Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It

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text excerpt

I used to run errands for a madam on the corner. I wouldn't run errands for anybody, still won't carry a case across the street today, but I ran around for this woman because she'd let me listen to all Bessie [Smith's] records-- and Pops [Louis] Armstrong's records of "West End Blues." I loved that "West End Blues" and always wondered why Pops didn't sing any words to it. I reckoned he must have been feeling awfully bad. When I got to New York, I went to hear him at the Lafayette Theatre. He didn't play my blues and I went back stage to tell him about it. I guess I was nine years old then. Been listening to Pops and Bessie ever since that time. Of course, my mother considered that type of music sinful; she'd whip me in a minute of she caught me listening to it. Those days, we were supposed to listen to hymns, or something like that.

excerpt from 'Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It' pp. 198 (162 words)

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