Six Minutes With Satch: Lazy River / Georgia On My Mind

The amazing run of November 1931 sessions ends with a Hoagy Carmichael double-header, another pair of timeless tunes that Louis helped transform into evergreens.

Of course, Carmichael didn't always work alone. In the case of "Lazy River," Carmichael's words graced a catchy singsong melody contributed by clarinetist Sidney Arodin. That melody is present in Armstrong's rendition....but only when he's not playing or singing. This is one of the all-time great Armstrong distillations, on par with "Star Dust" (recorded the following day) as he manages to find the essence of Arodin's melody in a single pitch, repeating it, swinging it, teasing it and lazy-ing (is that a word?) in a way that better conveys the meaning of the title than anything on the written page.

The reeds finally play a snatch of that melody but then Louis takes over with the vocal and follows the same pattern, squeezing in a lot of words all on that one pitch. After a perfect chorus, he tops himself with a second helping full of double-timed scatting the points straight in the direction of bebop. Armstrong also breaks himself up--"Boy, if I ain't riffin' this evenin', I hope something!"--and getting in a well-timed "Oh you dog" after "You Rascal You" helped turn it into a catchphrase earlier in the year.

I planned on not writing so much about the each selection but "Lazy River" is really one for the ages and I cannot stop without mentioning the dramatic final trumpet chorus, highlighted by the gliss heard around the world. It's one of the first and most famous of what would soon become an essential tool in Louis's arsenal but it's worth noting that if you're following this series, "You Can Depend On Me" was actually released first, though it was recorded a few days later. Because of the popularity of that record, it's possible the public--and many musicians--fell under the spell of Armstrong's effortless glisses on that number first but "Lazy River" solidified it as yet another thing that Louis did better than practically everyone else.

I don't think I have much time left for the flip side but really, what more can be said about "Georgia On My Mind"? For this one, Carmichael was assisted by Stu Gorrell, who also helped him compose "My Sweet," which Armstrong romped on in 1930. Today, this song is property of Ray Charles but this is 30 years before Brother Ray got a hold of it and it's pretty damn good on its own. Louis finds a link with "Basin Street Blues" early on, croons convincingly and still blows some excellent horn, especially on that last bridge, but I'm not going to lie, this is probably the weakest of the November batch. A little too much time is spent with the band and though I'm a passionate defender of their playing, their intonation issues get to me a bit on this one.

Oh well, they can't all be for the time capsule but it's still an above average record and hey, it could have been three minutes of Armstrong struggling with hiccups and as long as it was backed by "Lazy River," it would still be a disc worth spending some time with!

The November sessions are done but we still have some great stuff with this group on Louis's final series of OKeh recordings from early 1932, which we'll be examining tomorrow!
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Zilner Randolph (tp), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (as, cl), George James (as, cl), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), John
Lindsay (b), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL November 3, 1931


LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Zilner Randolph (tp), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone, George James (as), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), John Lindsay (b),
Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL November 5, 1931


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