Upward and onward we go with our examination of the tapes Louis Armstrong cataloged in the last two years of his life. Last week, we had a number of reels made at the start of 1970, but all five this week are from the 1950s, spanning 1952-1960 with material spanning Reno, Detroit, Santiago, Chile, WashingtonContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 31-35”
After today, we will have tackled the first 40 tapes Louis Armstrong cataloged in the last two years of his life. For those who would like to catch up, here are links to Reels 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30 and 31-35. All five of today’s tapes contain a hodge-podge of material originally recorded inContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 36-40”
I finished the last installment in this series with a promise to return with more “next Friday” but personally, I’m having so much fun digging through these tapes that I immediately started working on this piece and have it ready to publish today instead. Why wait–let’s dig in! Reel 41Accession Number 1987.3.340 Reel 41 picksContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 41-45”
With today’s post, we will have covered 50 of the 200 or so tapes Louis Armstrong cataloged in the last two years of his life. We fully plan to reach the finish line but there’ll be a small break as we put the finishing touches on an epic Virtual Exhibit about Louis Armstrong’s relationship withContinue reading “Louis Armstrong’s 1969-1971 Tapes: Reels 46-50”
Last week, we promised a long post to scratch the surface of the gigantic topic of Louis Armstrong and Comedy. After assembling it, it was so long that frankly, we weren’t sure how many readers were going to be able to get to the end of it, especially in one shot. Thus, we will beContinue reading “Louis Armstrong and Comedy Part 1: Early Influences Bert Williams and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson”
Last week, we kicked off our multi-part examination of Louis Armstrong and comedy with an in-depth look at Armstrong’s two earliest and greatest comedic influences, Bert Williams and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Armstrong saw Robinson at the Erlanger (still named the Palace) in Chicago in late 1922 and had his life changed right then and there.Continue reading “Louis Armstrong and Comedy Part 2: “Always a Showman!” 1922-1933″
On October 27, 1960, the United Press International reported, “The United Nations Command cracked down Wednesday on unruly troops of Congolese strongman Col. Joseph Mobutu. It ordered the soldiers who have been rampaging through Leopoldville to get out of the capital and back to their barracks by today.” The report added that these soldiers “haveContinue reading ““Satchmo Charms Congo Cats”: Louis Armstrong and Leopoldville, 60 Years Later”
After a brief hiatus for the election and to celebrate the anniversary of Louis Armstrong’s trip to the Congo, we’re back with part three of our extended look at Louis Armstrong and Comedy. In Part 1, we examined Armstrong’s earliest and greatest influences, Bert Williams and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and in Part 2, we demonstratedContinue reading “Louis Armstrong and Comedy Part 3: “A Solid Man For Comedy”–Films of the 1930s and Early 40s”
Louis Armstrong remains one of the most photographed figures of the 20th century. But one single image seems to stand above the rest: Louis and the Great Sphinx of Giza. The image pops all up all the time on the internet, including a beautiful colorized version by Jordan Lloyd of Dynamichrome. But image raises moreContinue reading ““Dig Us”: 60 Years of Louis Armstrong at the Sphinx”
