“Hallo Satchmo!”: 60th Anniversary Celebration of Louis Armstrong’s 1965 Tour of Prague

60 years ago this week, Louis Armstrong performed behind the Iron Curtain for the first time, opening a concert run at Lucerna Hall in Prague, located in what was then known as Czechoslovakia. Radio Prague International has already kicked off the 60th anniversary celebration with this terrific piece, which we urge you to check out. Though Armstrong was only in Prague for about a week, our Archives are rich with artifacts from this tour, with enough material for at least one post–maybe more.

To set the scene, there had been rumors that Armstrong would perform in Russia since the 1950s, with one potential tour scuttled after Armstrong criticized President Eisenhower and the United States government for the way they handled the Little Rock high school integration crisis. By March 1965, Joe Glaser, the trumpeter’s manager, had already secured bookings in Prague, East Berlin, Bucharest, Romania, and other Iron Curtain countries and it appeared he would finally be able to add Russia to the list–but Russia declined, as reported in a small AP news story from March 8:

Meanwhile, Armstrong and the All Stars stopped off in Denmark on their way to Prague–where they watched coverage of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama. The televised images from the Edmund Pettus Bridge made Armstrong “sick.” He was unable to mask his feelings when he greeted Danish reporters the next day, even surprising his with Lucille with his unguarded feelings:

Perhaps Armstrong’s outburst was the cause of something All Stars bassist Arvell Shaw told Phil Schaap in 1980: on their opening night in Prague, no one from the American Embassy showed up. Here’s Arvell:

(Note: The above audio comes from a cassette copy in our Jack Bradley Collection but please note that full interview–and hundreds, if not thousands of others–is available to listen to online as part of Vanderbilt’s Phil Schaap Jazz Collection! Listen to the full interview with Arvell HERE.)

Joining Shaw in the All Stars were clarinetist Eddie Shu, pianist Billy Kyle, drummer Danny Barcelona, vocalist Jewel Brown, and on trombone, a brand new addition to the group, Tyree Glenn. How new was Glenn? Programs were printed up for Armstrong’s run at Lucerna Hall with Russell “Big Chief” Moore still in the trombone chair. Moore was tired of traveling and left the All Stars in late February, just before the Iron Curtain tour commenced.

Though written in Czech, it’s still worth sharing the concert program as it was saved by Louis Armstrong himself:

Also found in our Archives is a 16mm canister of film called Hallo, Satchmo containing footage of Armstrong’s time in Prague. Though we had it digitized, a much sharper version appeared on YouTube a few years back. It is not able to be shared on other websites, but we strongly recommend clicking this link to watch it on YouTube!

Another slightly longer film of Armstrong’s Czechoslovakian tour also exists, complete with different footage of the All Stars performing after hours in a night club (with Eddie Shu playing tenor saxophone!). That video is online thanks to our loyal reader, Michael Steinman–enjoy!

In the above videos, Armstrong and the All Stars attend a performance by locals Jiří Jelínek and Eva Pilarová, who do their own interpretation of “Hello, Dolly!” It must have made an impression on pianist Billy Kyle, who mentioned it, along with the “tremendous reception” the band was receiving in Prague, in a postcard to Jack Bradley and Jeann Failows:

On the subject of postcards, Louis saved two from his time in Prague. The first came from a local fan, Jarmila Psenickova, who was unable to secure a ticket to any of Armstrong’s concerts. However, she still praised him, opening by stating, “I am very glad that you have unified our country.”

Armstrong also saved this postcard, dated March 14, 1965, featuring an image of a man selling Armstrong postcards in Czechoslovakia!

The back reads, “For the unforgettable March days in Prague. Sincerely, V. Holeler.”

Two days later, Armstrong received a signed photograph and note from the “Prague Dixieland Band,” which he added to one of his scrapbooks:

On the next page of that same scrapbook is an image of Louis signing autographs that also feels like it’s from Prague (we’ll have others like it in a second part):

And speaking of scrapbooks, someone named Fran Geldner compiled an entire scrapbook of photographs of Armstrong in Prague and gave it to the trumpeter as a gift–here it is, in full! The first page is a local site–I’m sure someone out there can tell us what it is so please leave a comment.

A nice shot from behind Billy Kyle of Louis and Tyree Glenn in action at Lucerna Hall:

A great action shot of the All Stars: Tyree Glenn, Louis, Jewel Brown, Danny Barcelona, Eddie Shu, and Arvell Shaw:

The lighting is particularly striking in this photo of Louis and Lucille:

A seemingly apprehensive Louis, taking it all in:

From the aforementioned nightclub session, Louis seems unimpressed, while Tyree Glenn and Danny Barcelona look on:

Another shot from the jam session, as Louis asks for applause for Billy Kyle as Tyree Glenn gets ready to blow:

Louis enjoys a bit of a mugging from Tyree Glenn in this next image. Being that this was Glenn’s first tour with the band, he must have made a good impression pretty quickly as he became an integral part of the act in Louis’s final years:

The next two photos are of Louis taking a smoke break in the middle of a number:

Press conference in Prague:

Laughin’ Louie:

A beautiful photo of Louis taking an encore bow after a triumphant performance in Lucerna Hall (full disclosure, I selected this photo to appear in my first book, What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years):

An appreciative Louis, waving and receiving flowers after another concert:

Louis and Lucille enjoying the local entertainers. Notice in the background, All Stars Billy Kyle, Danny Barcelona, Eddie Shu, and Arvell Shaw are huddled together while in the back, sitting by himself, is road manager Pierre “Frenchy” Tallerie:

An unknown woman, holding a copy of the concert program–could it be Fran Geldner?

While putting together this post, we stumbled across a wonderful five-minute conversation between Armstrong and a local reporter in Prague. Louis is very energetic here and clearly touched by the reception he received there (though don’t miss the line about enjoying his relationship with Lucille “sexly”!):

There’s only one way to end this post–with some music! In Louis and Lucille Armstrong’s collection is one small reel-to-reel tape with recordings from Lucerna Hall. We’ve left a small watermarked beep throughout to protect unauthorized, commercial reproduction, but we still feel it’s worth sharing some of the sounds from this historic tour.

Here’s Side 1, containing “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” “The Bucket’s Got a Hole In It,” “Pennies from Heaven,” “Hello, Dolly!,” “Royal Garden Blues,” and “When the Saints Go Marching In”:

And Side 2, featuring “The Faithful Hussar,” “Black and Blue,” “Mack the Knife,” “Blueberry Hill,” “Mop Mop,” “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” band introductions, and a closing “Hello, Dolly!”

Some of our readers might be familiar with an LP that came out in 1979 of music from one of the Lucerna Hall concerts. That came out due to the efforts of Ivan Englich, who befriended Lucille Armstrong in her widowhood–and who sent her over 60 photographs he took of Louis and Lucille in Prague in 1965. We’ll have those photos and more next time!