Description
Nearly 50 years after his death, Louis Armstrong remains one of the 20th century's most iconic figures. Popular fans still appreciate his later hits such as "Hello, Dolly!" and "What a Wonderful World," while in the jazz community, he remains venerated for his groundbreaking innovations in the 1920s. The achievements of Armstrong's middle years, however, possess some of the trumpeter's most scintillating and career-defining stories. But the story of this crucial time has never been told in depth until now. Between 1929 and 1947, Armstrong transformed himself from a little-known trumpeter in Chicago to an internationally renowned pop star, setting in motion the innovations of the Swing Era and Bebop. He had a similar effect on the art of American pop singing, waxing some of his most identifiable hits such as "Jeepers Creepers" and "When You're Smiling." However as author Ricky Riccardi shows, this transformative era wasn't without its problems, from racist performance reviews and being held up at gunpoint by gangsters to struggling with an overworked embouchure and getting arrested for marijuana possession. Utilizing a prodigious amount of new research, Riccardi traces Armstrong's mid-career fall from grace and dramatic resurgence. Featuring never-before-published photographs and stories culled from Armstrong's personal archives, Heart Full of Rhythm tells the story of how the man called "Pops" became the first "King of Pop."
Table of Contents
Prologue - Bigger Than Jazz1. "There's a New King" - March 19292. "If Louis Did It, It Must Be Right - April-December 19293. "I Break It Up Everywhere I Play" - December 1929-May 19304. "He Would Just Amaze You" - June-November 19305. "Just One of the Cats" - November 1930-May 19316. "I Done Got Northern-fied" - May-August 19317. "They Admit You with a Smile" - September-November 19318. "An Artist of Eminence" - December 1931-June 19329. "The Real Test is Entertainment" - July-November 193210. "Always a Way, Man" - November 1932-June 193311. "What the Hell is Wrong with Louis Armstrong?" - July 1933-June 193512. "A Much Improved Salesman" - June-December 193513. "Swing Is My Bread and Butter" - January-December 193614. "A Boom to the Colored Race" - January-June 193715. "Just Glad to See Us" - July 1937-May 193816. "A Solid Man for Comedy" - May 1938-December 193917. "He is Like the Armstrong of the Old Days" - January 1940-July 194118. "I Never Tried to Be God" - July 1941-July 194219. "A Little Higher on the Horse" - August 1942-December 194320. "A Great Deal Less Than Grown Up" - January-December 194421. "Why Should I Go Back?" - January 1945-December 194522. "We Really Did Romp" - January 1946-February 194723. "Ain't No Music Out of Date as Long as You Play It Perfect" - 1947Epilogue - I Can't Give You Anything But Love
