Louis to lead the Colored Waif's Home band. This is when Louis began to come into his own as a performer. His personality was born, he wasn't just a musician, he was a true entertainer. “I remember Louis used to walk funny with his feet pointing out and at the first not of music he would break into comedy," Davis said. (Bergreen P. 77) Louis was only around twelve at this time and it was foreshadowing of Louis as an entertainer down the road. Up until Louis' release he was leader of the band and led them through many picnics and parades. He left the home at age fourteen and for all practical reasons his childhood was over. Louis Armstrong's next three years would be the wildest and most traumatic of his life. He returned to the old neighborhood living amongst chaos of gambling, pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. He was released to the custody of his father, surprisingly. Even though Willie worked real hard for his son's release, he had no more use form him then he did at Louis' birth. Between the ages of 14 and 17 Louis spent most of the time hauling coal on a horse drawn carriage, not once picking up the instrument he fell in love with at the Waif Home. After his father asked him to leave due to the birth of another child, Willie Armstrong figured he couldn't feed four mouths so he asked Louis to leave. He moved back in with his mother and started playing music again. He played back in the old neighborhood dance halls and saloons that were run by gangsters. Then in 1917 prostitution in Storyville was outlawed. People left and Storyville became a ghost town. "For Louis Armstrong, the closing of Storyville meant more than a bawdy diversion it was the end of a way of life on which he had relied since he was a child." (Bergreen p. 110) He hooked up with bandleader Edward (kid) Ory, and started playing in New Orleans Country Clubs, expensive restaurants, and even at private parties in the homes of wealthy whites. Louis loved play...
