Copenhagen Pops

Some old Pops videos for your Tuesday. Good Gravy!

Dinah. Dig the band all tapping their feet. So cool.

And from the same concert – Tiger Rag.

Side story: When I was in first grade the music teacher played for the class a Louis Armstrong tune. I didn’t know at the time that it was Pops but I remember very clearly that there was a man with a gravelly voice yelling “Hold That Tiger” over and over again. And then there was the trumpet, singing over the riffing band. I remember really enjoying that song (years later I’ve pieced together that that recording was probably a Louis Armstrong All-Stars recording of Tiger Rag – probably from the late 50’s or early 60’s). Then in second grade (and again in third) I read E.B. White’s “The Trumpet of the Swan.” Between that book (the swan’s name was Louis) and my first grade memory of hearing Armstrong’s “Tiger Rag” I think that the trumpet became imprinted on my mind. So when fourth grade rolled around and they asked me what instrument I wanted to play I said “trumpet.” Pops is still the greatest. My oldest son’s middle name is Armstrong. My youngest son’s middle name is Louis.

Another one from that same Copenhagen concert (why did the Europeans have the sense to record these masters when we didn’t?? Stupid Americans didn’t even realize their own riches!) I Cover the Waterfront – I love how he swings the lyrics. For me, this is THE performance of this tune: