wrote, "none of the other great players of the day--whether Bechet or Beiderbecke, Hawkins or Hines--could match Armstrong's vast range of rhythmic devices, his variegated ways of phrasing, or just the sheer inner momentum and outer logic of his melody lines."
Armstrong is considered one of the pioneers of swing music; however he was not the inventor of the genre. Although the exact origins of swing music remain unclear, there is little dispute that Armstrong's music was swinging better than anyone else at the time.
As Armstrong's fame grew and his name became known around the world, the consistency and quality of his work was questioned. Many critics believed that after 1929, Armstrong was more of a crowd-pleaser than a musical innovator.
In the early 1930's, big band music was starting to become popular, and Armstrong adapted accordingly. He hired the Luis Russell Orchestra to be his backup band, and the group began tours across the country playing what many critics have called commercial music. Armstrong's 1938 recording of "Struttin' with Some Barbecue" is indicative of how Armstrong's style had changed. His earlier 1928 version consisted of more notes, each with shorter durations, while his later version--played in a higher key to show off Armstrong's strength in the upper register--utilized less notes, each with longer durations. This change, due partly to problems Armstrong was continually having with his lips, was often attributed to Armstrong's development as an entertainer, not as an inventive musician conjuring up daring innovations.
By the 1940's, big band music started to go out of vogue, and perhaps not coincidentally, Armstrong began working with a small band again. The result, Louis Armstrong and the All Stars, debuted at Billy Berg's Club in Hollywood on August 13, 1947. And although his recordings during this period were still viewed as commercialized music, Armstrong remained with the All Stars for the rest of his life and continued to exhibit the passion and charisma characteristic of his work.
"I never tried to prove nothing, just always wanted to give a good show. My life has been my music, it's always come first, but the music ain't worth nothing if you can't lay it on the public. The main thing is to live for that audience, 'cause what you're there for is to please the people."
-Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong's world-renowned success cannot be attributed to his singing and trumpet playing ability alone. His jovial, down-to-earth persona, infectious smile, and optimistic attitude made him a formidable presence both on and off the stage. Ella Fitzgerald once stated of Armstrong that, "It never seemed like we were really recording because he was always so happy. He came in like there was nothing to it."
His unique personality was accentuated by his inventive use of language. Not always able to recall people's names, almost anyone he talked to became "Pops" or "Daddy." And he is often credited for coining such pop culture slang as "cats," "groovy," and "home boy." However, some of his unique phrases have remained within Armstrong's personal vocabulary. For example, he would often call a particularly good concert "the Livin' Aspirin" and his old patched tuxedo "roast beef." His conversational language was also apparent in his letters to friends, in which he has often concluded correspondence with "Swiss Krissly yours" and "Red beans and ricely," referring to his often used laxative and his favorite Creole dish, respectively.
According to Thomas Brothers, professor of music and author of Louis Armstrong, In His Own Words, "Armstrong didn't limit himself to standard language and punctuation. He is generally credited with creating a slang that found its way into our everyday vocabulary--using 'bad' to mean 'good,' for example. It's hard to say, however, whether he actually coined certain phrases and expressions or was simply the foremost popularizer."
By the 1930's, news had spread rapidly across the nation about the genius of Louis Armstrong and, under the management of ex-gangster Joe Glaser, Armstrong's career started to become a commodity. Glaser advised Armstrong to gain as much exposure as possible, and because Glaser believed that touring generates more dependable profits than recording, Armstrong began exhaustive worldwide tours consisting of around 300 dates per year and was limited to only two or three days in the studio. Also due partly to Glaser's direction, Armstrong began appearing regularly in feature-length films, becoming the first African-American to do so.
Armstrong's debut in the theatrical arts began in 1929 with his appearance in the orchestra of the Broadway musical Hot Chocolates, where he was praised for his rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'." He appeared in his first feature film, Ex-Flame, in 1931, and for the next thirty-seven years, Armstrong could be seen in at least fifteen films, including Pennies from Heaven with Bing Crosby (1936), Everyday's a Holiday with Mae West (1937), New Orleans (1944-1946), The Five Pennies with Danny Kaye, The Beat Generation (1958), Paris Blues (1960-1963), and Hello Dolly with Barbara Streisand (1968).
In addition, Armstrong portrayed Bottom in the musical Swingin' the Dream, a jazz version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1939), and appeared in the musical High Society with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly (1956).
After entertainment acts began infiltrating the radio waves in the 1920's, more and more radio stations had been launched across the nation. As radios became more popular, Armstrong began appearing on countless radio programs, including the U.S. government's broadcasting service called "Voice of America," in which he aired from the Monterey Jazz Festival. And when television programming flourished in the 1940's, Armstrong went along for the ride.
By the 1950's, Armstrong had become an international celebrity. In 1955, he made his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and between the 1950's and the 1970's, not only was Armstrong's name and music ubiquitous, but his face was famous as well. He appeared on NBC's Timex Show, the Bing Crosby Oldsmobile Show, What's My Line?, The Dean Martin Show, the Danny Kaye Show, the Dick Cavett Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the Flip Wilson Show, the Kraft Music Hall show, and the Jackie Gleason Show. He also appeared on Operation Entertainment, a television show broadcasted from a military base in Texas.
After World War II, Armstrong traveled around the world giving concerts sponsored by the U.S. State Department. From these international tours, Armstrong was given the name "Ambassador Satch." And after he finally returned to New Orleans, he was given honorary keys to the city.
Although many of his contemporaries had been lambasting Armstrong for his lack of awareness in regards to race issues, Armstrong was--contrary to popular belief--heavily affected by matters of race. Growing up in a period when racism was pervasive, Armstrong was often confronted with acts of prejudice, including threats that he will be lynched. At one time, dynamite was thrown at a theater where he was performing.
Still, even though the audience to which Armstrong performed was often segregated into black and white sections, he continued to give integrated performances, singing duets with Jack Teagarden and playing with Bix Beiderbecke, both Caucasian musicians. And after he verbally and physically protested both a school in Little Rock, Arkansas, for its problems enforcing desegregation and President Dwight Eisenhower for not being adequately aggressive in implementing equal rights, Armstrong became known as a civil rights advocate as well.
Even though many critics say that Armstrong's music had deteriorated by the 1960's, Armstrong's accomplishments as a musician and an American icon were unparalleled. In 1970, Armstrong was given a tribute at the Newport Jazz Festival, where Mahalia Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hacket, the Eureka Brass Band, and others performed in his honor.
Armstrong, in the studio until the year he died, recorded "The Night Before Christmas," which became his last commercial recording. Armstrong's funeral in 1971 at the New York National Guard Armory attracted over 25,000 mourners. His death made headline news in almost every paper across the world, and his pall bearers included such celebrated names as Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, and Johnny Carson, among many other entertainers, musicians, and politicians.
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