Author Archives: Ricky Riccardi

The funeral of Louis Armstrong took place 50 years ago today. In our last post, we introduced Phoebe Jacobs, who showed up after Louis passed away to help Lucille Armstrong get in touch with the media and to begin planning the funeral. The first order of business was to have Louis’s body lie in stateContinue reading ““Move Over Gabriel, Because Here Comes Satchmo”: The Funeral of Louis Armstrong”

Today is the 50th anniversary of Louis Armstrong’s death (though seeing how many were paying tribute to him and sharing his music this past July 4 weekend, his legacy is alive and well!). As we have painstakingly chronicled in the past month, he went out on his own terms, making tapes, designing collages, playing theContinue reading ““A Jazz Era Ends”: The 50th Anniversary of Louis Armstrong’s Passing”

[Author’s Note: A longer version of this piece was published on this site in 2020. This updated version has removed discussions of other tapes that have recently been covered in our special 2021 series on Louis Armstrong’s final tapes. You can read the entire series here.] Louis Armstrong passed away in his sleep in theContinue reading “The Story of Louis Armstrong’s Final Tape”

In our last post, we discussed that Armstrong finished putting number “18” on a reel of “Armstrong’s Personal Recordings” but did not make a handwritten contents sheet for said reel. We also mentioned that Reel 17 contained the first half of what would eventually become Armstrong’s last tape, to be discussed here on July 5.Continue reading ““That Cat Ain’t Never Gonna Die”: Louis Armstrong’s Final Collages and Last Birthday Party”

If you’ve been with us this month (if you haven’t, you can now catch up on all of our 1971-related posts in one place), it’s been quite a roller coaster. Louis Armstrong barely emerged from the hospital in May 1971 and as soon as he began feeling a little better, started making a new seriesContinue reading ““Armstrong’s Personal Recordings”: Louis Armstrong’s Final Tapes Part 4″

As we’ve been chronicling all month, the final weeks of Louis Armstrong’s life were ones filled with both tremendous pride as he looked back at his entire musical career, but also a sense of hope that he would once again be able perform for his beloved fans. The looking back was accomplished on his “Armstrong’sContinue reading ““A Message To My Fans And Friends From All Over The World”: Louis Armstrong’s “Open Letter to Fans””

In case you’ve missed it, in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, we examined the first 10 volumes of what Louis Armstrong dubbed “Armstrong’s Personal Recordings,” a series of reel-to-reel tapes comprised (mostly) of his own recordings that he assembled, listened to, cataloged and played along with in the final weeks of hisContinue reading ““Armstrong’s Personal Recordings”: Louis Armstrong’s Final Tapes Part 3″

As the 50th anniversary of Louis Armstrong’s passing approaches, we have already published two detailed pieces on the tapes he made in the last week of his life, as well as the first complete publication in English of a long interview Louis and Lucille did with the German magazine Jasmine on May 25, 1971. Today’sContinue reading ““I Am At Peace With The World”: Louis Armstrong Photos and Letters from June 1971″

Last week, we kicked off our look at the tapes Louis Armstrong made in the final weeks of his life. That post has all the backstory but the quick summary is after being released from the hospital after a life-threatening heart attack, Armstrong gave a long interview with the German Jasmin magazine, then began makingContinue reading ““Armstrong’s Personal Recordings”: Louis Armstrong’s Final Tapes Part 2″

Earlier this week, we published the first part in what will be a series of posts devoted to the tapes and collages Louis Armstrong made in the final weeks of his life. The response to it was so positive, we have decided to expand the series to also include posts devoted to interviews, photographs andContinue reading ““Louis’ Sick Days”: Louis Armstrong’s 1971 Jasmin Interview”