Six Minutes With Satch: Just a Gigolo / Shine
Today's installment of "Six Minutes With Satch" could be deemed a "problematic" one in today's parlance. Musically, it doesn't get any better than what Louis Armstrong plays on "Just a Gigolo" and "Shine,'" both recorded with Les Hite's band on March 9, 1931 Louis's final Los Angeles session before returning to Chicago after his nine month West Coast sabbatical.
But the vocals? Well....let's unpack them, as they say. First, there's "Just a Gigolo," originally an Austrian tango, "Schoner Gigolo, Armer Gigolo," that was outfitted with English lyrics by Irving Caesar in 1929. The song was beginning to explode in 1931, recorded by Bing Crosby on March 2, Louis on March 9, it was name-dropped in a Mickey Mouse comic strip in May and was the title of an MGM film that opened in June.
By the time of Louis's version, he had been slowly showcasing more and more of his irrepressible sense of humor, such as the "chop suey talk" skit on "You're Driving Me Crazy." Thus, if you know Louis, it's not too surprising to him him change one line from "Just another gigolo" to "Just another jig I know." Buck Clayton remembered the NAACP giving Louis a hard time and I'm sure some folks still might cringe. I'm not excusing it but I will say it is pretty consistent with Louis's sense of humor offstage and on.
But if you take out those few seconds, "Gigolo" is a beautiful record, Louis playing and singing very passionately at a ballad tempo no one uses for this song anymore (thank you Louis Prima and David Lee Roth). But when the band goes into double-time, it becomes an ode to joy (maybe being a gigolo ain't so bad?), Lionel Hampton livening up the the proceedings with his usually enthusiastic.
"Just a Gigolo" was the hot song of the moment--but the same could not be said for the flip side, a 1910 composition, "(That's Why They Call Me) Shine." Talk about cringing; a dissertation could be written about the history of this song alone. But before you cringe, there's more than meets the eye: the song was written by two African Americans and when you examine the lyrics of the verse, it becomes apparent that they meant this more as an early protest song rather than the minstrel song it is usually described as. (See Michael Steinman's blog for more information.)
However, I'll allow that perhaps even Louis wasn't aware of the history or the words of the verse; it's quite possible that he was just interested in the changes, which were ideal for blowing on. Then again, he had already recorded "Black and Blue" in 1929 and as actor Reno Wilson told me, he really turns it into an anthem of "self-love" so it's also entirely possible that he was well aware of what the song was about and wanted to reclaim it as something to be proud of, not embarrassed by.
But again, the vocal, as fun as it is--dig the scatting--is only the appetizer served before the main chorus of that sensational concluding trumpet solo. Louis recalled in one interview that when they initially set up in the studio, Hampton's drums were too far away and he and Louis couldn't get together properly. Louis told him to move his set closer to him and well, the result speaks for itself. I'm sure Louis must have been blowing this regularly at the Cotton Club and he wasn't about to stop as this would be his go-to trumpet tour de force feature for the next few years ("Tiger Rag" and "Chinatown" were also in the mix).
I won't go into his 1932 filmed version in A Rhapsody and Black and Blue (it'll be in my book!) or his early 40s takes on it and instead will just leave it here, a thrilling punctuation mark to this week's blogs and to Louis's California sojourn. Next week: the glorious 1931-1932 OKeh big band sides begin!
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS SEBASTIAN NEW COTTON CLUB ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), McClure Morris, Harold Scott (tp), Luther Craven (tb), Les Hite (as, cl, cond), Marvin Johnson (as), Charlie Jones (cl, ts), Henry Prince (p, celeste), Bill Perkins (g), Joe Bailey (b, tu), Lionel Hampton (vbs, d).
OKeh recording session - Los Angeles, CA March 9, 1931
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS SEBASTIAN NEW COTTON CLUB ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), McClure Morris, Harold Scott (tp), Luther Craven (tb), Les Hite (as, cond), Marvin Johnson (as), Charlie Jones (cl, ts), Henry Prince (p, celeste), Bill Perkins (bj), Joe Bailey (b, tu), Lionel Hampton (vbs, d).
OKeh recording session - Los Angeles, CA March 9, 1931
YouTube links:
But the vocals? Well....let's unpack them, as they say. First, there's "Just a Gigolo," originally an Austrian tango, "Schoner Gigolo, Armer Gigolo," that was outfitted with English lyrics by Irving Caesar in 1929. The song was beginning to explode in 1931, recorded by Bing Crosby on March 2, Louis on March 9, it was name-dropped in a Mickey Mouse comic strip in May and was the title of an MGM film that opened in June.
By the time of Louis's version, he had been slowly showcasing more and more of his irrepressible sense of humor, such as the "chop suey talk" skit on "You're Driving Me Crazy." Thus, if you know Louis, it's not too surprising to him him change one line from "Just another gigolo" to "Just another jig I know." Buck Clayton remembered the NAACP giving Louis a hard time and I'm sure some folks still might cringe. I'm not excusing it but I will say it is pretty consistent with Louis's sense of humor offstage and on.
But if you take out those few seconds, "Gigolo" is a beautiful record, Louis playing and singing very passionately at a ballad tempo no one uses for this song anymore (thank you Louis Prima and David Lee Roth). But when the band goes into double-time, it becomes an ode to joy (maybe being a gigolo ain't so bad?), Lionel Hampton livening up the the proceedings with his usually enthusiastic.
"Just a Gigolo" was the hot song of the moment--but the same could not be said for the flip side, a 1910 composition, "(That's Why They Call Me) Shine." Talk about cringing; a dissertation could be written about the history of this song alone. But before you cringe, there's more than meets the eye: the song was written by two African Americans and when you examine the lyrics of the verse, it becomes apparent that they meant this more as an early protest song rather than the minstrel song it is usually described as. (See Michael Steinman's blog for more information.)
However, I'll allow that perhaps even Louis wasn't aware of the history or the words of the verse; it's quite possible that he was just interested in the changes, which were ideal for blowing on. Then again, he had already recorded "Black and Blue" in 1929 and as actor Reno Wilson told me, he really turns it into an anthem of "self-love" so it's also entirely possible that he was well aware of what the song was about and wanted to reclaim it as something to be proud of, not embarrassed by.
But again, the vocal, as fun as it is--dig the scatting--is only the appetizer served before the main chorus of that sensational concluding trumpet solo. Louis recalled in one interview that when they initially set up in the studio, Hampton's drums were too far away and he and Louis couldn't get together properly. Louis told him to move his set closer to him and well, the result speaks for itself. I'm sure Louis must have been blowing this regularly at the Cotton Club and he wasn't about to stop as this would be his go-to trumpet tour de force feature for the next few years ("Tiger Rag" and "Chinatown" were also in the mix).
I won't go into his 1932 filmed version in A Rhapsody and Black and Blue (it'll be in my book!) or his early 40s takes on it and instead will just leave it here, a thrilling punctuation mark to this week's blogs and to Louis's California sojourn. Next week: the glorious 1931-1932 OKeh big band sides begin!
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS SEBASTIAN NEW COTTON CLUB ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), McClure Morris, Harold Scott (tp), Luther Craven (tb), Les Hite (as, cl, cond), Marvin Johnson (as), Charlie Jones (cl, ts), Henry Prince (p, celeste), Bill Perkins (g), Joe Bailey (b, tu), Lionel Hampton (vbs, d).
OKeh recording session - Los Angeles, CA March 9, 1931
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS SEBASTIAN NEW COTTON CLUB ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), McClure Morris, Harold Scott (tp), Luther Craven (tb), Les Hite (as, cond), Marvin Johnson (as), Charlie Jones (cl, ts), Henry Prince (p, celeste), Bill Perkins (bj), Joe Bailey (b, tu), Lionel Hampton (vbs, d).
OKeh recording session - Los Angeles, CA March 9, 1931
YouTube links:
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