Louis with Tallulah Bankhead, Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis
1950-1951
Appears on the Big Show (a hit radio variety show) with Tallulah Bankhead. Films Glory Alley. Has a hit with “Blueberry Hill.” Records with Louis Jordan and with Sy Oliver.
Appears on the Big Show (a hit radio variety show) with Tallulah Bankhead. Films Glory Alley. Has a hit with “Blueberry Hill.” Records with Louis Jordan and with Sy Oliver.
1952
Tours Canada, Hawaii, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Italy, and North Africa.
Tours Canada, Hawaii, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Italy, and North Africa.
1953
Six-week concert tour with Benny Goodman cut short after Goodman becomes ill. Films The Glen Miller Story. Starts first tour of Japan in late December.
Six-week concert tour with Benny Goodman cut short after Goodman becomes ill. Films The Glen Miller Story. Starts first tour of Japan in late December.
Louis’s own personal copy of his book
1954
Publishes second autobiography Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans, which covers his life up until 1922. Tours Australia. Records Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography for Decca Records. Records Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy for Columbia Records.
Publishes second autobiography Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans, which covers his life up until 1922. Tours Australia. Records Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography for Decca Records. Records Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy for Columbia Records.
Sampling a new dish in Norway
1955
Performs in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Italy. Appears on The Ed Sullivan Show. Records “Mack the Knife” and Satch Plays Fats (an album of compositions by Fats Waller) for Columbia Records.
Performs in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Italy. Appears on The Ed Sullivan Show. Records “Mack the Knife” and Satch Plays Fats (an album of compositions by Fats Waller) for Columbia Records.
The Accra performance
1956
Appears in the motion picture High Society with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. Records with Ella Fitzgerald for Verve Records. Makes a brief visit in May to the Gold Coast (soon to be called Ghana), where he performs for more than 100,000 people at the polo grounds in the capital, Accra. Edward R. Murrow, who has traveled to the Gold Coast with Louis, includes the visit in his documentary Satchmo the Great.
Appears in the motion picture High Society with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. Records with Ella Fitzgerald for Verve Records. Makes a brief visit in May to the Gold Coast (soon to be called Ghana), where he performs for more than 100,000 people at the polo grounds in the capital, Accra. Edward R. Murrow, who has traveled to the Gold Coast with Louis, includes the visit in his documentary Satchmo the Great.
1957
Tours South America and Europe. Speaks out strongly against racial injustice—especially the refusal of Little Rock, Arkansas, to integrate its schools—and cancels his U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Russia in protest. Records second album with Ella Fitzgerald for Verve Records. Records Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography for Decca Records.
Tours South America and Europe. Speaks out strongly against racial injustice—especially the refusal of Little Rock, Arkansas, to integrate its schools—and cancels his U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Russia in protest. Records second album with Ella Fitzgerald for Verve Records. Records Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography for Decca Records.
Dizzy Gillespie, Jackie Gleason, and Louis rehearsing for Timex All-Star Jazz Show
1958
Louis’s appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival is captured in the motion picture Jazz on a Summer’s Day. Appears twice on the Timex Show (NBC television). Films The Five Pennies with Danny Kaye. Films The Beat Generation.
Louis’s appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival is captured in the motion picture Jazz on a Summer’s Day. Appears twice on the Timex Show (NBC television). Films The Five Pennies with Danny Kaye. Films The Beat Generation.
1959
Performs in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. Has heart attack in Spoleto, Italy and is briefly hospitalized. Appears on The Ed Sullivan Show, and the Bing Crosby Oldsmobile Show.