Lee Morgan USIA taping - June 1969

[bertrand]

I had never noticed this before but Jeff McMillan's Lee Morgan chronology has Lee taping a propaganda film for USIA in June 1969, and playing with a big band on the program. Nipsey Russell, Billy Eckstine, Etta Jones and Joe Carroll were also involved. It is mentioned in downbeat (2/19/70) and Cadence (7/1/69). Lee was in California most of the month, so it would be in early or late June.

The video or audio may still be out there. I asked on Facebook and googled. The USIA archives are either in the DC suburbs (National archives in College Park, MD) or Fayeteville AK.

Let's find this before the Jazz Detective does.

College Park is next to Hyattsville where Lee recorded that Left Bank DC gig that Fresh Sound said was in Baltimore.

 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 03:56 AM by bertrand

[bertrand]

On 3/11/2026 at 11:53 PM, bertrand said:

I had never noticed this before but Jeff McMillan's Lee Morgan chronology has Lee taping a propaganda film for USIA in June 1969, and playing with a big band on the program. Nipsey Russell, Billy Eckstine, Etta Jones and Joe Carroll were also involved. It is mentioned in downbeat (2/19/70) and Cadence (7/1/69). Lee was in California most of the month, so it would be in early or late June.

The video or audio may still be out there. I asked on Facebook and googled. The USIA archives are either in the DC suburbs (National archives in College Park, MD) or Fayeteville AK.

Let's find this before the Jazz Detective does.

College Park is next to Hyattsville where Lee recorded that Left Bank DC gig that Fresh Sound said was in Baltimore.

 

 

 

 

Does anyone have access to downbeat and cadence?

[cayetano]

Downbeat February 19, 1970

[bertrand]

4 hours ago, cayetano said:

Downbeat February 19, 1970

Thanks! It seems it may have been Spring 1969 rather than summer.

[bertrand]

Cayetano,

How did you find this article? Is there a website one can find these? 1970 is probably PD.

Bertrand.

 

[cayetano]

Yes, worldradiostory.com is a free website that archives tons of TV, radio & music magazines, but the DownBeat issues aren't easy to find because there are no links in the DownBeat page (?) and the search lead to incorrect links, but they are there.

[Big Beat Steve]

39 minutes ago, cayetano said:

Yes, worldradiostory.com is a free website that archives tons of TV, radio & music magazines, but the DownBeat issues aren't easy to find because there are no links in the DownBeat page (?) and the search lead to incorrect links, but they are there.

Visibly this site has changed. Sadly not for the better. We've had discussions here on this forum in Feb./March 2023 of that Worldradiohistory site and of the Down Beats accessible online there.

I then started to download the PDF files of each mag one by one for the years of most interest to me. As did others, it seems. But one forumist provided a method and link of how to "bulk download" these files in batches of several years at a time in one go. So I then downloaded ALL the Down Beats up to the end of 1969 by this method in almost no time at all.
There also was a note that Down Beat objected to these being accessible online, so maybe this is why they changed the site again.  

Edited 4 hours ago by Big Beat Steve

[andybleaden]

Like alot of sites - as soon as someone moves things - everything gets moved

 

Here is what and how I found it again https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Down-Beat_copy(1).htm

 

So...as today is March 15th (depends when you read this 🙂 )

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/DownBeat/60s/62/Downbeat-1962-03-15.pdf

Here is March 15th from 1962

 

and - oh boy this threw me when I read it on page 15

 

"THE ROAD CLAIMS ANOTHER VICTIM The jazz world was saddened by the sudden death of bassist Doug Watkins, killed in an automobile accident near Holbrook, Ariz., in the early morning hours of Feb. 5. Arizona Highway Patrolman Kenneth G. Hagin told Down Beat that Watkins, driving his own car, crossed the highway and rammed head on into an oncoming pickup truck. The bassist apparently had fallen asleep at the wheel. The-driver of the truck, Hagin said, was uninjured. Also unharmed were Watkins’ passengers—trumpeter Bill Hardman, 29; tenorist Roland Alexander, 26; and Fred Green, 28. The party was enroute to San Francisco where Watkins, Hardman, and Alexander were to join the new Philly Joe Jones group at the Jazz Workshop. Jones and pianist Elmo Hope had flown to San Francisco from New York. Watkins, a native of the jazz-rich Detroit area, was among a wave of young jazzmen from that city (including his cousin bassist Paul Chambers) who caused a flurry of excitement when they descended en masse on New York City in the mid-1950s. Prior to leaving Detroit, Watkins toured with the James Moody Band and worked with pianist Barry Harris. Coming to New York City in August, 1954, he played with trumpeter Kenny Dorham and worked briefly at Minton’s"....

 

Thats my Sunday evening filled back with sadness 

Edited 1 hour ago by andybleaden