Potato Head Blues
"Potato Head Blues" | |
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Song by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven | |
Recorded | May 10, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois |
Genre | Jazz |
Label | Okeh Records |
Songwriter(s) | Louis Armstrong |
"Potato Head Blues" is a Louis Armstrong composition regarded as one of his finest recordings. It was made by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven[1] for Okeh Records in Chicago, Illinois on May 10, 1927. It was recorded during a remarkably productive week in which Armstrong's usual Hot Five was temporarily expanded to seven players by the addition of tuba and drums.[2] Some scholars have suggested that a key melodic figure in "Potato Head Blues" was picked up by Hoagy Carmichael for "Stardust."[3] Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023.[4]
The recording features clarinet work by Johnny Dodds, and the stop-time solo chorus in the last half of the recording is one of Armstrong's most famous solos.[5] The stop-time aspects of "Potato Head Blues" was derived from the tap-dancing tradition at the Sunset Café as well as the New Orleanian tradition of adding breaks and fill-ins.[6]
Author and Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum, Ricky Riccardi states that when it came to taking improvised solos, Armstrong was light years ahead of his contemporaries in every way: command of his instrument, harmonic knowledge, a swinging rhythmic feel and put simply, the ability to "tell a story." 1927’s "Potato Head Blues,” with the expanded Hot Seven, again represents a joyous example of New Orleans polyphony until Armstrong steps up a takes a stop-time solo that still sounds fresh and modern today, defining the art of the improvised solo in not just jazz but all forms of popular music.[7]
Critic Thomas Ward called this recording "one of the most astonishing accomplishments in all of twentieth century music."[5] Ralph Ellison described it as "a classic demonstration of African-American elegance."[8]
In Woody Allen's 1979 film, Manhattan, the character Isaac Davis (played by Allen) lists Armstrong's recording of "Potato Head Blues" as one of the reasons that life is worth living.[9]
References
- ^ Louis Armstrong, in his own words: selected writings
- ^ Cook, Stephen. "Hot Fives & Hot Sevens, Vol. 2 > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 404. ISBN 978-0-393-06582-4.
- ^ Public Domain Day 2023
- ^ a b Ward, Thomas. "Potato Head Blues > Song review". Allmusic. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 265–68. ISBN 978-0-393-06582-4.
- ^ Records, Mosaic (2021-04-29). "Louis Armstrong - 25 Best Jazz Songs. Expert insights & analysis". Mosaic Records - Home for Jazz fans!. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- ^ Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-393-06582-4.
- ^ "Woody Allen: His 40 Best One-liners". The Daily Telegraph. May 5, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
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singles
- "Muskrat Ramble" (1926)
- "Hotter Than That"
- "West End Blues" (1928)
- "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1929)
- "Chinatown, My Chinatown" (1932)
- "You Can Depend on Me"
- "All of Me"
- "Love, You Funny Thing"
- "Sweethearts on Parade"
- "Body and Soul" (1932)
- "Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train" (1933)
- "I'm in the Mood for Love/You Are My Lucky Star" (1935)
- "Public Melody Number One" (1937)
- "When the Saints Go Marching In" (1939)
- "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (1946)
- "When We Are Dancing" (1951)
- "What a Wonderful World" (1968)
- Satchmo at Pasadena (1951)
- Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (1955)
- Louis Armstrong at the Crescendo, Vol. 1 (1955)
- Louis and the Angels (1957)
- Louis and the Good Book (1958)
- Satchmo In Style (1959)
- Hello, Dolly! (1964)
- Struttin' (1996)
Fitzgerald
- Armstrong-Fitzgerald history
- Ella and Louis (1956)
- Ella and Louis Again (1957)
- Porgy and Bess (1959)
- The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve
collaborations
- Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson (1957)
- Bing & Satchmo (1960)
- The Great Summit (1961)
- The Real Ambassadors (1961)
- "Willie the Weeper"
- "West End Blues" (1928)
- "Ain't Misbehavin'"
- "When the Saints Go Marching In"
- "Mack the Knife" (1956)
- "Autumn in New York"
- "On My Way" (1959)
- "Uncle Satchmo's Lullaby" (1959)
- "Hello, Dolly!" (1964)
- "What a Wonderful World" (1967)
- "We Have All the Time in the World" (1969)
- "Alexander's Ragtime Band"
- "April in Paris"
- "Back Home Again in Indiana"
- "Basin Street Blues"
- "Big Butter and Egg Man"
- "Blue Turning Grey Over You"
- "Blueberry Hill"
- "C'est si bon"
- "Can't We Be Friends?"
- "Cheek to Cheek"
- "Cold, Cold Heart"
- "Cool Yule"
- "Dippermouth Blues"
- "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?"
- "Dream a Little Dream of Me"
- "East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)"
- "El Choclo"
- "Everybody Loves My Baby"
- "Frankie and Johnny"
- "Georgia on My Mind"
- "Get Together"
- "Gone Fishin'"
- "The Gypsy in My Soul"
- "Heebie Jeebies"
- "Hello, Dolly!"
- "Hey Lawdy Mama"
- "High Society Calypso"
- "I Get Ideas"
- "I Wonder"
- "I've Got the World on a String"
- "It's Been a Long, Long Time"
- "Jeepers Creepers"
- "A Kiss to Build a Dream On"
- "(Up A) Lazy River"
- "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"
- "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love"
- "Moon River"
- "Moonlight in Vermont"
- "Muggles"
- "Muskrat Ramble"
- "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"
- "Now You Has Jazz"
- "On a Little Bamboo Bridge"
- "On My Way"
- "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
- "Pennies from Heaven"
- "Potato Head Blues"
- "Red Sails in the Sunset"
- "Rockin' Chair"
- "Saint Louis Blues"
- "Shine"
- "Skokiaan"
- "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child"
- "St. James Infirmary Blues"
- "Standing on the Corner (Blue Yodel No. 9)"
- "Stardust"
- "Stars Fell on Alabama"
- "Takes Two to Tango"
- "That Lucky Old Sun"
- "That's My Desire"
- "There Must Be Somebody Else"
- "They All Laughed"
- "Uncle Satchmo's Lullaby"
- "La Vie en rose"
- "When It's Sleepy Time Down South"
- "When You're Smiling"
- "Willow Weep for Me"
- "Winter Wonderland"
- "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"
- Discography
- Jazz Portal
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