Louis Armstrong (Aug 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) "Some of you young folks been saying to me, "Hey Pops, what you mean 'What a wonderful world'? How about all them wars all over the place? You call them wonderful? And how about hunger and pollution? That ain't so wonderful either." "Well, how about listening to old Pops for a minute. Seems to me, it ain't the world that's so bad but what we're doin' to it. And all I'm saying is, see, what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance. Love, baby, love. That's the secret, yeah. If lots more of us loved each other, we'd solve lots more problems. And then this world would be a gasser. That's wha' ol' Pops keeps saying." Spoken intro to "What a Wonderful World" (1970 version) #louisarmstrong --------- "When you're sick [due to drug withdrawal], music is a great help. Once in Texas, I kicked a [heroin] habit on weed, a pint of paregoric, and a few Louis Armstrong records." - William S. Burroughs, Junky (1953), Chapter 12 "You know you can't play anything on a horn that Louis hasn't played..." - Miles Davis #milesdavis "He was born poor, died rich, and never hurt anyone along the way." - Duke Ellington #dukeellington "I knew Louis well, he had his crazy little habits. Everyone thinks he was a druggie, but he wasn't. After every concert, he would put on a stocking cap, then he'd have his bottle of Pluto water, orange juice, Serutan [a brand of laxatives] and a joint. This was his formula; in fact, he used to post the recipe on bulletin boards, calling it 'The Road to Good Health.'" - Mitch Miller #mitchmiller (at Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0zvXA0lqWQ/?igshid=1pehkjrc6owii