Six Minutes With Satch: When It's Sleepy Time Down South / You Rascal You
Talk about a 78 for the ages! We've been listening to Louis Armstrong's April 1931 output this week, which I love dearly, but for the first three sides I've covered, not everything stuck; "Blue Again," "Little Joe," "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" and "When Your Lover Has Gone" are wonderful records but don't seem to have stayed in the repertoire ("Them There Eyes" and "I Surrender Dear" did).
But today's coupling produced two songs that would become indelibly associated with Armstrong, each performed countless times until his passing in 1971.
Interestingly, a lot of these April 1931 sides were recent compositions that Armstrong was potentially tackling for the first time in the studio. But both "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" and "You Rascal You" date back to his California sabbatical so once again, like many of the 1929 and 1930 sides, we get a recorded artifact of what Louis was doing in his live shows at the time.
Here I go again, but I must admit that "Sleepy Time" gets a pretty in-depth treatment in my next book so now is not the time to spill my guts about it. However, I will say that the song, even with its cringe-inducing inclusion of "darkies"--twice--was written by three African Americans, Clarence Muse, Otis Rene and Leon Rene, and upon hearing the Rene brothers perform it for him, Louis immediately declared it his theme song. Once again, we get a little skit in the beginning, this time with pianist Charlie Alexander, but then Armstrong croons the lyrics tenderly--ironically, he was about to return home to New Orleans for the first time in nine years so he was clearly feeling nostalgic--and blows with tremendous beauty. Just like that, Armstrong had a theme song that would last him 40 years.
The flip side, "(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You" was penned by African American singer, songwriter and comedian Sam "Spo-Dee-O-Dee" Theard. It, too, was perfected by Armstrong at Sebastian's Cotton Club in Culver City, with multiple newspapers reporting on Armstrong's live performances (which made the radio censors quite nervous). He really sounds like he's having the time of his life here, repeating "Oh you dog" enough times that it became known as his catchphrase. There's also a line about "standing on the corner high," which is particularly daring considering Armstrong spent a few days in jail barely a month earlier because of his arrest for marijuana possession.
And how about that band! This particular outfit has always been a favorite punching bag for many critics but they sure do swing here, especially when Tubby Hall stars cooking on those cymbals. Louis is on fire, too, vocally and with the horn.
We don't have sales numbers but we can be assured that this record was quite a hit for him. Less than a year later, he would be filmed doing "You Rascal You" in two different Paramount shorts and even starred in a Soundie of the same name in 1942. Interestingly, in that same year, Decca released a brand new 78 single featuring remakes of both "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" and "You Rascal You"...and I'm not going to lie, I prefer each of those versions to the original. But I love these performances, too, as they cap off the April 1931 sides with a bang.
But if you thought the April sides were great, come back tomorrow as we start to listen to Louis's legendary November 1931 recordings!
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (as), George James (as), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL April 20, 1931
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (cl, as), George James (cl, as, bars), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), Unknown (b), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL April 28, 1931
YouTube links:
But today's coupling produced two songs that would become indelibly associated with Armstrong, each performed countless times until his passing in 1971.
Interestingly, a lot of these April 1931 sides were recent compositions that Armstrong was potentially tackling for the first time in the studio. But both "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" and "You Rascal You" date back to his California sabbatical so once again, like many of the 1929 and 1930 sides, we get a recorded artifact of what Louis was doing in his live shows at the time.
Here I go again, but I must admit that "Sleepy Time" gets a pretty in-depth treatment in my next book so now is not the time to spill my guts about it. However, I will say that the song, even with its cringe-inducing inclusion of "darkies"--twice--was written by three African Americans, Clarence Muse, Otis Rene and Leon Rene, and upon hearing the Rene brothers perform it for him, Louis immediately declared it his theme song. Once again, we get a little skit in the beginning, this time with pianist Charlie Alexander, but then Armstrong croons the lyrics tenderly--ironically, he was about to return home to New Orleans for the first time in nine years so he was clearly feeling nostalgic--and blows with tremendous beauty. Just like that, Armstrong had a theme song that would last him 40 years.
The flip side, "(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You" was penned by African American singer, songwriter and comedian Sam "Spo-Dee-O-Dee" Theard. It, too, was perfected by Armstrong at Sebastian's Cotton Club in Culver City, with multiple newspapers reporting on Armstrong's live performances (which made the radio censors quite nervous). He really sounds like he's having the time of his life here, repeating "Oh you dog" enough times that it became known as his catchphrase. There's also a line about "standing on the corner high," which is particularly daring considering Armstrong spent a few days in jail barely a month earlier because of his arrest for marijuana possession.
And how about that band! This particular outfit has always been a favorite punching bag for many critics but they sure do swing here, especially when Tubby Hall stars cooking on those cymbals. Louis is on fire, too, vocally and with the horn.
We don't have sales numbers but we can be assured that this record was quite a hit for him. Less than a year later, he would be filmed doing "You Rascal You" in two different Paramount shorts and even starred in a Soundie of the same name in 1942. Interestingly, in that same year, Decca released a brand new 78 single featuring remakes of both "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" and "You Rascal You"...and I'm not going to lie, I prefer each of those versions to the original. But I love these performances, too, as they cap off the April 1931 sides with a bang.
But if you thought the April sides were great, come back tomorrow as we start to listen to Louis's legendary November 1931 recordings!
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (as), George James (as), Albert Washington (ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (g), Tubby Hall (d).
OKeh recording session - Chicago, IL April 20, 1931
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (cl, as), George James (cl, as, bars), 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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