THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG

Louis Armstrong, or Satchmo or Satch or Pops to his fond listeners, would have been 125 years old this month. In the hearts and minds and ears of those who loved his songs, he still lives on larger than life. 

For five decades in mid-1900s, he enthralled listeners of jazz and pop music with his unique style of singing. His voice was gravelly or rasping in a pleasant way. In addition, he would go off tune and written lyrics to scat singing using words with no meaning such as doo-ba-da-boo-dah! All that with facial expressions engaging the listeners and making them feel inclusive. And then he would launch into playing his trumpet producing beautiful music.

He acted in a number of movies mainly as himself or as an orchestra leader which was good as, in the absence of TV those days, that way we got to see the colourful and charismatic way in which he sang and performed. A movie which I shall always remember is "High Society" which had a delightful and unforgettable number, "Now You Has Jazz",  by Satch and his real life friend, Bing Crosby,  The song starts with Bing introducing members of the Louis Armstrong Band each playing solo one by one, on to Satchmo who takes off on his trumpet and then, accompanied by the Band, both Bing and Satch sing with plenty of scat! 

Another famous movie and multiple Oscar winner including Best Musical Score was "Hello, Dolly" in which Pops (that's what Crosby always called him) played an orchestra leader. Its title song performed by Pops hit the top spot in a number of billboards the world over. The movie would be his second last.

Now for his songs. A hard task but I shall choose just a few of my favourites from hundreds he produced. To start with, a tune familiar to Hindi movie fans: "A Kiss to Build a Dream On". This 1951 hit of Pops was copied for an emotive song in "Parineeta" and sung as "Kaisi, Paheli Zindagani" by Sunidhi Chauhan for Vidya Balan. As we all know, it was hugely popular and the lilting tune sounded as good as, Akhila says better than, the original!

From my school days, I remember "Saints Go Marching In", a traditional American gospel song adapted by Pops which to many is the best known version. Then there was "Mack The Knife" which remained on top of Binaca Hit Parade on Radio Ceylon for a long time. The song based on a real life English highwayman tells the story of a deadly criminal Mackie Messer known as Mack The Knife in "The Threepenny Opera". A few lines will sum it up:-

"Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear, and he shows them pearly white

Just a jack-knife has Macheath dear, and he keeps it out of sight

When the shark bites with his teeth, dear, scarlet billows start to spread

Fancy gloves though wears Macheath, dear, so there's not a trace, mmm of red.

On the sidewalk, Sunday mornin', baby, lies a body oozin' life

Someone sneakin' 'round the corner, is the someone, Mack The Knife?"

Pops sang some classic French numbers as well. Two of his best were the nostalgic "La Vie En Rose" and the cheery, bouncy "C'est Si Bon."

Pops' favourite duet partner was Ella Fitzgerald and they recorded many albums. Two songs on top of my list are the folksy "Summertime" sung repeatedly, including as a lullaby, in George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess", and the love song, also popular as a lullaby, "Dream a Little Dream of Me."

And now, the two best for me. No matter how many times I listen to them, these songs make me emotional and touch a soft chord in my heart. The first is "What a Wonderful World" which the composers Bob Thiele and George Weiss wrote specifically for Pops as they felt "inspired by Armstrong's ability to bring together people of different races." The song's popularity is worldwide and  it ranks among the 500 best songs of all time in "Rolling Stones" and CBS's 250 essential American songs of the past 250 years. Permit me to quote some lyrics though tough to choose-

"I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world...

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shaking hands saying, "How do you do?"

They're really saying, "I love you"...

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world, oh, yeah."

Finally, his swan song! The story behind the song is touching by itself.Ace composer, John Barry, who pioneered theme songs and music for the first eleven James Bond movies, composed the song "We Have All The Time In The World" which were the final words spoken by Bond while cradling in his arms the body of his newly wedded wife.The couple was excitedly on the way to their honeymoon when the villain pulled up alongside in his car and shot dead the wife in the 1969 movie, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Dazed and stunned, Bond uttered those words. Barry felt that only Pops with his gravelly voice could deliver the song with the intended irony. Pops was seriously ill and had not been recording for more than a year but Barry persuaded him to do so. Pops sang but could not play the trumpet, an essential part of the song. So that was done by another musician!

A real life irony though unintended was that Pops had not much time left in the world himself and passed away shortly after singing the song which turned out to be his last studio recording. The song is now regarded as one of the best love songs ever and a BBC survey in 2005 found it to be the third most popular song played at weddings. 

The song had a revival in the 2021 Bond movie, "No Time To Die" when parts of it were played many times during the movie and the full song played at the end with Bond dying and the credits rolling. Pops' singing, Barry's rich orchestral strings strumming and the brilliant trumpet bars had the audiences leaving the movie hall with eyes filled with tears in both the movies. 

"We have all the time in the world, time enough for life

To unfold all the precious things love has in store...

Every step of the way will find us

With the cares of the world far behind us

We have all the time in the world

Just for love, nothing more, nothing less

Only love."

A MUSICAL CALENDAR COMPOSED BY AN IDLE MIND

"An idle mind is an old man's playground" and my tweaking the proverb proves it. So in a vacant mood, instead of flashing daffodils upon my inward eye as Wordsworth would, I thought of songs with lyrics associated with months in a year.

There are a number of songs and nursery rhymes to make children learn the order in which months come in a calendar year and the number of days in the months. Most of us will recall "30 days hath September, April, June and November". Then there is the "Calendar Song" which relates months to seasons with marching ''through winter time, March, March, March, April showers bring May flowers, Summer's almost here, June, July, August! Soon we're back in school!';

Simon and Garfunkel run through April to September in "April, Come She Will". Arriving in April, "May, she will stay...June, she'll change her tune...July, she will fly...August, die she must...September, I'll remember, a love once new has grown old."

Boney M, known more for rhythm and beat than lyrics, have a "Calendar Song" that just repeats names of all months a few times. Neil Sadaka was far more imaginative when he sang what he would do for his "Calendar Girl" each month starting the year with January, declaring her his Valentine in February, marching down the aisle in March, making her his Easter Bunny in April and so on down to dressing up as Romeo and Juliet on Halloween in October, giving thanks for her on Thanksgiving in November and claiming her as his present 'neath his Christmas tree in December!

Now for some songs specific for a month; with a rider: the climate might not match the mood in everyone's part of the world!

Majority of songs written with a month as the background relate to the mood associated with that month. As Elton John sang in "January", "January is the month that cares/It brings us hope in the new year's prayers." The lyrics and Elton's soft singing signify peace and quietude after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season of the previous year and optimism for the new year.

Surprisingly for a month that has Valentine's Day, most February songs reflect a brooding mood. Despite only 28 days or at the most 29 every four years, Taylor Swift seems to feel the month is too long in "Fortnight" by singing "All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February"! And an American group sang, "Any day's better than February." I guess that comes from being tired of the severe, extended winter the end of which is not yet in sight.

Marching into March, the wintry mood continues. Van Morrison summed it up beautifully singing "March winds in February, all the way to April." And, of course, it is the month of "The Ides of March" with a number of songs lamenting betrayal and heartbreak.

At last we are in April and the end of winter. Spring is welcome with flowers in full bloom and a number of sweet songs to put us in a romantic mood. Pat Boone delighted us in the late '50s with "April Love". He sang, "April love is for the very young, every star's a wishing star that shines for you", and a word of caution, "But April love can slip right through your fingers, so if she's the one, don't let her run away."

Frank Sinatra and many others gave us "I'll Remember April", an emotional number which said, "I'll be content you loved me once in April, your lips were warm and love and spring were new."

For me the top of the pops is "April in Portugal" first sung in Portuguese in 1947. Les Baxter and his Orchestra scored a big hit with it in their instrumental version in 1953. It has then been sung by many great singers of those times led by Vic Damone, Eartha Kitt and Bing Crosby. A few lines:-

"I found my April dream in Portugal with you

When we discovered romance like I never knew

Then morning brought the rain

And now my dream is through

But still my heart says 'I love you'". 

May and I recall immediately Vinnie Mama's favourite on joining the Navy, "And in her hair, she wore a yellow ribbon, she wore it in the springtime and the merry month of May; hey, hey, and if you ask, oh why the heck she wore it, she wore it for a sailor who is far, far away!"

Summer is most welcome and eagerly awaited but Guenevere played by Julie Andrews in the Broadway musical "Camelot" seemed to have gone over the top with the song, "Lusty Month of May", Sample some lyrics-

"Tra la! It's May! The lusty month of May! 

That darling month when everyone throws self-control away!

It's time to do, a wretched thing or two

And try to make each precious day, one you'll always rue!

It's wild, it's gay! A blot in every way

The birds and bees, with all of their vast, amorous past

Gaze at the human race aghast

The lusty month of May!"

"June is bustin' out all over!" Nettie in the musical "Carousel" is ecstatic welcoming the full onset of summer. "You can feel it in your heart, you can see it on the ground, you can hear it in the trees, you can smell it in the breeze." Though in a sad song, Petula Clark pines for love which seems as distant as "The Thirty-first of June". But for Dean Martin, "It's June in January" because the singer is in love and there "always is spring in my heart with you in my arms."

July begins and with it comes the Fourth of July, American Independence Day, with celebrations and fireworks. Remember Mitzi Gaynor jumping with joy and dancing her heart away in "South Pacific" singing "I'm as corny as Kansas in August, High as a flag on the Fourth of July, If you'll excuse an expression I use, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with a wonderful guy."

Fourth of July is also Akhila's birthday!

Most July songs are about the 4th but Nancy Sinatra combined three months in "June, July and August" in an emotional and nostalgic number pleading for her love to return promising she would love him even more than she did the previous year.

On to August, last month of summer, signs of a quiet transition and not too many songs. What keeps coming to my mind is the old movie, "Teahouse of the August Moon" but that is not relevant here. So let's go to the song "August Winds" by Sting which is reflective of the nature of the month in the lines, "When August winds are turning, the fishing boats set out upon the sea....The winter follows soon, I watch them drawn into the night beneath the August Moon."

Come September and you said it! That was the name of the sweet, romantic movie of 1961 the cheery title song of which was equally popular. Otherwise in the month, mood of transition continues along with nostalgia which brings on September blues. Back in the '50s, Dinah Washington sang, "The leaves of brown came tumbling down, remember in September in the rain, the sun went out just like a dying ember, that September in the rain."

Vacations start in summer and lovers may part with the promise to meet in September when the holidays end. "The Happenings" voiced their fear in "See You in September", "Have a good time but remember, there is a danger in the summer moon above, will I see you in September, or lose you to a summer love?" 

October and autumn fully kicks in. The song which comes to mind is the classic "Autumn Leaves", so beautifully sung by Nat King Cole. For specifically mentioning October, there is U2's "October", "October and the trees are stripped bare of all they wear." A Norwegian singer 'Girl in Red' confesses "We fell in love in October, that's why I love fall."

November marks entry into winter with mood swings between high and low. Songwise, pounding virtually in my ears is "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses which Ruchir used to play again and again at full volume in early '90s when we lived in Som Vihar, New Delhi, "So never mind the darkness, we still can find a way, 'cause nothin' lasts forever, even cold November rain."

And so we come to the final month of the year. The severe cold is tempered by promises of the holiday season, yuletide spirit, nostalgia for the months passed and hope for a bright, happy new year. Looking for a song with December in the title, there is Taylor Swift's "Back to December" in which she deeply regrets having rejected her lover earlier but now, swallowing her pride, sings, "Wishin' I'd realised what I had when you were mine, I'd go back to December, turn around and change my own mind, I'd go back to December all the time."

But December is all about Christmas and New Year's Eve when we are all in a festive mood to celebrate and make merry regardless of religion. So let's go to its plethora of songs starting with Bing Crosby's "Silent Night" and "White Christmas", on to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You", Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", and "Jingle Bells" sung by everyone! 

And to really get into an exuberant mood, there is nothing like the sweet, squirrelly sound of Alvin and the Chipmunks who sang "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", and "All I Want For Christmas (is my two front teeth....Then I could wish you, Merry Chris, Chris, Chris, a Happy New Year)."

PURANI YAADEIN-BHARI DILLI - A DELHI OVERFLOWING WITH OLD MEMORIES

Wenger's century brought back memories of visits to Connaught Place in the 1950s. My association with Delhi is even older.

The first story is one as narrated to me 'cause I was too little to remember. In 1940, my father had a job in Delhi and he, Mummy and baby me, all of two years, lived in Lachhu Singh Ka Katra in Chandni Chowk area. A large number of our small Suryadwaj Brahmin community used to reside in that locality named after our ancestor Lachhu Singh since ancient times. One morning when all were busy, I found the front door open and, possessed by a wandering spirit, strolled out of the house. Shortly, my absence was noted and there was panic at home. Relatives were asked to fan out in all directions and finally, one saw me being carried by a Sardarji. "Hey, that's our Baby", said the relative. I readily went into his arms and Sardarji was convinced I was in known hands. Sardarji said he had picked me up just as a tram was approaching. What if....we won't go there. I am here to tell the tale and many more!

The earliest visit to Delhi I personally recall was in 1948 with Pitaji and Mataji. The latter's younger sister lived in Lachhu Singh Ka Katra and we came to spend some time with her and her family. The high point of that trip was watching the historic Cricket Test Match at Feroz Shah Kotla ground which was not only the first of the series against West Indies but the first in India after independence. West Indies (WI) had a strong batting team with George Headley known as the Black Bradman, and two Ws, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott. (The third W, Frank Worrell, was yet to make his debut!). Headley failed but WI ran up a huge score of 631 with centuries by Walcott, Gomez, Weekes and Christiani. Though India failed to save the follow-on which was then at 150 run lead, they made a decent reply of 454 led by the Army officer, Hemu Adhikari, who scored an unbeaten century, and useful contributions from KC Ibrahim, Rusi Modi and Lala Amarnath. The four contributed in the second innings as well with Adhikari again remaining not out and India played for a draw with 220 for 6. 

Incidentally, I came to know Major Hemu Adhikari when he was an instructor in the National Defence Academy and I was a cadet 1955-58. 

From 1948 to 1955, Delhi was a frequent haunt starting with the first Republic Day Parade on 26 January 1950. There was a small enclosure for kids and I was seated in it. Fond of comics, I had brought one with me and was reading it in the gaps between the marching of contingents. The next day there was a piece in the Hindustan Times saying a kid was more interested in the exploits of Captain Marvel than in the Parade. There was no identification but I am certain the reporter meant me as the item mentioned one kid. I was certainly guilty and didn't see anyone else with a comic. 

In 1953, my School, St. Xavier's, Jaipur, brought our class to Delhi for the Indian Railway Centenary Exhibition. It was indeed fun for me for two specific reasons. Firstly, there was an Entertainment Park with many attractions including a mini train on which I took many rides. Then Coca Cola made its debut in India and I drank about 25 bottles a day at four annas (25 Paise) apiece every day during my stay.

On return to Jaipur, my class teacher, Reverend Father Pinto, asked me to write a piece about the Exhibition for the School magazine. With great enthusiasm, I penned an article extensively covering the Entertainment Park and my love for Coca Cola. I got a real dressing down from Fr. Pinto who wondered if I had even seen the main Exhibition at all. My piece was rejected!

That was the period when I discovered Connaught Place, Wenger's, Marques and co., et al.

1955 saw two important visits to Delhi. The first was in early-January to appear for the UPSC exam for entry into the NDA. Though selected in the written exam as well as Services Selection Board interview,  till mid-July I had not received any intimation, so I came to Delhi for admission to St. Stephen's for BA(Hons) in Economics. The Principal accepted my application and asked me to pay the fee immediately as the academic session had already commenced. I requested for half an hour's time and ran to a public phone booth to try and contact Masarji, Deputy Military Secretary in Army HQ, to check on the NDA status. Miraculously, I got through not once but twice and was told in the second call that my call papers had been sent to Jaipur. Goodbye St. Stephen's, Economics and perhaps Foreign Service, hello NDA and the Navy!

Pitaji, on retiring as Judge, Rajasthan High Court in 1961, was offered a job in the Central Government Finance Ministry and allotted house no.1, Teenmurti Lane, sharing the boundary wall with Prime Minister, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. That is where I met Akhila aka Binno, then a gangly 14-year old, for the first time, when I was on leave in Delhi. She and her family were also in Delhi from Bijnor and Mummy invited them over obviously with future in mind!

Vinnie Mama was posted in NHQ and staying with Pitaji and Mataji as well. The third Cricket test between India and England took place at Feroz Shah 13-18 December and both of us went to see it. In the first innings, India scored 466 with Jaisimha and Manjrekar recording centuries. At the end of the third day, England were 256 for 3 with Barrington on an unbeaten century and Ted Dexter, the England Captain, on 45 not out. 16 December was a break day on which it started raining. It thinned to a mild drizzle overnight and we went to the ground on 17th hoping that play would resume. As we were walking to our seats, we saw a guy with some people gathered around him. We asked him what was happening and he replied, "You know what Dexter said, 'I AM NOT GOING TO PLAY ON THIS GROUND'" apparently imitating Dexter's aristocratic demeanour and accent as if he had heard Dexter first-hand. That became a joke between Vinnie Mama and me and whenever we met, one of us would say, "You know what Dexter said...."

In June 1965, I was picked up by Admiral Chatterji, Commandant National Defence College, as his Flag Lt and moved in with my grandparents. The 1965 India-Pakistan war broke out in September and the authorities dug trenches in the large front lawn of our house. We used to sleep on the lawn and on a couple of occasions when air raid sirens sounded,  I forced my reluctant old grandparents to wake up and climb down into the trenches!

Pitaji's tenure came to an end in December while my cousin Manjula's wedding was scheduled for early-January 1966. Pitaji had to hand over his house but as a staff of NDC, I was entitled to accommodation in Raksha Bhavan on Man Singh Marg. As the NDC was on a break between the old and the new courses, I, a bachelor, got a large 3-bedroom flat allotted and shifted in with my grandparents and pet dog, Lucky. After attending Manjula's wedding, my grandparents left for Jaipur and the flat was obviously too big for me. Shift to a Mess seemed inevitable.

Then I got an idea. The rear of NDC has a big lawn surrounded by wings on either side with a number of rooms which were lying vacant. Lunch is part of the daily routine so the College has a kitchen and catering staff. A residential suite already existed for guest speakers if they wished to stay in the premises. Why not convert some more rooms into residential suites and shift in one of them?

I sought approval of the new Commandant, Air Marshal Rajaram, and he readily agreed. So Lucky and I moved into the new premises and for the rest of the year till my transfer back to the Navy, we were Lords of the magnificent mansion.

Here I must pay a heartfelt tribute to the two Commandants of NDC that I had the privilege and good fortune to serve under, Admiral Chatterji and Air Marshal Rajaram. They were outstanding leaders and exceptionally brilliant officers.

Visits to Delhi in the next five years were few and far between confined to some leave and temporary duty. Whenever I came, Vijji Malhotra, posted in NHQ, and his wife Rita insisted I stay with them in their Defence Colony house. An additional attraction was Vijji's music system comprising of an Akai tape deck and booming hi-fi speakers on which I would pound out Carlos Santana's "Evil Ways" at full volume again and again.

February 1972 and I came to Jaipur on a well-deserved break after the war. Mummy had been invited by her close friend Savitriji to the wedding of her niece, Bharti, with Yogesh Deveshwar in Delhi on 17 February. Mummy suggested we go to Delhi to attend the wedding and I readily agreed. Little did I know what Mummy had in mind. Unknown to me and Akhila, Mummy had conspired with Akhila's father to quietly come to the wedding and take it from there. Well, I saw Akhila, now no more gangly but tall, pretty and graceful, and the rest is history!

These 'yaadein' are more than 50 years old. Afterwards, I had two postings in NHQ and a civilian job after retirement which led to finally settling down in Delhi over 36 years ago, so there is so much more. I'll call that new and relive with just the old for now.

That our daughter, Shumita, is married to Bhartiji and Yogiji's son, Gaurav, is another story!