[78-L] Louis Armstrong

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Your comment, Gene Hayhoe, about Rex Stewart and other performers 
trying to “catch a cold” so they could sound like Louis is amusing 
because that is the impression I have every time I listen to the 
vocalist David Pugh on several sides recorded with Jimmie Gunn and His 
Orchestra for Bluebird. For a couple of words, he slips into what may 
be his more normal voice, clearly demonstrating his intent to sound 
like Louis. The Gunn tunes may be found on IAJRC CD1002 Tar Heel Jazz. 
Also included are tracks by the Frankie and Johnnie Orchestra, Hod 
Williams, and Frankie Reynolds, all recorded for Bluebird in Charlotte, 
North Carolina in 1936 and 1937. The Victor recording logs for that 
period show that Eli Oberstein was present for at least one session by 
the Bob Pope Orchestra. Sweet bandleader, Jimmie Livingston, a relative 
of Fud Livingston, also recorded in the same makeshift studio. Both 
Pope and Livingston recorded for Bluebird while engaged at the Hotel 
Charlotte. For a time, Pope was promoted in newspaper ads, articles, 
and on venue placards as the “King of Swing.”
Geoffrey Wheeler