Louis Armstrong's collage(s) of musical knowledge

In 1968, Louis Armstrong received a Papal medal during a personal audience with Pope Paul VI. According to legend, when the pontiff asked whether the guest and his wife, Lucille, had any children, Armstrong answered, "No Daddy, but we're still wailing." While this story is apocryphal, there are other oddball facts about the great artist that are not in doubt. For instance, did you know that Armstrong signed his personal correspondence "Red Beans and Ricely Yours"? Or that he never traveled anywhere without both a coffee tin full of cannabis and a handy pocket stash of Swiss Kriss herbal laxatives (which, supposedly, he once raved about to the Queen of England). Or that he liked to relax during down time by penning pornographic short stories?

Well another lesser-known fact about Armstrong is that, along with the medicinal supplements stowed in his carry-on, he toted reel-to-reel recording decks with him everywhere. With them he committed to tape concerts, conversations, his own playing and talking, audio flotsam from the Satchmo Universe. Even more impressive, Armstrong adorned the audio tape boxes with alluring and vivid Romare Bearden–esque collages layering photos, news clippings, concert programs, handwritten captions and other graphic elements. Armed with scotch tape and scissors, Armstrong spent countless hours entertaining himself, squirreled away in the den of his home in Corona, Queens, making visual music. Here is a sampling of the maestro's handiwork:

More than a thousand such collages reside in the Louis Armstrong Archives, which are housed at Queens College in Flushing, New York. For more details on Louis Armstrong's remarkable forays into the graphic arts, see the article in the Spring 2008 issue of The Paris Review. For a copy of Satchmo's recipe for Red Beans and Rice (with a Swiss Kriss chaser), go here.

Comments

[Fatherflot]

Thanks for this post. I first became aware of Louis' unexpected talents as a VISUAL modernist last summer when I bought a book called "Louis Armstrong: The Offstage Story of Satchmo," by Michael Cogswell, which includes pages and pages of excellent color reproductions of these tape-box collages. This book, which is an official publication of the Louis Armstrong House & Archives is an absolute treasure.

[miss v]

I visited his former home in Corona Qns. recently and it was
Fabu!

[barthatronic]

"He was

And it was like "Inhale to the chief"
Got slappy and he still does
Life is one endless boogie, you know
from town to town
From battle to battle
Says "Wake me when you Seattle"

You couldn't meet a nicer guy
With nobody ever looking for him

He once slept
All the way
From Alberquerqe to Ohio

The motherfucker could sleep

And smoke"

From fellow musician and collage artist Robert E. Pollard Jr.'s song "The Louis Armstrong Of Rock and Roll".

[Steven Brower]

Great to see this posted. The images here as well as the ones in the Paris Review are from my upcoming book "Satchmo: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong" due out in spring '09 from Harry N. Abrams publishers. It will contain over 200 collages, letters, photos, etc.
For the record there's not quite 1000 Armstrong collages at the archives, the number is closer to 500.

Steven Brower