Musical Legends of the 1930s and Their Legacy

Introduction

The 1930s were home to classic Jazz and Blues music and where a lot of inspirational musicians were born like ​Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Buddy Rich. During this time was a great depression and lots of artists tried to make upbeat music called “Swing”, ​Jukeboxes​ were also invented to give an inexpensive form of musical entertainment they were usually found in nightclubs and bars. When people couldn't pay for records of their own Jukeboxes really helped them listen to music.

Billie Holiday: A Tragic Journey of Musical Brilliance

​Billie Holiday​ was one of the greatest ​jazz​ vocalists of her century, with an inspiring and sad background she was extremely successful. ​Eleanora Fagan​ was born on April 7th, 1915, when she was born her mom was only 13 (​Sadie Fagan​) and her father was 15 (​Clarence Holiday​) ​Eleanora​ used to run errands for prostitutes, and for doing so her dad let her listen to his records with ​Louis Armstrong ​and ​Bessie Smith. He was a Guitarist in ​Fletcher Henderson's band and ​Eleanora​ got the name ​Billie Holiday from her favorite actress ​Billie Dove. As she grew older she dealt with a lot of arrests for Narcotics violations and drug and alcohol abuse she soon became an addict and divorced one of her husbands. In the 1950s alcohol and marijuana were engraved inside of her and her voice started becoming very deep and would crack sometimes while she performed. She sadly died on May 25th in 1959 because of Heart Failure. Some of her songs that I really enjoyed are “God Bless the Child”, “Blue Moon” and “Carelessly”.

Louis Armstrong: The Iconic Trumpet Virtuoso

Another famous musician is ​Louis Armstrong, he is a man of African descent and was born and raised in New Orleans. As a black man living in the 1930s and to be as successful as he was is truly incredible. He was in a lot of popular bands but before he played it solo in cabarets and already had a name for himself as the “world's greatest trumpet player”! He later joins a group called ​The Hot Five​ with his second wife as the pianist, during the years 1925 to 1928 he was recognized as the father of ​jazz, when he later left the group he already had a lot of followers so it wasn't hard to draw attention to his solo music. Like every other artist, he went through a lot of hard days like bookings and record sales declining, his second wife divorcing, and getting arrested in ​California for smoking marijuana. Thankfully, in the end, he gained a lot of support from not only black people but white people also had more respect for black people, ​Armstrong​ is strongly known especially by a lot of ​jazz​ musicians now for inspiring and making such a huge impact on modern music and for raising the moods of everyone with his happiness and energy he brought to his music. Songs that I fell in love with are “Hello Dolly?”, “Blueberry Hill”, and “What a Wonderful World.” (Armstrong)

Buddy Rich: The Unparalleled Drumming Dynamo

One of the most dynamic and brilliant drummers of the 1930s was a guy named ​Buddy Rich. ​Many people described him as having “the fastest hands in the world!”. He is claimed to be a self-taught drummer and says he has never had lessons or even practiced playing the drums. He was born in Brooklyn and at only 18 months he debuted with his family with a suit on and tiny drums, by the time he was 15 he was making 1000$ a week and soon joined a band with ​Joe Marsala. From 1939 to 1942 he played with ​Tommy Dorsey​ and joined the Marine Corps and served as a judo instructor and rifleman. After several years of touring the country with big-name bands in April of 1974, his doctors warned him to slow down and stop the hectic schedule he lived by, so he broke up the band he was in at the time and opened a nightclub instead called Buddy’s Place. More than a decade later he had surgery on March 16th which fun fact is my birthday and later died on April 20th, 1987 in UCLA Medical Center, The cause was a brain tumor. His most popular songs that I like are “Birdland”, “Nutville”, and “Love for Sale”. (Buddy)

Conclusion

The 1930s was really the century of music with major artists and classics in jazz and blues music. So let's not forget Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Buddy Rich although they are long gone they will always have a great impact on modern music.