Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong Co-Headline a 1967 Homecoming Extravaganza on Kent's Campus

• Saturday, October 21, 1967, Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong co-headlining in the Kent State University Memorial Gym (now the MAC Center)
  
  

This must have been one of the finest and most unique evenings Kent State ever hosted. Soul music titan Ray Charles played first followed by a free dance headlined by none other than jazz legend Louis Armstrong. This was another one where the original Kent Stater poster/advertisement (provided for this story) is just amazing. Click here to see a stunning blowup of this thing and click here to see a blowup of the Kent Stater's full page list of events for that homecoming weekend.

Just a few months before the show at Kent State, Ray had a single in the charts called Here We Go Again and he had released a full length album titled Ray Charles Invites You to Listen.

Check out this live clip from the same period which will show you just what a powerhouse artist Ray Charles would have been on the night he performed at Kent State. Also, just six weeks after Ray's Kent State performance he appeared with what is likely the exact same band on the Ed Sullivan show. Click here to see a clip of that performance. I also found a YouTube clip of Louis Armstrong playing in France from just a few months before his appearance at Kent State, and he and his band are shown putting on a smokin' hot performance. Click here to see that clip. I can just envision that MAC Center floor cleared of all its seats and packed with people just dancing all night. If you watch all three clips together you will get a good idea of the authentic genius, artistry, and virtuosity that went on display in that gym back on that Saturday night in the fall of 1967. It must have been extraordinary.

Click here to see a readable blowup of the original Kent Stater 1967 review done by then-senior Kent State journalism student David Bieber. It's fascinating, extremely well written and includes an exclusive interview with Ray Charles conducted backstage in the Memorial Gym. The reviewer rattles off songs that were played that night including Georgia, Hit The Road Jack, I Can't Stop Loving You, Cryin' Time and Here We Go Again. In the Oct. 23, 1967 issue of The Record-Courier a truncated version of this review exists along with an awesome and totally authentic photograph of Bieber interviewing Ray Charles! Come on up to the Kent State University main library second floor microfilm reading area if you would like to see this old image.

It also must be noted that the Chestnut Burr Kent State yearbook photos that are provided for this story are credited to Jon Werner and Paul Tople. Two and a half years after this concert, Paul Tople would witness and take a stunning series of historical photographs of the May 4, 1970 shootings. He has a website devoted to his May 4 photography and you can see it by clicking here. There are almost 100 images on this site and they are absolutely incredible. Paul Tople's photos are also featured in May 4, 1970: Someone to Tell the Story, a walking tour documentary keyed to the seven Walking Tour trail markers that can be viewed as you tour the historic site of the shootings as part of the May 4 Visitors Center at Kent State.

Also of note is that these images and advertisements for this night represent the only record I have ever seen that show Louis Armstrong and Ray Charles sharing the same co-headlining bill. I am only doing Google searches to research this "fact" but take a look at this Ray Charles timeline from 1967. You will see that there is a Ray Charles show two weeks after the Kent State show at Central Washington State College and it doesn't show Louis Armstrong on the same bill. The website also shows a poster from 10 days before the Kent State show at Harrah's in Reno, NV which shows Ray Charles as the loan performer for that night as well.

I also found this amazing blog detailing a single night Louis Armstrong performed just a few weeks later in Miami, FL and there is no mention of Ray Charles on this bill either. Check out the audio recording on that blog featuring a live version of the song St. James Infirmary performed that night. It will give you another window into what Louis likely sounded like at Kent State. Also, look at this website detailing known Louis Armstrong performances in the 1960s and there is no mention of Ray Charles either.

I have seen a reference or two that shows the two of them together at some special events, and a recording session or two but not for a single night of music (like at Kent State) or for an entire tour, so it very well may be that this pairing of these two giants for a single co-headlining concert was a total one-off — and right here in Kent. If someone knows more on that, please refer me to some more solid info.

Recently I had the great pleasure of interviewing a very interesting gentleman named Rich Phoenix, who was a 21-year-old DJ on WKSU-FM on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 21, 1967 and had the privilege of interviewing both Ray and Louis backstage in the Kent State University Memorial Gym that night. His recollections are fascinating:

How was it that you were chosen to interview Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong at Kent State back in October of 1967?
Rich Phoenix: There were a number of personalities performing at Kent whom I was very fortunate to interview, each more accommodating than the last. They included Nancy Wilson (the jazz singer as opposed to the other half of Heart) and Bob Hope. I also took to the road to Cleveland on a couple of occasions to interview jazz greats Wes Montgomery and Nat Adderly for the same program. I am greatly saddened to see how many of these superb musicians we have lost. These days, I live in North Plainfield, NJ and I serve full-time as our town's municipal clerk and still do radio via AlbumZone (AZ) in London which is carried via ReplayRadio (RR). Actually, I was "chosen" because I thought the world of both jazz giants and was not intimidated being close to them. To my knowledge, I was not in competition with anyone else from WKSU-FM and had a weekly jazz show in place at the station for years.

Where specifically did the interviews take place?
Rich Phoenix: The concert took place in the main field house of the time and interviews were just outside their dressing rooms in the lower level of the building following their performances. Both were coming down from emotional 'highs' that follow such a performance. The two interviews were separate, and both performers were very much attuned to where their careers were heading at that moment.

(Blogger's note:) I think Rich is referring to the MAC Center as the main field house because in 1967 it looked basically like this circa 1950 photo sitting next to the old Memorial Stadium, which is where the Kent State Student Center pay parking lot on Summit Street is now. Not much of a back campus in those days but it would soon fill in pretty densely. Last winter I put together a rephotograph of that Memorial Stadium/Student Center pay lot circa 1960/2011. Click here to see how it came out.)

What distinct memories do you have about interviewing Louis Armstrong and Ray Charles backstage in Kent State's old Memorial Gym?
Rich Phoenix: Louis was still very high on the boost his career received from Hello Dolly, a couple of years earlier. He was 66 years young at the time; once you're in your sixties, time compresses and his powerful jazz appeal had gone mainstream.

As you might know, Louis, in the Cold War days of the 1950s and 1960s had become an American international goodwill ambassador and was beloved in Africa and both eastern and western Europe, including the then Soviet Union. We spoke about that, and he was very philosophical, saying how indebted he was to his fans, wherever they lived and whatever language they spoke. He had truly penetrated the Iron Curtain via the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe amongst others, and Dolly was a breakout monster. He never anticipated that Dolly would turn out to be the hit and career-changer that it became for him and told me so.

Stories had circulated that when Dolly was still on Broadway, attendees were crushed to discover that Louis could neither be heard nor seen in the production. That was, perhaps, another reason why Hollywood made sure to include him in the lavish film production of Dolly.

Louis was a portrait in humility, a humble man whose prodigious talent and career, after much hard work, had made his life turn a '180' from his poverty-stricken youth in the south. In short, Louis was the antithesis of what we think of as pop stars in the 21st century!

Ray had a major album project in the works and spoke about that. Both gentlemen were tremendously accommodating and patient with me. Remember, 1967 was a watershed year for pop music, and they were both very impressed with Lennon-McCartney as songwriters in particular. Neither harbored any bitterness about the history of bad U.S. race relations. They had both surmounted the worst of it all, and came out ahead. One thing to keep in mind — they performed separately and had their own backup musicians. It was a remarkable show — a mostly college age rock n' roll audience who were quite impressed but had no idea of the gravity of these two individuals that they were experiencing up close and personal. Makes me wish I could go back in time as do many other interviewees I have been fortunate to meet over the years!

Would you still have a copy of those interviews?
Rich Phoenix: I am sorry to report that my recorded interviews went with a 1997 house fire. That annoys and depresses me. If WKSU-FM had archived what it should have during its long student-run tenure, they should be able to come up with it, although it’s been my observation that they preserved very little from those halcyon days. I speak from the perspective of an alumnus who donated lots of on-air time as a licensed operator, and there were many of us. But, no sour grapes. This is all about a couple of real talents and icons.

Were your interviews broadcast live?
Rich Phoenix: The interviews were not broadcast 'live,' and that is a real shame. As far as a live broadcast of the concert, itself, that would have been preferable, but rights to such things, for years, have remained a major snarl which keeps these wonderful occasions off the air — and these were in the decidedly pre-internet days! The record companies and talent management typically had these rights locked up tight, and would generally only authorize a broadcast if and only if they could tie it in with a specific promotion, such as a new album. (Remember those?)

Do you have any distinct memories of Louis Armstrong's performance?
Rich Phoenix: Looking back at his discography, it confirms that in this relative twilight of the great man’s career, he was exceedingly successful with mainstream middle-of-the-road pop music, such as Hello Dolly, which had blown the Beatles off the singles charts in 1964. It became a must-play staple at every single gig of the rest of the man’s life. I recall his sidemen as being a mix of young cats and some of his contemporaries who had worked with him since his days as a jazz pioneer, going back into the 1920s. This, then, was three years after Dolly, and the great man seemed to still be bowled over by the international success of the tune, which was virtually unknown when he cut it.

As for the set, I remember it as a mixture of the current and the tried and true. Current — of course he did Dolly, and I believe that he also performed What a Wonderful World, which probably became the biggest moneymaker of his posthumous career. Back then, ABC Records, his then U.S. label, would not get behind it and promote it properly, likely a reaction to the politics of the times. The song topped the charts in Europe in the late 1960s. As far as tunes from his earlier days, of course there was some energetic Dixieland music, featuring some of his wonderful acrobatics on the horn. In short, Louie was very philosophical about where music and jazz had taken him — or, had he not been such a modest man, more correctly where he had taken music and jazz. He was a great man and icon, modest to a fault, and never given the credit he deserved in his lifetime for his musical accomplishments, his leadership or his frequent encouragement to young musicians.

Do you have have any distinct memories of Ray Charles’ set?
Rich Phoenix: Ray Charles — wow! He was a man constantly in motion. For this show, he had assembled a powerful set of sidemen and, of course, The Raelets, the all-female backing singers who had started out as an independent hitmaking rock n‘ roll girl group. He was promoting his recent Listen album release, which was positively excellent. If you can find it (likely re-released on CD), you will have some brilliant, slick but vintage Ray Charles added to your music library.

The set, of course, featured the Ray Charles monster hits and crowd-pleasers Georgia, What’d I Say, I Got News for You and many more, including some of the tasty highlights from his magnificent crossover album of country music of which I believe there were two separate volumes (vol.1, vol. 2). He also had a 'live' album that had been doing very well at the time with the feature cut being Makin’ Whoopee, then a monster radio hit featuring Ray on his own on solo piano with the live audience egging him on to improvise on the suggestive lyrics — that one’s a gem if you can find it, and was a prominent playlist item on WCUY-FM, then Cleveland Heights (and Cleveland’s) pioneering all-jazz station which did frequent promotions with Cleveland’s leading jazz club, Leo’s Casino.

Of course, I made sure that Whoopee got a few plays on my "Jazz in America" on WKSU-FM. Yes, Ray, like Louis, was an icon of a somewhat later era in jazz and pop music and a prodigious talent who, history has told us, was often victimized by his own goodwill and generosity. Again, another humble man who experienced grinding poverty in his youth. He was trusting of his management to a fault and although he enjoyed the great success which he richly earned and deserved, was allowed to take home only a fraction of the money he had earned for the publishers, promoters and record companies. His two major labels of the time were ABC Paramount and Atlantic. When we spoke, Ray was very forthcoming and ready to talk music — all forms of pop and, of course, jazz. He was in awe of Louis, certainly! As I mentioned in an earlier message, Ray was greatly impressed by the quality of songwriters of the time: Lennon-McCartney, Bacharach & David and Jimmy Webb, amongst others, as well as the Motown stable in particular. He was an advocate for pop and jazz music to be taken much more seriously as the music of the people that would endure (how right he was!) and said so.

He took special pains on stage to introduce the various musicians accompanying him. As your Stater picture indicates, Ray sat stage left while Billy Preston sat far stage right. Billy came up with some very tasty keyboard licks whenever he got a break, and was up and dancing whenever the music permitted. He had all the intensity and moves of Jerry Lee Lewis without using his feet on the keys. Of course, The Genius gave Billy and his talents a big boost on stage; and, within two years’ time, Billy became the 5th Beatle on the roof of the band’s London townhouse/office in their Let It Be feature film.

In the interview, Ray waxed very philosophical about the music business, taking pains to eschew the limiting effects of labels on music, whether it be termed rock n’ roll, country, jazz or R&B. He was a purist for the quality of the melody in the music and for its being played tunefully and accurately with respect. Once again, Ray was all about taking the spotlight away from himself and diverting attention to the young musicians and composers on the scene just trying to get their careers up and running. After our too-brief encounter after the concert, I knew that I had truly been in the presence of genius, or more precisely — two of ‘em in one evening!

This was always something in my KSU experience that came and went too quickly — like the morning after a too vivid dream in blazing colour, with smells and sound to match — things you reached out and touched. Of course, the morning after, you turn things over in your head, saying 'did this really happen?' For a goodly number of years, I had the audiotape confirmation of the event; but, it was your prodding that got the grey matter going, again, with clear memories of what I heard and saw that night.

Rich Phoenix hosts a killer, high-end cloudcast internet radio program that I highly recommend. Click here to give it a listen and play it loud.

Images for this story are courtesy of The Burr, Kent State Student Media. (reprinted with permission), The Daily Kent Stater and Department of Special Collections and Archives, Kent State University Libraries as well as Paul Tople and Scott White.

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