Ricky Riccardi

And lo and behold, the pop records were selling. So in 1929... Armstrong comes to New York and begins his reign as a full-blown pop artist for OK, recording things like I Can't Give You Anything But Love and Ain't Misbehavin' and When You're Smiling. And by 1932, he's the biggest selling recording artist in the entire industry.

And lo and behold, the pop records were selling. So in 1929... Armstrong comes to New York and begins his reign as a full-blown pop artist for OK, recording things like I Can't Give You Anything But Love and Ain't Misbehavin' and When You're Smiling. And by 1932, he's the biggest selling recording artist in the entire industry.

And lo and behold, the pop records were selling. So in 1929... Armstrong comes to New York and begins his reign as a full-blown pop artist for OK, recording things like I Can't Give You Anything But Love and Ain't Misbehavin' and When You're Smiling. And by 1932, he's the biggest selling recording artist in the entire industry.

And so at that point, you know, the race record experiment is over and Louis Armstrong is the first black pop star.

And so at that point, you know, the race record experiment is over and Louis Armstrong is the first black pop star.

And so at that point, you know, the race record experiment is over and Louis Armstrong is the first black pop star.

So to my ears, and also to Johnny St. Cyr, the banjo player, he did corroborate the dropping of the sheet music thing. People have always said that that story was too good to be true. But if you listen carefully, there is a little bit... I don't want to call it panic, but in the first vocal chorus towards the end, Armstrong sings something. It almost sounds like you don't Debo, right?

So to my ears, and also to Johnny St. Cyr, the banjo player, he did corroborate the dropping of the sheet music thing. People have always said that that story was too good to be true. But if you listen carefully, there is a little bit... I don't want to call it panic, but in the first vocal chorus towards the end, Armstrong sings something. It almost sounds like you don't Debo, right?

So to my ears, and also to Johnny St. Cyr, the banjo player, he did corroborate the dropping of the sheet music thing. People have always said that that story was too good to be true. But if you listen carefully, there is a little bit... I don't want to call it panic, but in the first vocal chorus towards the end, Armstrong sings something. It almost sounds like you don't Debo, right?

It's kind of gibberish, but in my mind at that point, he might've dropped the lyrics and he didn't quite know what to do next. But this whole concept of using his voice like an instrument is, People remember that he was doing that in his vocal quartet when he was 11, 12 years old. One musician, Norman Mason, remembered him doing that on the riverboats with Fate Marable in 1920.

It's kind of gibberish, but in my mind at that point, he might've dropped the lyrics and he didn't quite know what to do next. But this whole concept of using his voice like an instrument is, People remember that he was doing that in his vocal quartet when he was 11, 12 years old. One musician, Norman Mason, remembered him doing that on the riverboats with Fate Marable in 1920.

It's kind of gibberish, but in my mind at that point, he might've dropped the lyrics and he didn't quite know what to do next. But this whole concept of using his voice like an instrument is, People remember that he was doing that in his vocal quartet when he was 11, 12 years old. One musician, Norman Mason, remembered him doing that on the riverboats with Fate Marable in 1920.

Another musician remembered him doing that In New York with Fletcher Henderson in 1924. So this whole concept of wordless vocalizing was something he had done. And Armstrong himself said, you know, these things just come to you in a flash. So he did not spend much time planning. Like, I am going to do this on heebie-jeebies. But in the moment with the sheet of paper on the ground.

Another musician remembered him doing that In New York with Fletcher Henderson in 1924. So this whole concept of wordless vocalizing was something he had done. And Armstrong himself said, you know, these things just come to you in a flash. So he did not spend much time planning. Like, I am going to do this on heebie-jeebies. But in the moment with the sheet of paper on the ground.

Another musician remembered him doing that In New York with Fletcher Henderson in 1924. So this whole concept of wordless vocalizing was something he had done. And Armstrong himself said, you know, these things just come to you in a flash. So he did not spend much time planning. Like, I am going to do this on heebie-jeebies. But in the moment with the sheet of paper on the ground.

He just launches into this entire chorus completely wordless. And by the end, you know, he's throwing Sweet Mama and things you normally don't hear in 1920s pop music. But if you continue listening to the end of the track, there's a moment where they had worked out a thing where they would play a Charleston beat and everybody would say a line. What you doing with the Hebe's?

He just launches into this entire chorus completely wordless. And by the end, you know, he's throwing Sweet Mama and things you normally don't hear in 1920s pop music. But if you continue listening to the end of the track, there's a moment where they had worked out a thing where they would play a Charleston beat and everybody would say a line. What you doing with the Hebe's?

He just launches into this entire chorus completely wordless. And by the end, you know, he's throwing Sweet Mama and things you normally don't hear in 1920s pop music. But if you continue listening to the end of the track, there's a moment where they had worked out a thing where they would play a Charleston beat and everybody would say a line. What you doing with the Hebe's?

And Kid Ori, the trombone player, he comes in at the wrong time. And even Armstrong himself, he admitted that he thought that they would try it again. But E.A. Fern, who was the producer for OK of this particular recording, He came in and said, we're going to take a chance on this one. And so even with the imperfections and all this stuff, they knew that that vocal had something different.

And Kid Ori, the trombone player, he comes in at the wrong time. And even Armstrong himself, he admitted that he thought that they would try it again. But E.A. Fern, who was the producer for OK of this particular recording, He came in and said, we're going to take a chance on this one. And so even with the imperfections and all this stuff, they knew that that vocal had something different.