No one likes being played for a fool. Whether it’s the cocky little so-and-so down the pub, or it’s the government U-turning, it gives you one of the worst feelings you can have. It’s embarrassment, anger, and humiliation all wrapped up into one. So, when a government spy agency uses a musician tour for ulterior motives to change the political leanings of the country, then you would be upset. That’s exactly what happened during the Cold War. This week The Beat Marches On to 17th October 1960 when Louis Armstrong and his All Stars arrive in Africa for a government-backed goodwill tour.
The Cold War was one of the most tense times of the 20th century. One wrong move could end the world in a nuclear apocalypse. Although the superpowers, America and the Soviet Union, didn’t attack each other directly, there were poorer countries in Asia like Vietnam and Afghanistan that felt the wrath of their armed forces (and did manage to hold them off)
It wasn’t just Asia that was attacked throughout the Cold War. In recent years news has come out that due to its resources, Africa was a pawn in the war. They didn’t do it as openly as attacking the countries in Asia, they each secretly backed military coups from the inside. The USA used musicians as a front to help gain access to the different countries, but they didn’t tell the musicians of their alternative motives.
This is where Louis Armstrong comes in. The jazz star who was almost 60 by this time, toured many countries in Africa in the second half of the 1950s with the goodwill tours. The trumpeter liked the idea and thought it would be a chance to get back to his roots. A lot of countries in the Continent were becoming newly independent and sending out musicians to show how good democracy is, although civil rights and segregation were rampant in the south of the USA.
Louis Armstrong was critical of the US government about the civil rights of African-American people in the South. He is from New Orleans and knew how bad the segregation laws were. He even quit a tour of Africa in protest of four black students being stopped from entering an all-white school in Arkansas, even though the state’s governor allowed it.
In 1960 Armstrong and his backing band, the All Stars went on tour throughout Africa, starting in what we now know as Ghana but then known as the Gold Coast and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On a rare night off for the trumpeter he and his wife, were entertaining a diplomat from the US Embassy over dinner.
While the three were at dinner operatives from the CIA were in the province of Katanga which had recently seceded from Congo in protest of the country’s first-ever election results in the country not going their way. The agents were trying to use the province to start a coup. The spy agency would provide the rebels with weapons and information to help take over the country and in return, the US would get access to the 1500 tons of Uranium in storage and take their side in the Cold War. The Uranium was a vital component in the nuclear race and the US was competing for it with the Soviet Union.
The truth is the recently elected President, Patrice Lumumba, wanted to be neutral in the Cold War. To America though, if you’re not on their side you are the enemy. They didn’t want to risk the uranium to get into communist hands. Something had to be done.
With the help of the CIA, and some Belgian police officers, agents from the breakaway province kidnapped Lumumba and held him prisoner in a room not that far away from where Armstrong had his dinner. This enabled the military leader Joseph-Desire Mobutu to seize power in the country and become the new president, and most importantly he was loyal to the USA.
The CIA denied involvement, admitting that they planned to try and assassinate the President but ceased operations before the event happened. They testified in Congress claiming that is the truth, but released secret documents in recent years have disputed that claim, with an agent visiting Lumumba while he was imprisoned.
This wasn’t the only time in Africa that the CIA tried to manipulate political leanings. They also are allegedly involved with a Ghanaian coup in 1966, the Angolan civil war in 1975 and also may have aided the arrest of South African hero Nelson Mandela in 1962.
When Armstrong came back from his African tour he used the experiences to collaborate on a musical called The Real Ambassadors. Written by Dave and Lola Brubeck, the story is about a fictional African country called Talgalla that used its popular musicians to show other countries how good it is on their side despite hiding their discrepancies, sound familiar?
The lyrics were deeply personal to Louis, although not written by him, he was deeply touched by the meaning of them. The music was politically charged, and the civil rights movement in America was starting to gain steam. His performance was so strong in the studio recordings that the cast was reduced to tears, watching him perform. It has been described as him channelling all his political anger into the performance.
It wasn’t just Louis Armstrong who did these tours in Africa, other jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, The Real Ambassador’s co-creator Dave Brubeck, and Nina Simone. They send them on a goodwill tour saying look how good freedom is? When in reality black people in America weren’t given the same privileges. Even after the civil rights movement in 1964, it took a lot longer for systems to change, and you can argue that in some instances they still haven’t.
The Beat Marches On is a music blog written by Jimmy Whitehead. Jimmy has been blogging for six years specialising in Sports (especially American Football). If you want to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @Jimmy_W1987
The Beat Marches On has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/The-Beat-Goes-On-Blog-107727714415791 and an X page: @TheBeatGoesOnB1
The websites used for research were:
Louis Armstrong, the Congo and the CIA plot – Archyde
In 1960, the CIA Used Louis Armstrong as an Anti-Soviet Trojan Horse in the Congo (dailykos.com)
If you want to request a story for The Beat Marches On blog, you can contact jwhiteheadjournalism@gmail.com. We cannot guarantee that the story will be published but will be considered