rison, was suspended after only three days. Mainly due to Armstrong’s addiction to marijuana, Lil separated from him and they no longer worked together (Boujut 33). In 1932 the Hot Five split up. Armstrong remained in California and starred in Rhapsody in Black and Blue and You Rascal You. Later that year, he sailed to England where he played for the King (Crouch 171). An experience that ranked as “one of the best times of my life,” he stated (Bergreen 107). Something interesting happened to Armstrong in 1933. In London’s Daily Express the death of the “trumpet player with lips of steel,” was reported (Boujut 36). Five days later Melody Maker issued a correction but the news had already spread around the globe. In April of 1934 Armstrong began touring Europe. He visited various countries including France, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands where he was welcomed with open arms. The tour was scheduled to carry on to North Africa and Egypt, but the state of Armstrong’s’ lips forced him to cancel his remaining shows and not play for over eight months (Brown 154). In 1935 Armstrong formed a commercial style big band with fifteen other musicians (Brown 76). For the next twelve years he starred in various films and played with his new band. It was in 1947 that he abandoned the big band and returned to small band format. He joined the All-Star’s, made up of Jack Teagarden, George Wettling, Big Sid Catlett, Dick Cary, Peanuts Hucko, Bob Hagart. That turned out to be the group he worked with until his death. In the heat of the Civil Rights Movement, Louis Armstrong was called an “Uncle Tom” by blacks, referring to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. African-Americans blamed Armstrong for not using his fame to speak out against the unjust treatment of his race in the United States (Brown 92). They also said he was holding his race back because he didn’...
