Search - Louis Armstrong :: 1935-1942

The great man sings and plays.

Eric V. Moye | New York, by way of Dallas | 02/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A splendid compilation of some of Louis Armstrong's earlier work. The great thing about almost any Armstrong collection is that it will have a few songs that are well known (either by performances of Louis or another individual) and a few new discoveries. Happily, this is no different.This disc has some delightful singing on standards like "I'm in the Mood for Love", and "Sunny Side of the Street". Of course, it would not be Pops without some equally wonderful trumpet work, particularly on "Love Walked In", "Red Sails in the Sunset" and "On Treasure Island". There is one absolutely fabulous duet with Frances Langford and Bing Crosby (would that make this a "tri-et"?) on "Pennies from Heaven".This is some of Armstrong's best work from a time when his horn was sounding as sweet as it ever did.The recording, lamentably is not the best, but given that these recordings are more than sixty years old, that is a minor problem."