Louis Armstrong

“When you're sick [due to drug withdrawal], music is a great help. Once in Texas, I kicked a [heroin] habit on weed, a pint of paregoric, and a few Louis Armstrong records. William S. Burroughs , Junky (1953), Chapter 12”

“When Louis Armstrong, according to a few of his biographies, came to Chicago he was wearing a suit, the pants of which were about three inches too short, his white socks showed, he had these brogans on and he wore a derby hat. He got up on the stage and all the musicians laughed until he started to play. When he finished playing, the next day all the musicians went out and bought some pants three inches too short, some white socks and some brogan shoes and a derby hat, you understand. Louis Armstrong was on J”

“True revolution in music took place, as far as I can see it, took place only a few times, three times in this century. One was the revolution that took place aided and abetted if not instigated by Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong did something with the trumpet that had never been done. Things that have become so casual, so common to our ears now, Louis Armstrong introduced. Maya Angelou , 1977 interview in Conversations with Maya Angelou”

“The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician. Things like old folks singing in the moonlight in the back yard on a hot night or something said long ago.”

“Man, if you gotta ask you'll never know.”

“If you still have to ask, shame on you Armstrong's response to the question what jazz is, cited by Max Jones et. al. : "Salute to Satchmo", I.P.C. Specialist & Professional Press Ltd 1970, page 25”

“Making money ain't nothing exciting to me. ... You might be able to buy a little better booze than some wino on the corner. But you get sick just like the next cat, and when you die you're just as graveyard dead as he is. Ebony magazine , November 1964”

“The way they're treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell . As quoted in The New York Times (19 September 1967)]”

“Hey Pops, what you mean 'What a wonderful world '? How about all them wars all over the place? You call them wonderful? And how about hunger and pollution? That aint so wonderful either.”

“The Brick House was one of the toughest joints I ever played in ... Guys would drink and fight one another like circle saws. Bottles would come flying over the bandstand like crazy and there was lots of plain common shooting and cutting. But somehow all that jive didn't faze me at all. I was so happy to have some place to blow my horn. Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans”