Billie Holiday & Louis Armstrong – New Orleans, by Arthur Lubin, with Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Zutty Singleton, Barney Bigard, Kid Ory, Bud Scott, Red Callender & Charlie Beal.
The song
“Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans“Music by Louis Alter, lyrics by Eddie Delange.
The film
New Orleans is a 1947 American musical romance film featuring Billie Holiday as a singing maid and Louis Armstrong as a bandleader; supporting players Holiday and Armstrong perform together and portray a couple becoming romantically involved. During one song, Armstrong’s character introduces the members of his band, a virtual Who’s Who of classic jazz greats, including trombonist Kid Ory, drummer Zutty Singleton, clarinetist Barney Bigard, guitar player Bud Scott, bassist George “Red” Callender, pianist Charlie Beal, and pianist Meade Lux Lewis. Also performing in the film is cornetist Mutt Carey and bandleader Woody Herman.
The music, however, takes a back seat to a rather conventional plot. The movie stars Arturo de Córdova and Dorothy Patrick, features Marjorie Lord, and was directed by Arthur Lubin.
The music
Although most of the music created for New Orleans was truncated in the film’s release version, a soundtrack issued in 1983 made the full versions of the songs available, with additional music cut from the final release. Songs include, “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans” a song written by Eddie DeLange and Louis Alter, which was first heard in the movie New Orleans in 1947, where it was performed by Louis Armstrong and sung by Billie Holiday.
“Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans” lyrics
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
And miss it each night and day
I know I’m not wrong, the feeling’s getting stronger
The longer I stay awayMiss the moss-covered vines, tall sugar pines
Where mockingbirds used to sing
I’d love to see that old lazy Mississippi
Hurrying into SpringThe moonlight on the bayou
A Creole tune that fills the air
I dream about magnolias in bloom
And I’m wishin’ I…
