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(1954 - not complicated, but no less surprising - even to Robert Mitchum)
(Robert Mitchum with Simone Sylva at the Cannes Film Festival 1954)

With the Korean War truce holding, Joe McCarthy stopped dead in his tracks and a gang of Puerto Rican nationals shooting up the House chamber wounding five Congressmen, 1954 would probably be less complicated than other years during the Eisenhower tenure but no less momentous. There was the fall of Dien Bien Phu and what would eventually become our foray into Southeast Asia, the landmark School Desegregation decision by The Supreme Court, the end of British occupation of Egypt - everything that would have some repercussions for the future, but what seemed at the time like orderly passage.

So today's recap of events from 1954 offers further proof that, no matter how innocent or innocuous something may seem at the time, it invariably winds up playing a major role in a future we hadn't anticipated.

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(Mildred Younger campaigned for California State Senate - Doing it the old Fashioned way)

Coming up on the off-year elections in 2010 I ran across a documentary produced in 1954 about the off-year elections of that particular year.

Alben Barkley(former Vice-President to Truman): “Finally I said to him ‘how’s politics?’ – ‘well, he said, ‘it’s pretty badly mixed’. That created some suspicion in my mind, well I said ‘well, how am I running?’ ‘Well, he said ‘it’s gonna be pretty close’. Well I said ‘you’re for me aren’t you?’ Well, he said ‘I thought I’d vote for Chandler’. Well, I said ‘my friend, how can you do that? Now don’t you remember that when you couldn’t get your allotment fixed up that I did it? ‘ He said, ‘yes you did’. ‘And when you couldn’t get your insurance I got that straightened out”’ He said ‘yes, you did’. And I said ‘and when you were injured over there in France didn’t I sit on the bed with you for an hour?’ And he said ‘yes, and I never enjoyed a mans visit in my life like I did yours.’ And I said ‘ when I came home and the Armistice came didn’t you want to get home at once and didn’t you write to me and didn’t I write General Pershing and weren’t you on your way home in a month?’ And he said ‘yes, you did that.’ And I said ‘didn’t you want a loan on your farm, and didn’t I help you?’ And he said ‘yes.’ ‘Didn’t you have a loan on your property when the flood washed it away?’ He said ‘yes, you did that’. I said ‘well, how can you vote against me?’ Well he said ‘my friend, what in the thunder have done for me lately?’

Seems the styles have changed, the methods, the dirt - but then as now, it's all about politics and the art of the horse race.

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(Gerald Wilson - at 91, no stopping in sight)

I was thinking today about what a great Jazz scene there was on the West Coast in the 1940s, 50s and early 60s. Certainly in Los Angeles and the famous Central Avenue scene. There have been some books written and a few compilations that introduce an audience to this rich vein of musical history, but so far nothing that really dives in and explores the extraordinary talent that showed up and gigged around L.A. during those days.

One of those extraordinary greats was/is Gerald Wilson. Still going strong at 91 (last I heard he was music Director for the Monterey Jazz Festival), Wilson has hosted a veritable who's who of Jazz greats over the years.

This track, Mambo Mexicano, comes from a series of sessions he did in 1954 with his band that included Clark Terry, Paul Gonsalves and Teddy Edwards. This pre-dates his long association with Pacific Jazz, and is an indication of which direction he was headed.

Things were definitely happening on the West Coast.

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(French Army commanders - Dien Bien Phu - 1954 - Reality came as a shock)

Sometimes you wonder how we get into seemingly impossible situations that appear to have no ending in sight.

While running through my archive looking for tapes associated with our involvement in the Vietnam war, I ran across an earlier broadcast, from May 1954 - the occasion was the recent fall of the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu, which effectively ended the French involvement in that former colony. Edward R. Murrow, as part of his See It Now program put together a panel consisting of Senate Majority Leader William F. Knowland (R-California), Sir Robert Boothby, a conservative member of Parliament in Britain and a member of the De Gaulle cabinet in France. Togther they discussed, as a sort of postmortem examination of what went wrong and what was next.

Sir Robert Boothby: “When the French the other day implied and our French colleague implied just now that we’d rather left them out on a limb, left them to do this thing alone, they are I think to some extent to blame themselves. We’re speaking quite frankly, but they have made it plain for five years that they regarded this Indo-China as a domestic concern, this Indo-China business. They didn’t want intervention by anybody else, that they didn’t want to make it an international issue. They didn’t want our help or the help of the United States. And it was only three or four weeks that they made the request for help which was really too late.”

French Representative: “Maybe it was too late, but if I may interrupt here, as you have really put my country in question here. Yes, for five years we have asked for nothing. In five years we have lost 400,000 men. If China had not come into the picture we might not be where we are today. And after all, I think that . . well if I may say so, it wasn’t very kind of you to say what you just said. We have done our best as I told you. And . . well, if we had found all the help that we could have expected, perhaps we would not be here today, at least saying alas what we have to say”.

Maybe it's hindsight, but judging from Knowland's reaction to the situation, it almost feels prophetic that the U.S. was destined to get involved sooner rather than later - as was the case.

As I am hearing now about the potential domino effect of an U.S. pullout in the region, with the potential repercussions being an overthrow of the Pakistani government, a return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan and, as Chris Matthews pointed out "all hell breaking loose" with nuclear weapons hanging in the balance - it's almost identical language to that being said some 55 years ago.

The stakes are different this time - but not by much.

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(L.A. in 1954 - The convertible and the gas mask seemed at odds)

Listening to a radio documentary produced in 1954 about air pollution in Los Angeles seems a bit quaint and a little strange. For one thing, until 1954 it was okay to burn your trash, since there was no trash pickup available - so every house and every apartment building had its own incinerator which pumped out clouds of smoke in every neighborhood (I grew up in L.A. and can vouch for the smell of burning trash every night). And another, with the migration of people from the east and midwest pouring into Los Angeles, you had a huge influx of cars - not the little ones we have today, but vast traveling monoliths of chrome and steel that gulped gas and belched fumes and leaked oil everywhere. Ah, the good old days . . .

Continue reading »

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(Aime` Barelli - The Kenton/Ellington influence hit big-time)

Aime` Barelli was one of the great trumpeters to come out of the early French Jazz scene. He was part of the ensemble Jazz de Paris in the 1930s and 40s, playing alongside the likes of Alix Combelle, Hubert Rostaing and many of the other pioneering figures in France at the time.

After the war he formed a big band and got into the styles of Progressive Jazz along the lines of Stan Kenton, Boyd Raeburn, Claude Thornhill and Duke Ellington. In the 1950s he continued his wide appeal throughout France and Europe recording a number of albums for the Pathe` label as well as frequent tours through the continent.

This track, Je Ne Sais Pas is from 1954, when the band was at its most popular. Rock n' Roll was just around the corner, but for the moment Aime` Barreli and his orchestra said everything that needed to be said.

And then some.

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(Rep. John McCormack (D-Mass) - Rep. Hugh Scott (R. Penn.) - lots of love in that room . . .of a kind.)

In case you were wondering if the cantankerous nature of Capitol Hill was some phenomenon of recent years, let me put you at ease by saying no, it's always been that way.

This broadcast, part of the American Forum Of The Air series from July 25, 1954, features Representative John McCormack (D-Mass.) and Representative Hugh Scott (R.Penn.) discussing what the 83rd Congress has accomplished, just as the House and Senate go on their August recess. The subjects range from taxes to the end of the Korean conflict and the bubbling unrest in Southeast Asia - Vietnam in particular.

McCormick: “ There’s a truce made that could’ve been made far better a year, year and a half prior to the time the truce was made. As the result of it, the Chinese Reds were relieved of their commitments in North Korea and they were able to drive down into Indochina and they were able to help the Communist forces in Indochina. Now coming to the Indochina truce . . . .

Scanlon (interviewer): “Do you think the war should have continued Congressman?” –

Moderator: “Hold it . . . .”

McCormick: “None of us . . .we’re not agreed to . . .we’re not satisfied with that. I’m satisfied that England and France have some kind of deals on that are not for our best interest. I’m suspicious of England and France in connection with what’s going on. I think you and I probably would agree pretty much in that respect. I’m very suspicious about this increase in trade which Mr. Stassen has permitted to go on with the Communist bloc as a peace gesture

Hugh Scott: “ Before you change the subject is there any shooting war going on anywhere in the world today, was my statement . . .

McCormick: “Do you think there’s peace in the world today? There’s certainly not peace in the world today. All I know is, that there’s a couple of million more unfortunate people in Vietnam who are now under the Communists, about a million of them happen to be communicants of the Catholic Church of which you and I are also communicants and I can imagine what kind of rough living they’re going to have under the Communists when they consolidate, the liquidation process they’re going to go through, and I hope there’ll be a good pact established down there that will be able to stop the Communists. But I am fearful there will be extreme difficulty in that respect. I’m hopeful and I will join in a bi-partisan way that will bring any efforts to bring about a pact in Southeast Asia that will stop the Communist on-rush.”

Well . . .more prophetic words weren't spoken much that year. But it did signal what would become our endless Vietnam odyssey soon enough.

McCormack and Scott spar and agree on very little, but they hold their ground. In the end it provides an interesting insight as to the historic nature of government and how discourse can work.

At least they were upfront about it.

(Senator Joseph McCarthy R-Wisconsin - 1954)

March 9th marks the 55th anniversary of the now-famous showdown between Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy that night in 1954. Anyone who has seen the excellent 2005 film "Good Night and Good Luck" will know the story surrounding this milestone in broadcasting. If you haven't seen it, it's well worth taking a look. But in the meantime, here's the real thing, as it happened. It's been edited down to conform to the 10 minute maximum from YouTube, but the essence is all there.

Bluster and smears appear timeless, probably now more than ever, as witnessed by showboat pundits and self-appointed consciences. Fifty-five years and not all that much, aside from the players has changed. However, it would be nice if a few more Murrow's showed up.

"No one familiar with the history of his country can deny that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to investigate before legislating. But the line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one, and the junior Senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly".