Howard Armstrong

Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong (born William Howard Taft Armstrong, March 4, 1909 - July 30, 2003), was an African American string band and country blues musician who played fiddle, mandolin, guitar and sang. He was also a notable visual artist and raconteur.

Life

Howard Armstrong was born in Dayton, Tennessee, and grew up in LaFollette. As a young teenager he taught himself to play the fiddle, and joined a band led by Blind Roland Martin and his brother Carl. They toured America performing a wide range of music, from work songs and spirituals through popular Tin Pan Alley tunes and foreign language songs.

In 1929 he recorded with Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell. The following year he recorded in Knoxville for Vocalion Records, with his brother Roland Armstrong and Carl Martin, billed as the Tennessee Chocolate Drops. Adding guitarist Ted Bogan, the band toured as part of a medicine show and backed blues artists like Big Bill Broonzy and Memphis Minnie. They also performed at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. In 1934 Armstrong and Bogan recorded "State Street Rag" and "Ted's Stomp" on the Bluebird label, with Armstrong using the stage name "Louie Bluie" which he had been given by a fan.

Although Armstrong's early recordings were in the style of country rags or blues, this was not his sole repertoire as a performer. According to his sometime accompanist, author Elijah Wald, his early theme song was the Gershwin standard "Lady Be Good", and his group's repertoire included a very wide range of hit songs of the period, including Italian, Polish, Mexican and country songs which he would play to meet the varying demands of his audience [Elijah Wald, "Escaping the Delta : Robert Johnson and the invention of the blues", 2004, ISBN 978-0-06-052427-2] .

After serving in World War II, Armstrong moved to Detroit and worked in the auto industry until 1971. With a revival of interest in oldtime African American music, Martin, Bogan and Armstrong reunited to perform. The band recorded, performed at clubs and festivals and went on a tour of South America sponsored by the U.S. State Department. They played together until Martin's death in 1979.

Armstrong was the subject of two documentaries, "Louie Bluie" and "Sweet Old Song". He continued to perform with a younger generation of musicians, and released his first solo album "Louie Bluie" in 1995, earning him a W.C. Handy Award.

Along with his music, Armstrong was an expert painter, designing album covers for his group and occasionally for other artists, including Elijah Wald. He also made necklaces from beads, pipe cleaners and "found objects." He spoke several languages, and was a masterful performer who could keep an audience entranced with his stories as well as with his music.

He died in Boston, aged 94, following a heart attack.

Film

*"Louie Bluie" (1986). Directed by Terry Zwigoff.
*"Sweet Old Song" (2002). Directed by Leah Mahan.

References

ources

* [http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=1061330040 Biography]
* [http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/sweetoldsong/update.html Obituary]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7740123 Howard Armstrong] at Find-A-Grave