How Music Changed, Part 13-5 – Louis Armstrong

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Our fifth episode of ‘How Music Changed’ dedicated to the music of Louis Armstrong covers a very important era in his musical development. Louis’ experience had already brought him far and wide, from New Orleans and the Mississippi River excursions, to Chicago, New York City, and back to Chicago. Besides hearing all sorts of sophisticated (or ‘sweet’) band music, he couldn’t help but notice how the ‘hot’ bands were attracting most of the attention.

By 1926, the wheels were turning in a way that would allow Louis to inextricably combine the two strains, demanding sophistication from the ‘hot’ players, while making it virtually essential for all musicians to ad lib around the central theme. Within these recordings lies the birth of the “Swing’ era, and the key to virtually all contemporary music.

Titles covered include;

1) Don’t Forget to Mess Around

2) King of the Zulus

3) Skid-Dat-De-Dat

4) Big Butter and Egg Man

5) Irish Black Bottom

6) I’m Goin’ Huntin’ – Jimmy Bertrand’s Washboard Wizards

7) Wild Man Blues – Johnny Dodds’ Black Bottom Stompers

8) Wild Man Blues – Louis Armstrong’s Hot Seven

9) Chicago Breakdown – Louis Armstrong and his Stompers

10) Potato Head Blues

THANKSGIVING

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Maybe it’s the difficult years when we have the best chance to reflect on all of the things that we really have to be thankful for. 2009 was not an easy year for an awful lot of people, but when I reflect on my family, my friends, my band, and even this radio show, I recognize that I’m a pretty lucky guy, so why do I spend so much of my energy worrying about everything? This Thanksgiving, I want to make a serious effort to relax my mind, and give thanks to all of the people who make my life easier and distract me from my own negativity. I’m truly grateful for my friends and my family, and that applies to the personnel here at WHPC, and it especially applies to the listeners who give me a reason to be here at all.

So, in all sincerity, thank you very much for spending some time with Heidy and me, and I hope that in some small way, we manage to return the favor. These songs are for you.

1) Be Thankful for What You Got – William DeVaughn

2) Now Be Thankful – Fairport Convention

3) Thanks a Million – Louis Armstrong

4) Thank You – Led Zeppelin

5) Thanks to You – Emmylou Harris

6) Thank You- Dido

7) I Wanna Thank You Baby – Delbert McClinton

9) Thank You, Girl - The Beatles

10) Thank You - Solomon Burke

11) Thank You and Goodnight – The Angels

12) Thanksgiving Day – Ray Davies

13) Thank You - Charlatans UK

How Music Changed, Part 13-4 – Louis Armstrong

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Here we are, already three episodes into our coverage of Louis Armstrong, and so far, we’ve only covered the portion of Louis’ career when he worked as a sideman for others. If the point of this series is to discuss how the genius of Louis Armstrong was disseminated throughout the world, then today’s show, episode four, is where our story truly begins. From this point forward, Louis is his own man, fronting his own band, and changing the face of Jazz and the direction of popular music in general, with each released recording. In short, the music featured in today’s program represents the Rosetta Stone of jazz music.

All tracks are credited to Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, except as noted. Songs covered include;

1) My Heart

2) Yes! I’m in the Barrel

3) Gut Bucket Blues

4) Georgia Grind

5) Muskrat Ramble

6) Heebie Jeebies

7) Cornet Chop Suey

8) Oriental Strut

9) Stomp Off, Let’s Go – Erskine Tate’s Vendome Orchestra

10) Georgia Bo-Bo – Lil’s Hot Shots

11) He Likes It Slow – Butterbeans and Susie

A FEW SELECTIONS FROM NOVEMBER 1979

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If it’s Wednesday, then it must be 1959, or 1969…or as is the case today, 1979. 1979 was not one of my favorite years for popular music, and unfortunately, today’s show dwells a bit on some of the most rancid hits to ever reach the top 40. Luckily, we absolve ourselves by playing a few select album tracks as well. We hope you enjoy the show, but to avoid embarrassment, you might want to make sure that your windows are closed while listening (one caller actually told us that he had to crank up is car window so people wouldn’t think he actually liked the stuff we were playing. I thought that was hysterically funny, so I’m compelled to do it again!).

Here’s what we play today;

1) Crusin’ – Smokey Robinson

2) Chiquitita – Abba

3) Escape (The Pina Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes (as a ‘Bad Hit’)

4) Jane – Jefferson Starship (another ‘Bad Hit’)

5) Coward of the County – Kenny Rogers (yet another ‘Bad Hit’)

6) Tusk – Fleetwood Mac

7) Broken English – Marianne Faithful

8) I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide – ZZ Top

How Music Changed, Part 13-3 – Louis Armstrong

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Our third episode featuring the remarkable music of Louis Armstrong covers the time when Louis Armstrong arrived in New York to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, and in the process, kicking off ‘the jazz era’. This was a remarkably vital and diverse time for Louis, as he also found himself in demand to back up numerous vocal performers, making him perhaps the very first ‘famous’ studio session musician. His time in New York was relatively short, lasting approximately one year from 1924-25, but it was eventful, as shown by the following featured recordings;

1) Go ‘Long, Mule – Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

2) Copenhagen – Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

3) Shanghai Shuffle – Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

4) Everybody Loves My Baby – Clarence Williams Blue Five

5) Everybody Loves My Baby – Fletcher Henderson & his Orchestra

6) See See Rider Blues – Ma Rainey

7) Baby, I Can’t Use You No More – Sippie Wallace

8) Anybody Here Want to Try My Cabbage – Maggie Jones

9) The World’s Gone Jazz Crazy – Trixie Smith

10) Shipwrecked Blues – Clara Smith

11) St. Louis Blues – Bessie Smith

12) Cake Walkin’ Babies From Home – Red Onion Jazz Babies

13) Cake Walkin’ Babies from Home – Clarence Williams’ Blue Five

14) Sugar Foot Stomp – Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

15) Carolina Stomp – Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

ALBUM TRACKS FROM NOVEMBER 1969

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As usual, it takes more than one show to cover the diversity of music that was being released in the late ‘60s, and November 1969 is certainly no exception. Last week, we took a look at the single s chart. This week, we cover six different albums, each of which having since reached some degree of ‘classic’ status.

Songs (and albums) include –

1) She Came In Through the Bathroom Window – Joe Cocker (Cocker!)

2) Bird on a Wire - “

3) Hot Rats (Radio Promo) – Frank Zappa

4) Peaches en Regalia – Frank Zappa (Hot Rats)

5) Hot Rats Radio Promo – Frank Zappa

6) Out and In – Moody Blues (To Our Children’s Children’s Children)

7) Gypsy - +

8) I Never Thought I’ds Live to Be a Million - “

9) What Is and What Should Never Be – Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin II)

10) Ramble On - “

11) Space Oddity – David Bowie (Space Oddity)

12) Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed - “

13) Volunteers – Jefferson Airplane (Volunteers)

How Music Changed, Part 13-2 – Louis Armstrong

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This is our second show dedicated to the life and music of Louis Armstrong, but our first to at least partially cover the era of recorded music! Louis’ life had been incredibly rich and complex, giving us a lot of ground to cover, with no recorded evidence to convey that history. Today’s show finds Louis joining his mentor Joe Oliver in Chicago. It also features Louis’s very first recording session with Oliver’s band, the New Orleans Creole Jazz Band, and also his first recorded composition (also with Oliver).

Here’s a list of songs featured in today’s show (all are by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, unless indicated otherwise);

1) Basin Street Blues - Louis Armstrong

2) Zulu's Ball

3) Just Gone

4) Canal Street Blues

5) Chimes Blues

6) Weather Bird Rag

7) Dipper Mouth Blues

Hit Singles from November 1969

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Today, we look at hit singles from forty years ago this month. Just a couple of weeks ago, we featured two albums from October 1969 that went on to become two of the most influential albums of all time (‘The Band’ and ‘Abbey Road’). Today’s show starts off with the lead single from ‘The Band’, then moves on to cover a few other notable singles that debuted in November 1969. Most are remembered fondly, although we do include one ‘bad hit,’ just for perspective.

Titles include;

1) Up on Cripple Creek – The Band

2) Undun – The Guess Who

3) Holly Holy – Neil Diamond

4) Down on the Corner – Creedence Clearwater Revival

5) Fortunate Son - “

6) Make Your Own Kind of Music – Mama Cass (as a ‘Bad Hit’)

7) Someday We’ll Be Together – Diana Ross & the Supremes

8) Na Na Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) – Steam

9) Sugar Sugar – The Archies

10) Wedding Bell Blues – The 5^th Dimension

11) Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley