‘Salt Peanuts’
A Reason To Smile
In reflecting on the life of Jimmy Carter as the former president approaches his 100th birthday, God bless him, I came across an extraordinary event that took place on the South Lawn of the White House in June 1978. Carter hosted a jazz concert to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival. The concert was part of Carter’s initiative to honor various American art forms. It is this week’s reason to smile.
What’s most remarkable is the list of attendees. Four decades on, it is one of the greatest groups of American jazz artists ever assembled. The guests and performers included Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, Eubie Blake, Pearl Bailey, Chick Corea, George Benson, and Max Roach, to name but a handful. Please take a moment to watch this, as sadly, only a few short film clips exist of the event.
Carter, the former peanut farmer, had one request that day. He asked trumpet virtuoso Gillespie to play his song “Salt Peanuts.” Gillespie agreed on one condition. He said he would “play it if [Carter] will come up here and sing it with us.” And he did, in this audio clip.
The concert was such a hit, Carter let the musicians play well past their scheduled time. It must have been an incredible evening.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
Jimmy Carter is a man of goodness and mercy. We have not seen his like in a long time. His life’s accomplishments give us all a great deal to ponder.
The chicanery that cost him a second term as president and resulted in the disaster that is Reaganomics is also a matter to ponder. History is showing us the slow but steady economic damage to the middle class and poor that the Reagan Revolution has had.
We need more like Jimmy Carter, especially now.
This shows audibly that Jimmy has been a man of the people for his entire life!