Whoa there, big guy. Recall these details. Let's take each of your examples, in turn. Mister Armstrong was not always revered in his middle age, even in his own hometown (New Orleans), and sadly, he vowed never to return there.
Mister Sinatra was labeled as a "big band- boy singer" in an era without big bands! For a moment, he was a non-entity. If I recall (sorry, a familiar refrain for me lately), he started up his own label in part because no one wanted him. He re-cast himself as a recording artist / nightclub singer / actor (rather than a big band singer). (I) don't know much about Ms. Fitzgerald, but like all Americans of African descent, she had way more than her share of hard knocks. I think Garland died before middle age, before her star faded. Nat "King" Cole was a jazz instrumentalist in his youth who broke out as a vocalist in his middle years, so he's a special case. You didn't mention Duke Ellington but he basically had the last of the great dance bands because he was willing to play for anyone, anywhere. We're talking county fairs as venues. I'm not saying it's all rosy for Joni but she hasn't been booted from her label as Johnny Cash was. It's never been easy to have a long career. Bob Murphy wondered, >>Who gave Satchmo or Sinatra or Ella or Judy Garland or Nat King Cole or any of the legends of that era the right to be great and to express themselves after the first gray hairs started sprouting? Lama
