Six Minutes With Satch: Them There Eyes / Little Joe
Billie Holiday and Lester Young will always been connected for eternity thanks to the glorious music they made together, as well as for their close friendship. They were also connected in another way: they both loved Louis Armstrong.
It's no secret about Billie's feelings towards Pops as she was always quick to name him as one of her biggest influences. Lester doesn't seem to have spoken about Armstrong on the record but friends like the musician Sadik Hakim remembered that his record collection was heavy on the Armstrong.
And even if you don't look for their words in interviews and books, all you have to do is listen. And today's entry is a pretty good piece of evidence for the case.
Exhibit A (your honor) is "Them There Eyes," written by Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber and William Tracey in 1930 and firmly put on the map by Armstrong with his 1931 effort. It's catchy little singsong melody, as essayed by trombonist Preston Jackson in the opening chorus. But Armstrong, with that indescribable ability to find the essence in everything, chooses to sing most of it on a single pitch--and it works! If you're familiar with Holiday's famed 1939 version, all you have to do is compare the vocals to discover that her reading is just a nod to Armstrong's original.
But then you throw in the trumpet and "Them There Eyes" enters the category of a masterpiece. There's the "Pagliacci" quote early on, the way he emotes on the verse, the playful way he trades with George James before the vocal and the joyous final chorus. Armstrong knew he had a winner and kept this in his repertoire for years, playing it every night in Europe in 1932, performing it with Luis Russell's big band in the late 1930s and even giving it a try with the early All Stars, as heard on Dot Time's recent Live in Europe release, before being retired.
The flip side, "Little Joe," might have just been performed the one time in the studio as it's not mentioned in any contemporary writing about Armstrong's live performances. Also, because of the politically incorrect tone to some of the lyrics, it has almost never gotten the reissue treatment and remains probably Armstrong's least known performance from this era.
But young Lester Young was listening and for Exhibit B (your honor), listen to Louis's first break and then compare it to Lester's famed opening on "Shoe Shine Boy" from 1936. It's not identical but it's close enough for me to think that Louis planted the seed and Lester made it blossom into something beautiful.
Louis plays a lot of trumpet on "Little Joe" but don't miss the vocal, either. I'm running out of time to get into here but I did a deep dive back in 2009 in this blog and I think it holds up so check that out if you'd like more background on the vocal, the songwriters and more.
S'all for now but I'll be back tomorrow with two more sides that became two of Armstrong's most associated tunes. What are they? "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" and "You Rascal You." I rest my case.
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (as), George James ss, as), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), Unknown (b), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL April 29, 1931
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (cl, as), George James (cl, as), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), Unknown (b), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL April 28, 1931
YouTube links:
It's no secret about Billie's feelings towards Pops as she was always quick to name him as one of her biggest influences. Lester doesn't seem to have spoken about Armstrong on the record but friends like the musician Sadik Hakim remembered that his record collection was heavy on the Armstrong.
And even if you don't look for their words in interviews and books, all you have to do is listen. And today's entry is a pretty good piece of evidence for the case.
Exhibit A (your honor) is "Them There Eyes," written by Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber and William Tracey in 1930 and firmly put on the map by Armstrong with his 1931 effort. It's catchy little singsong melody, as essayed by trombonist Preston Jackson in the opening chorus. But Armstrong, with that indescribable ability to find the essence in everything, chooses to sing most of it on a single pitch--and it works! If you're familiar with Holiday's famed 1939 version, all you have to do is compare the vocals to discover that her reading is just a nod to Armstrong's original.
But then you throw in the trumpet and "Them There Eyes" enters the category of a masterpiece. There's the "Pagliacci" quote early on, the way he emotes on the verse, the playful way he trades with George James before the vocal and the joyous final chorus. Armstrong knew he had a winner and kept this in his repertoire for years, playing it every night in Europe in 1932, performing it with Luis Russell's big band in the late 1930s and even giving it a try with the early All Stars, as heard on Dot Time's recent Live in Europe release, before being retired.
The flip side, "Little Joe," might have just been performed the one time in the studio as it's not mentioned in any contemporary writing about Armstrong's live performances. Also, because of the politically incorrect tone to some of the lyrics, it has almost never gotten the reissue treatment and remains probably Armstrong's least known performance from this era.
But young Lester Young was listening and for Exhibit B (your honor), listen to Louis's first break and then compare it to Lester's famed opening on "Shoe Shine Boy" from 1936. It's not identical but it's close enough for me to think that Louis planted the seed and Lester made it blossom into something beautiful.
Louis plays a lot of trumpet on "Little Joe" but don't miss the vocal, either. I'm running out of time to get into here but I did a deep dive back in 2009 in this blog and I think it holds up so check that out if you'd like more background on the vocal, the songwriters and more.
S'all for now but I'll be back tomorrow with two more sides that became two of Armstrong's most associated tunes. What are they? "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" and "You Rascal You." I rest my case.
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (as), George James ss, as), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), Unknown (b), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL April 29, 1931
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (cl, as), George James (cl, as), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), Unknown (b), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL April 28, 1931
YouTube links:
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