Satchmo | In His Own Words

Louis Armstrong In His Own Words

“Just want to say that music has no age. Most of your great composers – musicians—are elderly people, way up there in age – they will live forever. There’s no such thing as on the way out. As long as you are still doing something interesting and good. You are in business as long as you are breathing. Yeah.”

“It’s been hard goddam work, man. Feel like I spent 20,00 years on planes and railroads, like I blowed my chops off… I never tried to prove nothing, just always wanted to give a good show. My life has ben my music, it’s always come first, but the music ain’t worth nothing if you can’t lay it on the public. The main thing is to live for that audience, ‘cause what you’re there for is to please the people.”

“After blowing the tin horn- so long—I wondered how would I do blowing a real horn, -a cornet was what I had in mind. Sure enough, I saw a little cornet in a pawn shop window—Five dollars- my luck was juwt right. With the Karnofskys loaning me on my Salary—I saved 50 cents a week and bought the horn. All dirty but was soon pretty to me. After blowing into it a while I realized that I could play ‘Home Sweet Home” – then here come the Blues. From then on, I was a mess and tootin away.”

I dedicate this book

to my manager and pal

Mr. Joe Glaser

The best Friend

That I've ever had

May the Lord Bless Him

Watch over him always.

His boy + disciple who loved him dearly.

Louis Satchmo Armstrong

Joe Glaser and Louis Armstrong pictured above.

Satchmo wrote that dedication to Glaser after he found out Glaser was in a coma

“Ain’t nobody played nothing like it since, and can’t nobody play nothing like it now. My oldest record, can’t nobody touch it. And if they say, “Which record do you like the best?” I like 'em all, because I didn’t hit no bad notes on any of them…I’m indexing my reels...and I’m in all of them. I want to hear me, that’s what keeps me up to the time.”