Louis Armstrong: From Childhood To Adulthood

Louis Armstrong: From Childhood to Adulthood

When you think of Louis Armstrong you probably think of a jolly middle-aged man who can play the cornet like no one else, a man who had it all, a man who had the good life. Well, Louis was not always that lucky. From childhood to his adulthood, Louis

Armstrong changed much as a person and a musician. He worked very hard to become what he became and did not let anything get in the way of becoming a musician. In this paper, you will read about how Louis Armstrong became one of the most influential people/musicians of his time.

Louis Armstrong’s childhood was not of the normal childhoods most of us have had. He had a very hard and painful childhood. He was treated very harshly by his family and the people around him. His mother did not even care enough to keep his birth certificate. That is why no one is really sure of Louis’s birthdate ,but people believe he was born around 1898, in New Orleans. Around Louis’s time of birth, many blacks were confined to live in the slums. The slums were in a way like ghettos. They were very poor, dirty areas where people who hadn’t much money would live. In the slums, there was much violence, drug circulation and prostitution. The only people that made any money in the slums were either the hustlers or the musicians. Considering Louis was not related to anyone of that status he and his family had very little money. That left Louis with no possessions whatsoever. He hadn’t any toys to play with, he didn’t even have a simple stick just to keep him occupied. His clothes were at the lowest of the low class. He was confined to wearing a dress as a younger child until he was a little older, then he had hand me down shirts and shorts to wear. His choice of foods was limited to rice and beans. His family did not make enough money to get better food than that. His family did not have enough of anything to keep him happy. He felt like nobody loved him. When he was born his father left his mother and him to start another life with another family. His mother always was out leaving Louis to fend for himself. But before Louis had lived with his mother he lived with his grandmother. His grandma took the best care of him out of anybody in his family. She always made sure that Louis was fed and that he was not alone.

She was the only per...

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...uch that he could not get his shoes on. Soon after that Louis was ordered to stay at the Beth

Israel Hospital under doctor’s orders. After his final concert he returned there for the last time. He was planning another concert when he died July 6, 1971. Louis’s death was deeply saddening for everyone, but especially Lil. She conducted the band at his funeral in his memory. A memorial service followed which President Nixon attended and spoke at.

That was the sad ending of Louis Armstrong.

To conclude my paper I would like to highlight Louis’s life. He was just a poor child from New Orleans. He had very little education. He had to take care of his sister and himself 90% of the day until he was and adult. He had to work twice as hard as most people have to worked to get where he got to. He was just a simple man who from the beginning just wanted to play music. But he got so much more than just that and was able to fulfil his life to the fullest. Louis Armstrong will always be remembered as a wonderful man with a passion for playing the cornet beautifully. At least we have his music, movies and television appearances which keep him a live to this very day.