Armstrong for those who don't care for Armstrong

There are several Armstrong Greatest Hits albums and even an "All Time Greatest Hits", which I also own. Apparently some of the reviewers are confused because they are mentioning songs that aren't on this album. This one has 13 songs, which of course doesn't begin to cover all of Satchmo's hits, but compared to All Time Greatest Hits, which has 18 songs, I enjoyed this one much more. Never was a big fan of Armstrong; his unique voice takes some getting used to. In spite of that, I found this album very entertaining and do feel that it represents enough of his best hits to really get a feel for what he was all about. Anyone who appreciates good music should enjoy this album very much. I believe it was Armstrong when asked about differents kinds of music said: There are only two kinds: good and bad. Louis Armstrong definately performed the good kind of music. I particular enjoyed "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans". In the thousands of tracks of music that I own, it's the only vocal I have of that song and it's a good one.

Here and There

I can't get too attached to any of the mountain of Louis Armstrong Greatest Hits packages, which all seem to feel a need to grab sides from all over his half-century+ long career, and this one isn't a whole lot better than the rest.

Armstrong plays great, as always, and the song selection is OK, if you're looking for familiar tunes. But none of his truly great stuff is here. These are live versions, and they aren't all well-recorded. "Cabaret," for instance, has some kind of synch problem that makes you feel as if someone is turning your bass/treble knob back and forth. On "Blueberry Hill" you can hear somebody mumbling at several points. Also, the producer evidently had never heard of that modern recording breakthrough, the VOLUME KNOB. If he had, he would have faded the tunes in and out, rather than going from dead silence to a roaring crowd in a split second, as he does on virtually every tune here.

"Muskrat Ramble," the oldest recording here, is the best performance, and the best recording, on the disk, though even it sounds like a copy of a copy of a copy of the original master recording.

By the way, the reviewer who complemented a version of ""Wonderful World" must have been referring to a different record. "Wonderful World" does not appear on this CD.

Love Given And Returned On Budget-Priced RCA Satch Set

Louis Armstrong re-recorded his hits for so many different labels over his 50-year career that any label could cobble a "greatest hits" from what they had available. RCA Victor's version, part of a jazz introduction series, states on the back cover that its material was recorded from "January 1933 - May 1970," eras wide-ranging and near cariacture as Al Hirschfeld's unflattering drawing on the CD cover.

You get electrifying versions of "Basin Street Blues," "St. Louis Blues," and a hits medley from his first decade recording, all scatting and swinging manically nearly 70 years later. Then to All-Star recordings (1947's swinging "Sugar," and "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Someday You'll Be Sorry," a sweet "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans") and, finally, four unusually compelling songs recorded just over a year before his death (busy, adult soul versions of "Everybody's Talkin'," "Mood Indigo" and "My One And Only Love.") No liner notes, photographs, or even a chronological order to the songs, just compiler Chick Crumpacker's tribute putting Armstrong "at the absolute center of American popular music."

The final song is a remake of what today is Armstrong's signature hit, "What A Wonderful World," preceded with a moving introduction. "People say to me, 'Pops, how can you call this a wonderful world? How about all those wars all over the place...and hunger, and pollution...you call that wonderful?" he starts in that beloved growl. "...but if we all learned to love each other, we could solve more problems, and then life would be a gasser!"

This may have been what Mahalia Jackson meant when she said, "If you don't like Louis Armstrong, you don't know how to love." Despite scattershot song choice and skimpy packaging, the inherent love "Satchmo" gave and was returned shows all too well here. RCA's "Greatest Hits" is recommended, but also check out similar packages on Verve ("Essential," "Best of Ella & Louis") and the Columbia greatest hits collection spotlighting the early years.