Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong

by Ricky Riccardi

Overview

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."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190914134
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/05/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	840,435
File size:	32 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Ricky Riccardi is Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum and author of What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years. He runs the online blog, "The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong," and has given lectures on Armstrong at venues around the world, including the Institute of Jazz Studies, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, the Bristol International Jazz and Blues Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival. He has co-produced numerous Armstrong reissues in recent years, including Satchmo at Symphony Hall 65th Anniversary: The Complete Concert, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong Cheek to Cheek: The Complete Duets, Pops is Tops: The Verve Studio Albums, and two volumes of Decca Singles for Universal Music, in addition to Columbia and RCA Victor Live Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All Stars for Mosaic Records.

Table of Contents

Prologue - Bigger Than Jazz 1. "There's a New King" - March 1929 2. "If Louis Did It, It Must Be Right - April-December 1929 3. "I Break It Up Everywhere I Play" - December 1929-May 1930 4. "He Would Just Amaze You" - June-November 1930 5. "Just One of the Cats" - November 1930-May 1931 6. "I Done Got Northern-fied" - May-August 1931 7. "They Admit You with a Smile" - September-November 1931 8. "An Artist of Eminence" - December 1931-June 1932 9. "The Real Test is Entertainment" - July-November 1932 10. "Always a Way, Man" - November 1932-June 1933 11. "What the Hell is Wrong with Louis Armstrong?" - July 1933-June 1935 12. "A Much Improved Salesman" - June-December 1935 13. "Swing Is My Bread and Butter" - January-December 1936 14. "A Boom to the Colored Race" - January-June 1937 15. "Just Glad to See Us" - July 1937-May 1938 16. "A Solid Man for Comedy" - May 1938-December 1939 17. "He is Like the Armstrong of the Old Days" - January 1940-July 1941 18. "I Never Tried to Be God" - July 1941-July 1942 19. "A Little Higher on the Horse" - August 1942-December 1943 20. "A Great Deal Less Than Grown Up" - January-December 1944 21. "Why Should I Go Back?" - January 1945-December 1945 22. "We Really Did Romp" - January 1946-February 1947 23. "Ain't No Music Out of Date as Long as You Play It Perfect" - 1947 Epilogue - I Can't Give You Anything But Love

Editorial Reviews

"Riccardi (director, Research Collections, Louis Armstrong House Museum) laments that the period between 1929 and 1947 is often minimized and sometimes disparaged by historians, critics, and musicians, who characterized Armstrong's influence and popularity, particularly within the African American community, as inconsequential and unproductive. In Heart Full of Rhythm, Riccardi disputes such claims, demonstrating through a review of Armstrong's touring schedule, box office and record sales, radio and film appearances, accounts from his musical collaborators and contemporaries, and critical reviews lauding his musicianship that Armstrong not only held his audiences but transcended the success of other swing era big bands by achieving notoriety beyond jazz circles. ... Enthusiasts and scholars of jazz music will find this a quick and interesting read on an important period in the artist's life." — A. C. Shahriari, CHOICE

"We get Armstrong in his own words as much as possible, as well as sources that have not been commonly quoted. And Riccardi even explains where the term "Moldy Fig" came from. We all know the obvious question: when is Volume 1 of the Armstrong saga going to be written? Ricky Riccardi has produced two masterpieces relating the story of a legendary musician who changed World Music. I can't be the only one who is waiting for Ricky Riccardi to tell the rest of the Armstrong story his way. It is obvious it is such good hands." — Jeffrey Sultanof, ARSC Journal

"Riccardi's Heart Full of Rhythm is the best account we have of Armstrong's vital work with big bands — the research is impeccable, the ardor contagious." — Gary Giddins, Author of Bing Crosby: Swinging On A Star — The War Years, 1940-1946

"This book is an exuberant treasury of new information about one of the most significant and influential musicians of all time. Most significant here is that this careful researcher torches the cliché that Armstrong rose in a 1920s flash and then fell onto the swords of commercialism. In soaring prose, Riccardi walks you through vital musical/cultural decades while re-introducing a man we thought we knew but who was even greater." — Robert G. O'meally, Founder and Director Of Columbia University's Center For Jazz Studies and Editor of The Jazz Cadence of American Culture and The Romare Bearden Reader

"At last! A thrilling and intimate journey through the most undervalued period of Armstrong's career! Every chapter is a revelation!" — Catherine Russell, Grammy Award-Winning Jazz/Blues vocalist and daughter of Luis Russell

"This vitally American story has been expertly told in this superlative biography — SWING THAT MUSIC indeed!" — Loren Schoenberg, Senior Scholar/Founding Director, National Jazz Museum in Harlem

"Riccardi's meticulous scholarship and his exuberance for all things Armstrong make Heart Full of Rhythm a must-read for all interested in Armstrong, jazz, and our shared cultural heritage." — Jon Faddis, Trumpeter, Conductor, Composer, and Educator

"Dedicated research, access to ideal sources, and fine storytelling combine to shed new light and insight on the most interesting and least well-documented period of Armstrong's fabled life. Riccardi has done it again, but even more so." — Dan Morgenstern, Director Emeritus of The Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University

"A vibrant portrait of Armstrong focused on his career from 1929 to 1947, when he had a decisive impact on both jazz and popular music... Riccardi, whose previous book covered Armstrong's later years, brings the same erudition and enthusiasm to his latest. An appreciative, deeply informed biography."—Kirkus

"Riccardi brilliantly sums up the life and work of Armstrong."—Publishers Weekly

"Riccardi produces a meticulously researched but readable account that jazz fans will embrace as a standard work about the iconic trumpeter."—Library Journal

"Heart Full of Rhythm is every bit as full and human as What a Wonderful World; in both cases, Riccardi, surely Armstrong's foremost chronicler, mines the copious primary sources in order to flesh out the often turbulent details of Armstrong's personal life... the two volumes together both comprises a pricelessly detailed look at crucial periods in Armstrong's life and also summon the vision of what a full-dress one-volume Satchmo biography by Riccardi would be like."—Open Letters, Steve Donoghue

"An all-encompassing, vividly detailed biographical portrait of one of the richest careers in all of music."—Wall Street Journal

"The scope of Riccardi's research is impressive, as is his talent for fluently presenting the material in a manner that maintains the readers' interest... Riccardi recognizes that he is telling the story of a complex, interesting and significant figure, and understands how to make him come alive on each page."—Jersey Jazz magazine

"In Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong author Ricky Riccardi focuses on the 1930s and 40s, a period in Armstrong's life that has long deserved more detailed examination... Better than any other Armstrong biographer, Riccardi explains in great detail Pops' often-strained relationship with managers, club owners, and prohibition mobsters."—Syncopated Times

"A brilliantly researched, vivid portrait of the great trumpeter, which covers a golden era from 1929 to 1947."—The Independent (U.K.)

"Heart Full Of Rhythm elucidates and entertains from start to finish. Each chapter ends with a tantalising hook that anticipates the next, keeping the reader engaged and focused. Like its subject, it swings!"—Jazz Journal

"If you want to know what Louis was really like—as a person, not as a trumpet player, but as a person—this book let's you get a look into him as a human being. It isn't all just, 'Well, if you're a trumpet player,' you'll enjoy the book. It does a lot to shine a good light on the relationship between races. If you know Louis, you like this book and you read it, it might change your life if you haven't opened yourself up to it before. I just sat down and started reading the book all over again. I could read this book five times a year, I swear to God I could."'—Doc Severinsen

From the Publisher

09/01/2020

Riccardi (director, research collections, Louis Armstrong House Museum; What a Wonderful World ) tackles the neglected middle period (1929–49) of jazz legend Louis Armstrong's career. Starting with Armstrong's rise to national prominence in New York City, Riccardi details how the artist faced troubles with warring gangs, a nagging sore lip, angry wives, a marijuana habit, rising boppers, and the musicians' union while gradually crossing over to a pop audience. Compellingly, the author illuminates the pivotal role of managers Tommy Rockwell, tough guy Johnny Collins, and Al Capone associate Joe Glaser on Armstrong's climb to pop stardom. He portrays his subject as a generous, ambitious, hardworking, comedic, and audience-focused musician and entertainer who retained a sunny optimism despite the unrelenting racial discrimination that plagued him throughout his career. VERDICT Though sometimes overly enthusiastic about Armstrong and presenting more detail than most general readers need, Riccardi produces a meticulously researched but readable account that jazz fans will embrace as a standard work about the iconic trumpeter. [See Q&A, p. 69.]—David P. Szatmary, formerly with Univ. of Washington, Seattle

Library Journal

2020-07-08
An account of the famed trumpeter’s rise to superstardom in the 1930s and ’40s.

Drawing on interviews, oral histories, and archival sources from the Louis Armstrong House Museum, where he is Director of Research Collections, Riccardi creates a vibrant portrait of Armstrong (1901-1971) focused on his career from 1929 to 1947, when he had a decisive impact on both jazz and popular music. In the 1920s, writes the author, Armstrong’s style of improvisation and jazz singing freed singers “from the shackles of the written melody, showing them how to interpret a song in an original manner while popularizing scat singing along the way.” Riccardi details Armstrong’s relationships with his many agents and wives; his recordings, movie appearances, and performances throughout the U.S. (in 1931, on a Southern tour, he hired a bodyguard) and, beginning with a much-anticipated appearance in London in 1932, throughout Europe. Although he garnered huge audience acclaim, some critics were less enthusiastic—or even overtly racist. In London in 1933, one reviewer panned what he heard as “incoherent, ecstatic, rhythmical jungle noises.” That view was decidedly in the minority, however, as Armstrong’s ebullient stage presence catapulted him to popularity. In 1936, besides “record-breaking” performances, he produced hit records, “the first published autobiography by an African American musician, and a buzzworthy performance in a major motion film.” But by the late 1940s, some—notably Dizzy Gillespie—criticized Armstrong’s “natural comedic ability” for being too much like a “plantation character.” The two men ended as friends, however, with Gillespie recognizing “what I had considered Pops’s grinning in the face of racism as his absolute refusal to let anything, even anger about racism, steal the joy from his life and erase his fantastic smile.” Riccardi, whose previous book covered Armstrong’s later years, brings the same erudition and enthusiasm to his latest.

An appreciative, deeply informed biography.

Kirkus Reviews