“The Greatest Photo Taker”: Remembering Jack Bradley Part 45–Corona Hang and Philadelphia Party June 1968

As alluded to at the end of our previous post, Louis Armstrong spent much of May 1968 on the road, filming Hello, Dolly! in Hollywood, performing at the New Orleans Jazzfest, and doing an engagement in Toronto. He returned home in June 1968, but only had limited time off before heading to Philadelphia to play a private event in the affluent Chestnut Hill part of town.

As this series has clearly demonstrated, Louis was growing closer and closer to Jack Bradley and Jeann “Roni” Failows in 1967 and 1968, writing them regularly from the road and inviting them to sessions, television tapings, and dinners at his home whenever he was in New York. For the Philadelphia gig, Louis even invited Jack and Jeann to ride the bus with him and the All Stars to the engagement.

The invitation was extended the previous evening at a hang at Louis’s home in Corona, Queens. Jack Bradley didn’t always keep a tape recorder on him, but we’ve shared the audio when he did, including a memorable conversation in a Framingham motel room in August 1967 and some dressing room small talk (and warming up) at a Tonight Show taping in January 1968. Jack again brought it to this Corona hang, turning it on to dub Louis’s copy of the soundtrack of his scene from Hello, Dolly! with Barbra Streisand.

That takes up the first eight minutes of what we’re about to share but then Bradley let the tape keep rolling to capture about 13 minutes of conversation between Louis, Lucille, Jack, and Jeann. It opens with Lucille complaining that Louis promised someone that Lucille would send her some of his records (apparently she really wanted to hear “Hello, Dolly!” which cracks up Jack and Jeann). Lucille notices ten copies of “Northern Boulevard Blues” lying around, while Jack spots Kapp’s brand new release of “Life of the Party,” recorded in February at a date Jack and Jeann attended (Jack’s photos and more on that session can be found here).

Soon, though, a mischievous-sounding Louis starts noting that Jack and Jeann were looking at each other with “the stuff in their eyes,” alluding that perhaps it was time for them to head home and have some fun. Louis then spends the next few minutes telling some offcolor jokes (language alert), which break everyone up; the jokes might not hold up, but it’s a nice snapshot of their camaraderie. At 12:45, Failows mentions that they should leave because they have to catch the bus with Louis in the morning, calling it “the thrill of a lifetime.” Bradley checks the note that the bus will pick them up at 1:30 at 150 West 55th Street. Failows reminisces about a time when Armstrong’s reviled ex-road manager Pierre “Frenchy” Tallerie wouldn’t let them take the bus (“He’s a cold-blooded son-of-a-bitch,” Armstrong says of Tallerie). Failows then recalls a time Louis let her ride with him to Newport and paid for her hotel in Providence; Louis says he remembers it all, which surprises Failows.

At 14:30, Failows tells Bradley, “Take me home and we’ll try again,” prompting Louis to moan his approval and Bradley to respond, “Okay, baby, let’s go! What are we doing here?” Louis continues in his flirty mood that now they’ve put ideas in his head and he might get himself in trouble with Lucille; they agree to all be glad for each other. But instead of leaving, they chat for another ten minutes with Failows mentioning a baby named “cornet” and Bradley and Armstrong laughing about potential pranks to play in an elevator. At 18:15, Louis quickly mentions the horse “Jeepers Creepers” from the film Going Places and tells a story about shocking a British reporter with the number of female fans who came into his dressing room and asked for a kiss. Louis then tells a story he also told in the Slivovice interview about a supposedly stuffy member of royalty who surprised Louis by dancing “the funky Broadway,” inspiring Louis to get up and show some “society gals” how he used to dance in New Orleans.

This inspired Louis to talk at 20:05 about filming the “Dolly” scene with Barbra Streisand and how they walked into tempo (“I’m just as hot as she is”). Louis tops it with another offcolor joke, once again cracking up his guests. Bradley says they have to go, Louis says he, too, is going to bed, and Bradley switches off the tape. Like the Tonight Show conversation, nothing earth-shattering but it’s great to have a soundtrack to this friendship to go along with all of the photos.

Here’s the audio!

Jack might have brought his tape recorder to that night in Corona, but he didn’t bring his camera. He’d rectify that the next day, bringing it and few rolls of film to document the occasion, beginning with the gathering at the band bus. Here comes Danny Barcelona now!

And here comes Marty Napoleon:

(A quick note to say that the above two photos helped me narrow down a date for these photos. Thanks to the marquee in the background, I found a New York Daily News article from May 30, 1968 that announced, “A Face of War, produced and directed by Eugene S. Jones on location with the Marines in Vietnam, will begin an engagement at the 55th St. Playhouse on Wednesday.” Wednesday would have been June 5 so these photos were taken sometime after that and before Louis went to England on June 15. UPDATE: I found an unpublished Jack Bradley column in which he gave the date as June 7–mystery solved!)

Here’s Tyree Glenn next to a Cadillac:

Here comes vocalist Jewel Brown, joyously crossing the street:

Tyree shows off the Cadillac to Jeann Failows and road manager Ira Mangel:

Clarinetist Joe Muranyi arrives and checks in with Mangel and the bus driver:

And here’s the man himself, Louis:

Louis chats with the bus driver and Danny Barcelona:

Once on the bus, Jack snapped a photo of bassist Buddy Catlett taking a nap:

Slightly blurry, but here’s a nice shot of Louis on the ride to Philly:

Bradley took a lot of photos once the band showed up to Chestnut Hill and it’s hard to figure out the original order they were taken, but the very next photo on that particular roll of film is of the band in action so we’ll go right to the show:

The lighting was on Bradley’s side so he took some nice close-ups of the band, beginning with Buddy Catlett:

Tyree Glenn:

Joe Muranyi:

Pops:

Bradley then explored the space and took a faraway shots of the crowd digging Louis and Tyree’s “That’s My Desire” routine:

As Jewel Brown sang her features, Bradley snuck behind the band to get more shots of the crowd enjoying the show:

During Jewel’s features, the front line would take a little break. Jack managed to catch Tyree Glenn having a smoke:

There’s Marty Napoleon back there:

A shot of just Marty:

Bradley then spotted Louis, who gave him a million dollar smile, even though his posture communicates that he’s tired:

Armstrong and Glenn went back to work and this time, Bradley climbed upstairs to take some more unique shots:

Bradley finally circled back around and found a spot to take some crisp shots of the band head-on:

Jack loved taking photos of Armstrong and Glenn’s duets; we already shared one above from “That’s My Desire” so with the lack of a woman’s hat, I’m assuming they’re doing “Rockin’ Chair” in these photos:

Back to Jewel Brown’s set:

That’s the last photo we have from the performance, but the next shot on that roll of film is of Louis relaxing backstage:

Louis seems to be smiling as he spots a statue someone at the party made of him:

Louis smiled nicely in those photos but the longer he was left alone with the statue, the more withdrawn he became; Bradley couldn’t resist snapping a few photos of Louis in this state:

That concludes Bradley’s photography of the Chestnut Hill party, but there is an interesting postscript to share in the form of a letter Jeann Failows wrote to Swedish Armstrong super-fan Gosta Hagglof on August 14, 1968. Here’s the relevant passage:

There’s a little of the good, bad, and ugly in there. Regarding their friendship with Louis, she writes, “Louis wants us at all his recording sessions, all his dinner tables, all his jobs for the wealthy society folk.” That turns into a mention of the Philly trip, described first as “a musical highlight for him and for us” before Failows admits it was “the most harrowing venture.” Apparently Ira Mangel was a step up from Frenchy Tallerie but his attitude still made him “one of the most awful creatures in the world.” Then Failows admits “the cream of Philadelphia society” “think” they love Louis, but when some of them mistakenly assumed Failows was Louis’s wife, “their behavior [was] the epitome of the lowest.” Clearly, the photos only tell us so much; a picture might be worth a thousand words, but sometimes it’s nice to have the words of a Failows or Bradley to add context.

Just a few days later, Armstrong would be off to England for a triumphant tour celebrating the success of “What a Wonderful World.” He checked in with Bradley with this letter from the Mayfair Hotel in London, dated June 25:

Love the “Strong Arm” sign off!

Armstrong would celebrate his 68th birthday in London July 4, fly back on July 5, and be on stage in Stony Brook, Long Island on July 6. Bradley would be there with his camera, but chose not to go backstage, perhaps leading to the only real rift in the Armstrong-Bradley friendship. We’ll have that story and a whole lot more next time.