Blogpost #26

This past September 12 marked what would have been the 96th birthday of the late Jesse Owens, an outstanding track and field star of the early 20th century. As a college athlete in the early 1930's, he tied or broke several world records. His medal-winning performance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany established him as the greatest living American athlete.

Sadly, his dire financial condition led him to resign from the American Olympic team to pursue lucrative offers that were later withdrawn. He struggled to support his family, and was often forced to accept embarrassing jobs such as attempting to outrun a racehorse in Cuba.

To his credit, he never lost his dignity or his high moral standards. He launched a new career as a motivational speaker for the state of Illinois, inspiring students and teachers alike to pursue their own level of excellence, just as he did. From the late 50's to the mid 60's, he was a jazz deejay on Chicago radio station WAAF 950 AM. He passed away in 1980, shortly after hearing the disappointing news of the 1980 Olympic boycott.

This week's show draws on a rare collection of audio clips from an out-of-print tribute LP celebrating the life and achievements of Jesse Owens. It's titled "Jesse Owens: The Olympic Years", and it was released in 1983 on the nostalgia label Mark 56 records. I did extensive research to put the audio clips in their proper context, much of it coming from a 2007 book by ESPN's Jeremy Schaap titled "Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics". It's available as a "bargain book" from Amazon.

Next week is Ray Charles' birthday, and I'll be playing a rare Brazilian TV concert appearance from 1963 featuring Ray on piano and sax along with his orchestra and his backup singers, the Raelettes. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.