Jan 26 2008
Louis Armsrong, Johnny Cash: Blue Yodel No. 9
I have found a number of clips of Lois Armstrong that I would like to share, not surprisingly. This one is of an appearance on the Johnny Cash TV show in October of 1970, just eight months before Armstrong’s death of a heart attack in July of 1971. In this clip Satch and Johnny perform a song that Louis originally recorded, as a featured instrumentalist, with Jimmy Rodgers in 1930.
During his lifetime Louis Armstrong was sometime looked at as undignified, catering to the racism in American society. Later I will show you a clip of him in “African” costume. I think that those criticisms are off base. Here he is on an all white country music program, 21 months after Martin Luther King’s assassination, in the second year of Nixon’s first term as President. Louis makes a joke in the gentlest most upbeat way, about the Racial tensions griping the country. Armstrong acts as though he expects to be judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin, and he is, here, accepted on those terms.
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I know it is considered corny by most to be a Johnny Cash fan but I have always loved his music. And, of course, Louis Armstrong is a legend that I believe everyone loves.
I had not seen this clip before. I did not ealize that Armstrong had gotten so thin.
Great share!!
Thank you.
~Jackie
Corny? No way! Johnny be the man, yo.
I wish that shows were like this now. The Johnny Cash show was one of my favorites.
Thank you for sharing this. This is classic.
The greats are all leaving us, does that mean we are getting old?
Kyle