1253CD Rough Guide Legends – Louis Armstrong

1253CD Rough Guide Legends – Louis Armstrong

One should always be cautious when bandying around words such as ‘greatest’ and ‘mostest’. But with Louis Armstrong such caution can surely be thrown to the wind. Few would argue that he was the greatest and most influential jazz musician of the twentieth century.

This compilation concentrates on the unforgettably hot jazz music he made over four prolific decades between the 1920s and 1950s, and which justifiably earned him a reputation as one of the world’s best-loved entertainers.

In his final years, Louis Armstrong enjoyed considerable pop success, and remained a tireless musical ambassador, crisscrossing the globe to entertain.

The late 1940s and 1950s found him recording a series of brilliant duets with a number of other singers, among them Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Louis Jordan and Fats Domino, all of whom are featured on the bonus disc of this compilation. He also recorded with the pianist Oscar Peterson and enjoyed a huge hit with a thrilling version of ‘Mack

The Knife’ in 1955

Disc 1

• Louis Armstrong’s Hot Seven: Willie The Weeper
• Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra: West End Blues
• Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra: Savoy Blues
• Louis Armstrong And His Hot Five: Heebie Jeebies
• Louis Armstrong And His Savoy Ballroom Five: St James Infirmary
• Louis Armstrong And His All Stars: Ain’t Misbehavin’
• Louis Armstrong: Dear Old Southland
• Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra: Hobo You Can’t Ride This Train
• Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra: That’s My Home
• Louis Armstrong: I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues
• Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra: Perdido Street Blues
• Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra: When It’s Sleepy Time Down South
• Louis Armstrong And His All Stars: Back O’ Town Blues
• Louis Armstrong And His Dixieland Seven: Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
• Louis Armstrong: That Lucky Old Sun
• Louis Armstrong: C’est Si Bon
• Louis Armstrong: La Vie En Rose
• Louis Armstrong: Basin Street Blues
• Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra: Struttin’ With Some Barbecue
• Louis Armstrong And His All Stars: Mack The Knife
• Louis Armstrong with Oscar Peterson: Blues In The Night

Disc 2

• Jack Teagarden With Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra: Rockin’ Chair
• Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers: Wild Man Blues
• Fats Waller featuring Sara Martin: Taint Nobody’s Bus’ness If I Do
• Louis Armstrong With Billie Holiday: My Sweet Hunk O’ Trash
• Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra With Louis Jordan: You Rascal You
• Bessie Smith & Louis Armstrong: The St Louis Blues
• King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band: Weather Bird Rag
• Jimmie Rodgers: Blue Yodel # 9 (Standing On The Corner)
• Velma Middleton with Louis Armstrong And His All Stars: That’s My Desire
• Bing Crosby With Louis Armstrong: Gone Fishin’
• Louis Armstrong And Ella Fitzgerald: Who Walks In When I Walk Out
• Fats Domino: Blueberry Hill