They'll All Be WIth Us In Spirit At The Clock Tower Today

[CPepFox]

Another Top Notch moment of history I didn't know! Thanks again! @kushiro

[kushiro]

More on 'When You're Smiling'.

 

In the months before Louis Armstrong arrived in Leicester in 1934, a recent release of his was being reviewed in the press - a medley of recent hits:

 

 

 

 

That could well have been one of the records featured in the 'recital' in Kingstone's Clock Tower store mentioned above.  And it gives you a good idea of what his set-list would have been at the Opera House in Silver Street.

 

 

 

It's an incredibly rare record now, but fortunately it's on youtube - uploaded seven years ago, only 15 views.

 

It's magnificent:

 

 

The version of When You're Smiling is great, though he does it fairly straight. The other two tracks give you an idea of why he was such an original.  Ripping up the old melodies and replacing them with his own in-yer-face scat-rap. It's as shocking as Elvis in 56 or Johnny Rotten in 76. He just blew everyone else away. 

 

This is the lyric to St. James' Infirmary:

 

I went down to St. James Infirmary,
Saw my baby there,
Stretched out on a long white table,
So cold, so sweet, so fair.
Let her go, let her go, God bless her,
Wherever she may be,
She can look this wide world over,
But she'll never find a sweet man like me.

[kushiro]

And while we're at it, here's the most joyous track he (or anyone) ever recorded. Johnny Dodds' clarinet solo followed by his famous stop-time solo on trumpet. 

 

 

 

[Free Falling Foxes]

3 hours ago, kushiro said:

More on 'When You're Smiling'.

 

In the months before Louis Armstrong arrived in Leicester in 1934, a recent release of his was being reviewed in the press - a medley of recent hits:

 

 

 

 

That could well have been one of the records featured in the 'recital' in Kingstone's Clock Tower store mentioned above.  And it gives you a good idea of what his set-list would have been at the Opera House in Silver Street.

 

 

 

It's an incredibly rare record now, but fortunately it's on youtube - uploaded seven years ago, only 15 views.

 

It's magnificent:

 

 

The version of When You're Smiling is great, though he does it fairly straight. The other two tracks give you an idea of why he was such an original.  Ripping up the old melodies and replacing them with his own in-yer-face scat-rap. It's as shocking as Elvis in 56 or Johnny Rotten in 76. He just blew everyone else away. 

 

This is the lyric to St. James' Infirmary:

 

I went down to St. James Infirmary,
Saw my baby there,
Stretched out on a long white table,
So cold, so sweet, so fair.
Let her go, let her go, God bless her,
Wherever she may be,
She can look this wide world over,
But she'll never find a sweet man like me.

Always enjoyed 'You Rascal You' full title: I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You.

Including lines such as:

'I'll be standing on the corner elevated, when they bring your body delapidated'

and

'I'll be tickled to death when you leave this Earth you dog.

 

[kushiro]

1 minute ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

Always enjoyed 'You Rascal You' full title: I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You.

Including lines such as:

'I'll be standing on the corner elevated, when they bring your body delapidated'

and

'I'll be tickled to death when you leave this Earth you dog.

 

This is the other side of that medley release that features that track: