“The Greatest Photo Taker”: Remembering Jack Bradley Part 38–Mitch Miller Session and Waldorf Christmas Benefit

In our previous post, Louis Armstrong found himself in the recording studio, struggling mightily–and eventually succeeding–to sing four songs in Italian on December 11 and 12, 1967. He’d be back in the studio on December 18 for what turned out to be a much more relaxing experience, though the results were arguably heard by less people than the Italian sides.

After spending much of the year recording for Brunswick and ABC-Paramount, it was now United Artists’s turn to pay Joe Glaser the exorbitant fee he charged to record Louis. They must have figured the gamble would be worth it because they were about to once again try to follow the “Hello, Dolly!” playbook to fame and fortune.

This time the production would be Here’s Where I Belong, a show based on John Steinbeck’s East of Eden with a book by Alex Gordon and Terrance McNally, music by Robert Waldman, and lyrics by Alfred Uhry. The show was due to open on Broadway on February 20 and the buzz was already spreading; Columbia had the Ray Conniff Singers record “We’re a Home” from the score in late 1967 and now United Artists wanted to tap into the old Armstrong magic.

The A&R man for the date would be none other than Mitch Miller, a few years removed from his duties as host of the television program Sing Along With Mitch, not to mention the popular series of albums under the same name. In the 1950s, Miller was the head of Columbia’s singles division; though Armstrong’s Columbia albums of that period were overseen by George Avakian, Miller was present the night Armstrong recorded what would be a hit single of “Mack the Knife” in 1955. Jack Bradley wasn’t on the scene at that time, but he did collect a photo of Armstrong and Miller at that earlier date:

And here they are, still going over sheet music 12 years later!

Mitch Miller still had a long way to go before he passed away in 2010. Armstrong, on the other hand, had an up-and-down year and was slowing down, something that he couldn’t hide in some of photos Jack Bradley took at the December 18 date:

Even when Jack asked for a photo, Louis still looked tired, managing a small smile:

When he tried a bigger smile, he still couldn’t hide his tiredness; as far as I know, Jack never made prints of either of these images:

Eventually Bradley was replaced by a woman I originally thought might have been Nancy Miller Elliott based on the camera around her neck, but I believe I found a note Jack made that it’s actually Lenore Avin, Dan Morgenstern’s wife at the time. Louis has his glasses on and still looks a little subdued at first.

But asked to pose with a beautiful young woman, Louis turned on the charm and sprung to life:

Bradley also got this nice photo of bandboy Bobby Buster and an unidentified man:

Before we really get rolling, here’s a short handwritten Jack Bradley note which gives us the date, time, and location–Bell Sound Studios on W. 72nd Street:

Bradley was always good at getting a shot or two of the studio in action; in these next images, you can see Buddy Catlett on bass, Marty Napoleon on piano, Everett Barksdale, Wally Richardson, and Art Ryerson on guitars, Clark Terry on trumpet, Tyree Glenn on trombone, and Joe Muranyi on clarinet. I’m assuming the man standing is Norman Leydon, who wrote the date’s arrangements:

Here’s Mitch Miller and Louis taking their positions:

Mitch digging Pops’s blowing:

Jack moved a little closer and got a series of great images of Louis and Mitch working together:

Bradley then switched film and got lower and closer for these excellent images:

Finally, Bradley got these two beautiful photos of Miller and Armstrong radiating love and respect for each other:

Speaking to me decades later, both Bradley and Joe Muranyi related fond memories of this particular date, each man still moved by how Miller worked with Armstrong, how sensitive he was towards him, and the respect he clearly felt for Pops. Muranyi felt the same way at the time; he spent New Year’s Day at a private dinner with the Armstrongs and a small circle of friends at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. Armstrong played one of the tunes Miller produced, “No Time (Is a Good Good-Bye Time)” as well as the recent Brunswick recording of “Willkommen.” The buzz was strong behind both numbers and Louis was about to add them to the All Stars’s repertoire and even perform them on national TV. But here’s a brief bit from Muranyi’s audio diary from that time in which he mentions that both he and Armstrong commented on “how well Mitch Miller handled that record date”:

After all these photos and all this praise, you might be curious about the music recorded that day. Again, the two songs selected from the score of the show were “No Time (Is a Good Good-Bye Time)” and “We’re a Home.” Neither song is streaming, neither song has ever been released on CD, and the only trace on the internet is this YouTube video of someone spinning a Promotional Copy of the original 45:

I think it’s a very fine record! It has that twangy 1960s bouncing two-beat feel that mars some of Louis’s later efforts, but Pops sounds very lively on both sides–the tiredness in some of the above photos disappeared when he got to the microphone–and he plays some more of that excellent late 1967 trumpet. So why is the record so unknown?

We’ve withheld sharing the Wikipedia entry for Here’s Where I Belong to this point, but if you’d like to read more, click here. In a nutshell, the production was a disaster. When the opening was moved from February 20 to March 3, Terrance McNally asked that his name be removed from the credits. And after it opened? It closed after one performance! In his New York Times review the next day, Clive Barnes wrote, “The most distinguished aspect of ‘Here’s Where I Belong,’ the new musical that opened at the Billy Rose Theater last night, is the scenery by Ming Cho Lee. But no one ever walked out of a theater humming the scenery.”

United Artists gambled and lost and Armstrong’s recording remains one of his most obscure efforts, though he did his part to spread it. Contemporary reviews show that the All Stars were playing “No Time (Is a Good Good-Bye Time)” in early 1968 and they even did it on an episode of The Hollywood Palace that aired on February 24, 1968, just before Here’s Where I Belong opened and closed. It soon disappeared from the All Stars act.

Moving back to December, Armstrong left Bell Sound Studios on December 18 and would go right back to work the following day, performing with the All Stars at the International Radio and Television Society’s Christmas Benefit at the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria. Jack Bradley would be present again and even saved a “General Outline For Days Activities”:

As can be glimpsed above, the other major acts on the bill were the Ray Charles Singers, pictured here:

And Patti Page (speaking of Mitch Miller, he was the one who produced Page’s “How Much is That Doggie in the Window” way back when):

Finally it was time for Page and the other emcees to bring on Armstrong as closer:

Pops!

Here’s Armstrong, joined by Joe Muranyi and Tyree Glenn in front of the curtain:

The curtain parts and the All Stars swing into action:

According to the schedule, the All Stars only did a 45 minute set, which, of course, was going to include “Hello, Dolly!”–here’s Armstrong and Glenn dancing at the end of it:

The lights finally went down as Joe Muranyi was featured:

The stage stayed dark as Louis returned; these photos are slightly blurry but it’s still affecting seeing Armstrong in the spotlight:

The lighting is better here, a great shot of the All Stars in action:

After his set, Louis was brought up to the podium one more time, ostensibly to help call the “Jaguar Drawing,” according to the schedule:

Bradley didn’t get any backstage photos except one of Tyree Glenn:

Perhaps Bradley couldn’t linger because he had a Christmas party to attend; this same roll of film is shared with images of such a musical gathering, including this one of Big Nick Nicholas and Santa:

And speaking of Christmas, we’re putting this post together during Christmas week and figured we’d close by sharing Louis and Lucille’s 1967 holiday card, as sent to “Bradley Photo” in Lucille’s handwriting, postmarked December 22:

Here’s the back of the envelope with the Armstrong’s address, still the address of the Louis Armstrong House Museum today:

And finally, the front and inside of the card:

And with that, Christmas came and went and so did the Armstrongs, off to Las Vegas for a run at the Tropicana from December 22 to January 4. He spent much of January in Los Angeles–filming the aforementioned Hollywood Palace appearance–and Chicago before a quick return to New York to appear on the Tonight Show. Then it was off to Italy for the Sanremo Song Festival we discussed last time before returning back home for some one-nighters. Jack Bradley would be back on the scene for an engagement at the Hilton on February 11, followed by some more rehearsals and recording sessions. Thus, we’ll have many more posts to come in the New Year–Happy Holidays, everyone!