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Marsha's Reviews > Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans
Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans
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Armstrong claims he was born in 1900 (although in the 1980s, a researcher discovered that his true birthdate was August 4, 1901). He lived on a little street called James Alley. Armstrong writes: “Only one block long, James Alley is located in the crowded section of New Orleans known as “Back o’ Town.” His family was poor and when his father abandoned the family, his mother Mayann left Louis in care of his grandmother Josephine. At the age of five, he returned to his mother.
A turn of events happens for Armstrong when he is eleven. He writes, “In those days we used to shoot off guns and pistols or anything loud so as to make as much noise as possible (to celebrate New Year’s Eve). Guns, of course, were not allowed officially and we had to keep an eye on the police to see that were not pulled in for toting one.” However, after firing his stepfather’s .38 pistol into the air for the New Year’s Eve celebration, at the age of eleven, Louis Armstrong was arrested and sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys.
At the home, boys were allowed the choice to pick the vocational training that interested them at the Fisk School. Naturally Louis chose music. Six months went by and Louis was asked to join the school’s brass band. Louis stayed at the home until he was fourteen years old. “I was released on the condition that I would live with my father and stepmother,” Louis wrote. He stayed with them for a short while and then finally returned to living with his mother and sister Mama Lucy.
For money he worked a job hauling coal.
He would enjoy hanging out at Storyville, which was the red-light district. He would listen to bands playing in the brothels and dance halls. He saw a lot of fights and it was an exciting time until “the red-light district was closed by the Navy and the law.” He especially liked listening to Joe “King” Oliver another other famous musicians.
He also liked to listen to music playing at funerals. Louis learned how to play the cornet with assistance from other musicians and also by practice. He writes, “Of course in those early days we did not know very much about trumpets. We all played cornets. Only the big orchestras in the theaters had trumpet players in their brass sections.”
In his autobiography, Armstrong does describe the discrimination he encountered as he was a black man in the south. However, never does he sound angry. However, when he played his music, the white folks just loved his playing and he was happy to entertain them as he enjoyed playing music a great deal. As a young man, he played on the riverboats. Armstrong writes, “Things were hard in New Orleans in those days… in order to carry on at all we had to have the love of music in our bones.”
In 1919, Armstrong replaced Joe Oliver in his band, when Oliver decided to move to Chicago.
Armstrong writes about his first wife, Daisy. They adopted a three year old boy, Clarence, whose mother died. Clarence was mentally disabled and Armstrong claims it may have been because he was dropped on his head. He writes about his love for Daisy, but also her irrational jealousy which caused him a lot of grief and unnecessary drama. Armstrong writes, “Daisy did not have any education. If a person is real ignorant and has no learning at all that person is always going to be jealous, evil and hateful. There are always two sides to every story, but an ignorant person just won’t cope with either side. I have seen Daisy get furious when she saw me whispering to somebody. ‘I know you are talking about me because you are looking at me,’ she would say. Frightening, isn’t it? However, it was because I understood Daisy so well that I was able to take four years of torture and bliss with her.”
By 1922, Armstrong moved to Chicago to join Joe “King” Oliver, who invited Armstrong to join his jazz band. He got his own apartment with his own private bath (his first). Armstrong’s book ends here, stating “I had hit the big time. I was up North with the greats. I was playing with my idol, the King, Joe Oliver. My boyhood dream had come true at last.”
A turn of events happens for Armstrong when he is eleven. He writes, “In those days we used to shoot off guns and pistols or anything loud so as to make as much noise as possible (to celebrate New Year’s Eve). Guns, of course, were not allowed officially and we had to keep an eye on the police to see that were not pulled in for toting one.” However, after firing his stepfather’s .38 pistol into the air for the New Year’s Eve celebration, at the age of eleven, Louis Armstrong was arrested and sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys.
At the home, boys were allowed the choice to pick the vocational training that interested them at the Fisk School. Naturally Louis chose music. Six months went by and Louis was asked to join the school’s brass band. Louis stayed at the home until he was fourteen years old. “I was released on the condition that I would live with my father and stepmother,” Louis wrote. He stayed with them for a short while and then finally returned to living with his mother and sister Mama Lucy.
For money he worked a job hauling coal.
He would enjoy hanging out at Storyville, which was the red-light district. He would listen to bands playing in the brothels and dance halls. He saw a lot of fights and it was an exciting time until “the red-light district was closed by the Navy and the law.” He especially liked listening to Joe “King” Oliver another other famous musicians.
He also liked to listen to music playing at funerals. Louis learned how to play the cornet with assistance from other musicians and also by practice. He writes, “Of course in those early days we did not know very much about trumpets. We all played cornets. Only the big orchestras in the theaters had trumpet players in their brass sections.”
In his autobiography, Armstrong does describe the discrimination he encountered as he was a black man in the south. However, never does he sound angry. However, when he played his music, the white folks just loved his playing and he was happy to entertain them as he enjoyed playing music a great deal. As a young man, he played on the riverboats. Armstrong writes, “Things were hard in New Orleans in those days… in order to carry on at all we had to have the love of music in our bones.”
In 1919, Armstrong replaced Joe Oliver in his band, when Oliver decided to move to Chicago.
Armstrong writes about his first wife, Daisy. They adopted a three year old boy, Clarence, whose mother died. Clarence was mentally disabled and Armstrong claims it may have been because he was dropped on his head. He writes about his love for Daisy, but also her irrational jealousy which caused him a lot of grief and unnecessary drama. Armstrong writes, “Daisy did not have any education. If a person is real ignorant and has no learning at all that person is always going to be jealous, evil and hateful. There are always two sides to every story, but an ignorant person just won’t cope with either side. I have seen Daisy get furious when she saw me whispering to somebody. ‘I know you are talking about me because you are looking at me,’ she would say. Frightening, isn’t it? However, it was because I understood Daisy so well that I was able to take four years of torture and bliss with her.”
By 1922, Armstrong moved to Chicago to join Joe “King” Oliver, who invited Armstrong to join his jazz band. He got his own apartment with his own private bath (his first). Armstrong’s book ends here, stating “I had hit the big time. I was up North with the greats. I was playing with my idol, the King, Joe Oliver. My boyhood dream had come true at last.”
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