“The Greatest Photo Taker”: Remembering Jack Bradley Part 40–Disney Songs Rehearsal and Session February 1968

Welcome to part 40 in our ongoing series chronicling the friendship between Louis Armstrong and Jack Bradley. Our last post was spent at Nola Rehearsal Studios in Manhattan in mid-February 1968 as Louis and the All Stars prepared to record what turned out to a pretty forgettable pair of songs for Kapp Records. Today’s post will take us back to Nola and into the recording studio but this time the results would be part of a much more memorable album: Disney Songs the Satchmo Way.

The album was a no-brainer in many way as both Louis Armstrong and Walt Disney were 20th century American icons. There was also a relationship built in as Armstrong had performed at “Dixieland at Disneyland” for several years and even appeared in a short film, Disneyland After Dark, in 1961. By 1968, Armstrong had at least tentatively agreed to portray “Satchmo the Cat” in the upcoming film The Aristocats as it was announced in the liner notes of his eventual Disney album (alas, that role didn’t come to pass).

The driving force behind Disney Songs the Satchmo Way was Salvador “Tutti” Camarata, a trumpeter, arranger, and producer who legitimately loved Louis. They first worked together on an unforgettable Decca session from October 22, 1953 which paired Armstrong with Camarata and drummer Ed Grady’s powerhouse studio group The Commanders. Camarata wrote the arrangements, which included a high octane remake of “Someday You’ll Be Sorry,” Armstrong’s first definitive recording of “The Gypsy,” the charming “I Can’t Afford to Miss This Dream,” and oh yes, two songs that were ubiquitous in recent months, “Zat You Santa Claus?” and “Cool Yule.”

Camarata went on to co-found Disneyland Records, recording the album Tutti’s Trumpets in 1957. On the simply titled “Louis,” Camarata had trumpeter Mannie Klein channel Armstrong on his beautiful, Satchmo-inspired melody:

Flash forward to 1968 and Camarata was still working with Disneyland Records, which had now spawned Buena Vista Records. On February 19, it was announced that “The Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book was nominated for an Academy Award. Almost immediately, Camarata showed up in New York and Armstrong records that song and two other songs from Disney’s upcoming film, “The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band” on February 27. Thus, it appears the initial idea was to give Buena Vista a couple of quick singles–more info on their release to come later–and the results were so successful, Camarata and Buena Vista expanded the concept into a full-length LP.

But for today, it’s February 1968 and we’re again opening in Armstrong’s home away from home during this period, Nola Rehearsal Studios on W. 57th Street. Once again, Jack Bradley would be in attendance at each venue, alongside longtime girlfriend Jeann “Roni” Failows. The roll of film featuring Bradley’s rehearsal photos opens with a shot he took of Failows at their apartment, with Jack’s reflection appearing in a mirror:

The very next images on that roll of film are these shots of Pops at an unusual angle–was Jack on the ground? Something different, but striking nonetheless!

This next photo is a bit blurry and the negative is clearly dirty but it’s still worth sharing as Louis looks like he’s in the middle of saying something funny, cracking up Tutti Camarata in the background:

Setting the scene, Jack grabbed this photo of trombonist Tyree Glenn looking natty in a French beret:

And here’s Camarata with an unidentified man–if anyone knows who it is, please let us know:

Louis kept his jacket on and started warming up, as seen in these next few images:

But then the jacket came off and Louis to go work, with Camarata by his side and bassist Buddy Catlett in the background:

There’s pianist Marty Napoleon back there, as well as another glimpse of Bradley in the mirror:

This next photo provides a mystery as if you look in the reflection, you’ll notice arranger and conductor Dick Jacobs back there! Jacobs had nothing to do with the Disney album, which was arranged by Maxwell Davis. Davis, who was based in Los Angeles, doesn’t appear in any of Bradley’s photos so perhaps Jacobs was hired to help rehearse the band since he had become so familiar with them in recent months. Another possibility is Armstrong booked the rehearsal time for a variety of projects; this might have been before the February 20 Kapp date, which Jacobs arranged, and was definitely before Jacobs’s next Brunswick date with Louis on March 26, so it’s possible Louis wanted to familiarize himself with some of those songs, too. Either way, Jacobs was present–here’s the photo:

We back up a bit to add clarinetist Joe Muranyi to the mix:

Looks like Jack moved into the hallway for this one:

Here’s Tyree in his beret again:

But now the main event, from a photo standpoint. Louis was obviously in good spirits so Jack positioned himself fairly close to him and started snapping away. The results are some of my personal favorites of the thousands of images Bradley took of Armstrong over the years–enjoy!

After that joyous image, Louis stood up and continued spreading cheer:

That concluded the rehearsal photos but on February 27, the band would congregate in the recording studio for the first Disney Songs the Satchmo Way session, waxing three tunes, “Bout Time,” “The Bare Necessities,” and “Ten Feet Off the Ground.” Bradley would continuously jot down notes and thankfully saved all of them; in the following sample, he doesn’t give us the studio name or time but he does give “Bout Time” five stars, jots down the contact information of some Disney reps in Burbank and New York, notes that Louis will be back in town on March 17 and will record for Brunswick, lists a few of Armstrong’s upcoming performance dates, including a two-week run at the Latin Quarter (subject of a future post), makes mention of a new King Oliver LP on E.M.I., and more:

Jack didn’t take many photos at the session, perhaps conserving film, but the ones he took are very strong. Here’s a few of Armstrong and Camarata:

A bit blurry, but still nice to see them in action:

Tyree Glenn relaxes, while Armstrong and Camarata remain at the microphone:

A few nice shots of Louis alone:

And we don’t know who took these, but you can’t blame Jack and Jeann for wanting to get in on the action!

And since we like to share the audio of these sessions, here are the three songs recorded that day, opening with “The Bare Necessities,” which the All Stars soon added to their live repertoire:

And here are the two songs from The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, beginning with “Ten Feet Off the Ground”:

And finally “‘Bout ‘Time”:

And now a little lagniappe, as they say in New Orleans: Louis’s part on “Ten Feet Off the Ground”! You’ll see Louis’s handwriting all over it, drawing arrows to follow the chart, highlighting the word “bout” each time, writing “TRMPT” during the solo spot on page 2 (he ignores the written line and plays something completely original and swinging), and finally writing “NUFF SED” on the last page (probably a reminder of pronunciation instead of the potentially confusing “nough” as written on the chart)–here ’tis:

Buena Vista released the single of “The Bare Necessities”–backed by Camarata’s 1957 recording of “Louis” in late March. Cash Box named it one of their “Picks of the Week” on March 30, writing, “Happy time banjo-and-brass arrangement of the Academy Award nominee from ‘The Jungle Book’ brings Louis Armstrong to the fore once more. Upcoming exposure in light of the Oscar presentation, and the giddy effervescence of the track itself could put the Armstrong moniker back on the pop best seller lists.” Armstrong indeed went on to perform it at the 40th Academy Awards Ceremony on April 10, 1968. Sadly, the Oscar’s YouTube channel hasn’t uploaded that performance but maybe it’s for the best as Bradley took notes that an overzealous dancer in a bear costume got a little rough onstage and bumped into a wobbly Louis. However, we do have the audio–enjoy!

As mentioned, “‘Bout Time” and “Ten Feet Off the Ground” were from Disney’s latest film, The One and Only Genuine, Original Family Band, which was initially released on March 21, 1968. Buena Vista released that single in June and the result was another of Cash Box’s “Picks of the Week.” “Getting out of his ‘Mame’ stereotype role, Louis Armstrong returns to a solid Dixieland rendition of this tempting track from the Sherman brothers’ score to ‘The One & Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.’ Cute backing and the unique charm of Armstrong’s one-and-only vocal work should make this side a favorite with spinners from top forty to over forty formats.”

Unfortunately, that’s all we have for what eventually became Disney Songs the Satchmo Way. Camarata would go on to record seven more selections on May 16 and 17, dates done in Hollywood at Camarata’s Sunset Sound Recorders with Maxwell Davis, an orchestra, and choir present–but Jack Bradley absent. Still, check out the LP/CD/stream if you have a chance as it’s a late-period Armstrong gem.

Going backwards, soon after the February 27 date, Armstrong and the All Stars embarked on a two-week tour of Mexico. Jack Bradley was on Louis’s mind, resulting in this short, but humorous postcard Louis sent him of some Can-Can dancers from Mexico City on March 5:

Jack and Jeann “Roni” Failows responded by sending flowers to the Armstrongs in Mexico, receiving this telegram from Lucille in return (assuming, like many others, that Jack and Jeann were married):

As noted in Bradley’s handwritten notes above, the Armstrongs would return to New York on March 17 and Louis would have to start rehearsing for a Brunswick date taking place on March 26. Bradley would be at both the rehearsal and the session and we’ll have those photos–and sounds–in our next installment of this series. 40 down, many more to go!