3. America’s Secret Weapon

Wind of Change

Pineapple Street Studios / Crooked Media / Spotify

Music, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 4.6K Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2020

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

LAGOS, NIGERIA, 1961: One of America’s most beloved singers died without ever knowing that during the Cold War she had been used by the CIA. And a 40-year-old mystery resurfaces: when the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was picked to tour behind the Iron Curtain in 1977, was an undercover CIA officer planted among their entourage? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're listening to this episode and don't want to wait till next week to hear where
0:03.6	the story goes, head over to Spotify.
0:06.5	It's free to download and free to listen to podcasts.
0:09.0	All episodes of Wind of Change are available right now for you to binge for free on Spotify.
0:14.5	A quick note before we begin, this series contains some language and topics that may not
0:18.3	be suitable for young children.
0:20.8	Dick man, there goes Mac the Knife!
0:26.7	In the mid-1950s, Louis Armstrong was the biggest musician on the planet.
0:31.6	He had a huge following in the US in abroad.
0:34.2	In between his earthy singing voice and his soaring trumpet, he had a sound that was completely
0:38.7	distinctive.
0:40.4	People called him Sachmo, and he brought millions of new listeners to what was then still a relatively
0:44.6	new kind of music.
0:46.6	Jazz.
0:48.4	In 1955, the New York Times ran a piece arguing that Armstrong was so popular around the
0:54.0	globe that he was actually helping the United States in its contest with the Soviet Union.
0:59.2	America had a secret weapon in the Cold War, the Times said.
1:03.5	Not a spy satellite or a nuclear bomb, but a blue note in a minor key.
1:09.4	All the shock heads, British did, and he shows them, I'm really wide.
1:19.9	And somewhat amazingly, the Eisenhower administration took this to heart and started a program
1:24.4	to send American jazz musicians on goodwill tours abroad.
1:28.3	They sent dizzy galaspe to the Middle East.
	...

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