Customer Reviews

Louis & The Good Book: Vme

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've always admired Louis's pop records from the late Fifties. Verve has done a great job reissuing some of the best of them: this album, "Louis and Angels", the great two-disc set "Louis under the stars/I've got the world on a string"... Yes, I know Louis's 20's-30's work is the most important music ever recorded, but my personal preference is for these lushly produced artifacts. I call them artifacts because the production techniques definitely tie them to a time and place in history. This is a great example of The Golden Age of Stereo... there is so much detail and ambience, you feel as if you are in the studio. Chairs squeak, Louis smacks his lips, pages turns. Listen alone in a dark room, and it's an awesome experience. I've been told by those in the know that these 24/96 remasters sound *almost* as good as the original LPs...

The music is great... an all-gospel programme, with Louis singing and (thank heavens) playing trumpet on all but one of the album tracks! Louis's interaction with the Sy Oliver Choir is something to behold... call and response, spoken interplay... again, it's so well-rendered in stereo, you get an amazing sense of the recording space, the spatial sense that Louis is standing in front of the choir, where the instruments are etc. The trumpet solos are just show-stopping. Sonically, they just jump out, and a good stereo will resolve the bell-like undertones of the instrument. Musically, I'll say this: I'm not one of those Jazz-heads that can listen to a mystery record and name, by ear every soloist. There are a few instrumentalists I can pick out, and Louis is definitely the foremost. I can recognize his brilliant, ringing, trumpet tone anywhere!

Verve fleshes out the re-release with bonus tracks, which I consider a mixed blessing. I like to sit and listen to an album as a coherent whole, and the bonus tracks distract me. That's a silly gripe really, as they are at the end, and can be simply programmed out. The repacakaging is very nice, duplicating the album sleeve, plus providing lots of critical and scholarly notes. I couldn't imagine a jazz or pop fan who wouldn't love this album!

This is some more classic Satch. The album istelf is a relief from the tired reissues of Satch playing the same old songs over and over. Good concept album from 1958, which I agree is a neglected period in Satch history. The version of "Down By The Riverside" is quite joyful in particular. The bonus trax are an added blessing. I remember "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat" and "That's What The Man Said" from my Dad's copy of Decca/Vocalion Records' "Here's Louis Armstrong" (will somebody PLEASE reissue this on CD!?) from my childhood. The former of these songs, a vivid tale of Satch's journey to hades after drinking and shooting dice, scared the HELL out of me as a child. The "Elder Eatmore" comedy sermons are 1938 versions of routines originated by Bert Williams, the father of Black comedy, in the 1910s (compare these to Williams' original versions). A nice addition to this would have been 1931's "The Lonesome Road," another comic sermon featuring Satch as "Reverend Satchelmouth Armstrong." But this minor complaint aside, this is great stuff for Satch fans, no matter what you personally beleive.

"Louis And The Good Book" (1958) reads much sweeter, with his All-Stars there to back him up, Trummy Young, Billy Kyle, Barrett Deams and others. Again the Sy Oliver Choir makes their appearance known as well. These sessions have a much heavier feel with meaningful tunes such as "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen" and "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child", two subjects that Louis has dealt with his whole life. On the former, Louis' spoken introduction even makes an attempt to explain his choice to do this type of album. He tells of how there are times when you feel the need to look up. Funny, because as I listen I'm looking up at Louis right now and thanking him for yet another treasure. Another fine Verve release. Be sure and check on the companion reissue, "Louis And The Angels".

Wonderful 1958 concept lp with the SY OLIVER choir.LOUIS's humourous mockery,especially on NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLES I'VE SEEN(and i ain't gonna bug nobody either)and SWING LOW,SWEET CHARIOT(yeah,let me out of here man) are pleasant.Who but SATCHMO could have tackle a project like this and get away with it.?This is as good as it gets in terms of concept in the religious vain.The extra tracks unfortunately are there to make the cd go to the one hour mark.I always stop at track 12.If you go through it all,it's like eating your favorite meal being interrupted by an unpleasant stranger(let's say un témoin de JÉHOVAH).This cd ultimately,makes you feel like going to mass again.

"Louis and the Good Book" is an incredibly wonderful album. Mr. Armstrong's singing and trumpet work is just fantastic and the piano work on Shadrack is just amazing. In addition, there is a sense of playfulness, in both the words and the music, that is a delight to hear.

This 1958 recording contains eighteen wonderful spirituals with the Sy Oliver choir and two mock "sermons." Louis Armstrong is obviously having a ball and enjoying every second he's singing and playing his trumpet. The choir is excellent and the whole recording just works; it's one to play over and over again.

I don't care for much of the new age Christian music being played on the radio now-adays (too much euphoric bubble-gum), and this CD is far from it. Classic Satchmo singing on topics found in the Good Book!

Hello jazz fans,
This one is for you.I am a very big fan of Louis Armstrong and Universal CD'S and this is a must get.Why-this is the
spirtual side of Louis that you must hear.
Very excelent sound quality CD also, amazing.
Mark Greenidge (from Barbados)

Louis Armstrong is clearly having fun with this music. While this is a well-performed and well-recorded collection of classic religious and biblically-inspired songs, Satchmo gives these tunes his own twist, with asides and comments integrated into the tunes. Who else would (or could) end a song about Ezekiel with the comment that "Ol' Zeke was wailin' that time"? With familiar songs and tunes, at times playful and at times solemn, this CD is absolutely joyous and uplifting. The original "Louis and the Good Book" was released in 1958, but this CD includes some songs recorded in 1938 and 1950. This means that a couple of tunes are repeated, but I welcome those extra tracks. They fit well with the album's concept. Treat yourself to some Louis Armstrong, and perhaps to some spirituality.

CD was good quality merchanise. Wouldn't take a million dollars for it. If I could not replace it quickly. I love it
Thank You
Alice