Louis Armstrong - Mack the Knife

Louis Daniel Armstrong (1901-1971), nicknamed "Satchmo" or "Pops" was an American jazz trumpeter and singer. He was born and raised in New Orleans, LA by a very poor family. Armstrong was a colorful person, embellishing many early childhood stories. This embellishment is found with his nicknames as no one really knows how they came about. Also, he was stated as saying that his birthday was July 4th, 1900, when in fact he was born in 1901. Louis was known to purge throughout his life using such laxatives as Pluto Water and Swiss Kriss. He was very concerned about his health and bodily functions; so much, that he advocated the use of these products to friends. This could have definitely been in correlation with his love of food. Armstrong died shortly after a heart attack in 1971, and is buried in Queens, NY. This song is "Mack the Knife" that was originally composed by Kurt Weill in 1928.

Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross-over," whose skin-color was secondary to his amazing talent in an America that was severely racially divided. It allowed him socially-acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a person of color.

www.redhotjazz.com/louie.html

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