Louis Armstrong—”I’ve Got A Heart Full Of Rhythm” (1937)

Walking along the high street of the town where I live, I was looking at all the Valentine's Day displays in the shops and wondered who or what was in the hearts of 1930s musicians. Louis Armstrong was quit clear about this when he once said "That trumpet comes before everything -- even my wife! That's why I married four times. The chicks didn't live with the horn. They got too carried away, all but the last [Lucille]."

"I've Got A Heart Full Of Rhythm" was composed by Louis Armstrong and pianist Horace Gerlach, the first white musician to arrange for Armstrong.

Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra for Decca in New York, July 7, 1937. Louis Armstrong-trumpet and vocal; plus another three trumpets, with the unbeatable Shelton 'Scad' Hemphill leading Louis Bacon and Henry 'Red' Allen; George Matthews and J.C. Higgenbotham-trombones; Pete Clark and Charlie Holmes-alto saxophones; Albert Nicholas and Bingie Madison-clarinets and tenor saxophones; Luis Russell-piano; Lee Blair-guitar; Pops Foster-string bass; and Paul Barbarin-drums.

Clarinetist Albert Nicholas recalled that "we had a hell of a fine band. Russell was the leader, and we had Pops Foster on bass and Paul Barbarin on drums. There were nothing but good sounds in the '30s," and he named such bandleaders as Goodman, Webb, Basie, Shaw, Henderson and Ellington. "But Louis really put the Russell band way out front."

Jazz critics at the time said Louis and the Russell band could never reproduce the form the band had achieved during 1929-1931. Louis disagreed. "I wasn't making but $75 dollars a night," however, "I enjoyed all the moments I spent with Luis and his band, maybe because the boys were mostly from my home. The warmth, the feeling, the heat . . everything was there. They were all down to earth also in that band. I loved them, regardless what the critics said about us."