Louis Armstrong: An American Genius

410 Pages·1985·23.66 MB·English

by  James Lincoln Collier

LOUIS ARMSTRONG
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LOUIS ARMSTRONG
An American Genius
JAMES LINCOLN COLLIER
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
Copyright © 1983 by James Lincoln Collier
First published in 1983 by Oxford University Press, Inc.,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1985
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Collier, James Lincoln, 1928-
Louis Armstrong, an American genius.
Bibliography: p. Discography: p. Includes index.
1. Armstrong, Louis, 1900-1971. 2. Jazz musicians—
United States—Biography. I. Title.
ML419.A75C64 1983 785.42'092'4 [B] 83-11378
ISBN 0-19-503377-9
ISBN 0-19-503727-8 (pbk.)
9 8 7 6 5 4 32
Printed in the United States of America
For John Fell
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Preface
When it was first suggested to me that I undertake a biography of Louis
Armstrong, I was startled: surely the great jazz musician had been amply
written about. But when I reflected, I realized that it was not so. Much of
what had been published about Armstrong was simply a rehash of the old
myths—the July 4th birth date, the Waifs' Home, the burgeoning of jazz
in the Storyville brothels. Some of it, in fact, was sheer fiction. The body
of reliable writing about Armstrong was surprisingly small, and that had,
in the main, been dated by the appearance, especially in the last decade, of
a large amount of new information on jazz—oral histories, biographies,
musicological studies. The need for a new book about this seminal per-
former was acute.
As I got into the research, I began to realize something else: jazz history
had been misinterpreted in significant ways. In simple terms, early jazz was
seen by the writers of the 19305 and forties as a folk music played mainly
by blacks for their own people. A careful reading of periodicals of the
19205, coupled with interviews with musicians of the day, and available
oral histories, make it abundantly clear that jazz was, from the outset, no
folk music, but a facet of a highly commercial entertainment industry. In
order to understand Armstrong's role in it a new interpretation was in
order.
It is obvious that a book such as this could not have been written without
the help of a great many people. It is not posible to enumerate all the
dozens of assiduous students of jazz who have made the bricks from which
any study of jazz is built: I have tried as much as possible to give credit
where it is due in the text. However, I would like to thank in particular
Vlll PREFACE
Dan Morgenstem and the staff of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers,
and Curtis Jerde and the staff of the William Ransom Hogan Jazz Archive
at Tulane for their unfailing courtesy and good humor in guiding me to
important material. I would like to thank also Ron Welburn of the Oral
History program at the Institute of Jazz Studies who did the same; and
jazz researchers Richard B. Allen, Jason Berry, R. D. Darrell, Alan Jaffe,
Tad Jones, Don Marquis, Rosetta Reitz, William Russell, Phil Schaap,
S. Frederick Starr, and Richard Winder of the Milne Boys' Home for gen-
erously sharing with me insights of their own. I was fortunate in being able
to spend time with a number of musicians associated with Armstrong one
way or another, among them Marshall Brown, Scoville Browne, Preston
Jackson, George James, Andy Kirk, and Tom Thibeau; in London, Harry
Francis and Harry Gold; in Paris, Arthur Briggs. People associated with
Armstrong who gave me time from busy lives were Mrs. Lucille Armstrong,
Dave Gold and Joe Sully of Associated Booking Corporation, Milt Gabler,
John Hammond, Dr. Alexander Schiff, and Dr. Gary Zucker. I am particu-
larly grateful to Francis "Cork" O'Keefe, who not only gave me his time,
but in various ways opened doors for me. I would like to thank as well
John L. Fell, who supplied me with tapes of scarce Armstrong items from
his own collection. Finally, I am indebted to my editor, Sheldon Meyer,
who suggested the book to me in the first instance, and to Kim Lewis and
Leona Capeless who combed the manuscript for errors and made many
helpful suggestions.
The research for this book was made possible in large part by the Na-
tional Foundation for the Humanities.
New York J.L.C.
June 1983
Contents
1. New Orleans, 3
2. Sex and Race, 11
3. Growing Up, 18
4. The Waifs' Home, 34
5. Jazz Is Born in New Orleans, 46
6. The Apprentice, 56
7. The Professional, 69
8. Chicago, 85
9. The Creole Jazz Band, 98
10. New York, 111
11. Fletcher Henderson, 124
12. The Blues Accompanist, 135
13. The Entertainer, 151
14. The Hot Fives, 169
15. The Fork in the Road, 199
16. Troubles and Turmoil, 217
17. The First Big-Band Records, 233
18. Europe, 249
19. Becoming a Star, 270
20. Going Commercial, 286
21. The AH Stars, 301
22. The Apotheosis of Louis Armstrong, 311
23. The Last Gig, 324
24. The All Star Recordings, 335
25. The Nature of Genius, 342
Notes, 353 Dicography, 369 Index, 373