LOUIS ARMSTRONG - DUMMY SONG

DUMMY SONG

LOUIS ARMSTRONG

SONGWRITERS: BROWN LEW, HENDERSON RAY & ROSE BILLY

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: DUMMY SONG - 45

LABEL: DECCA RECORDS

GENRE: JAZZ

YEAR: 1953

Louis Armstrong (1901–1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz and in all of American popular music. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in jazz.

Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing.

Renowned his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were highly restricted for black men of his era. 

I'll take the legs from some old table

I'll take the arms from some old chair

I'll take the neck from some old bottle

And from a horse I'll take the hair

I'll take the hands and face from some old clock

And baby, when I'm through

I'll get more loving from the dum, dum, dummy

Than I ever got from you

Get me some legs, get me a chair

And a bottle, too

Give me a horse, give me some time

And baby, when I'm through

I'll take the legs from some old table

I'll take the arms from some old chair

I'll take the neck from some old bottle

And from a horse I'll take the hair

I'll take the hands and face from some old clock

And baby, when I'm through

I'll get more loving from the dum, dum, dummy

Than I ever got from you

I get more loving

From that dum, dum, dummy

Than I've ever gotten from you

Yeah, mama, get more loving

From a dummy than I get from you.