Oswald - Self-portrait in Red Record Album
Peter Fokes
"Peter Fokes" <pfo...@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:3e60...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu...
> Here's an item I'd never seen before...a record album entitled
> Self-Portrait in Red from 1965 under Spoken word category on Ebay. I guess
> it has tracks of Oswald speaking. Kinda pricey though... $85 to buy now.
> Here's the picture:
I've found out more about this album put out by INCA!
Ed Butler drew the illustration on the cover!!
Link to Audio Clip below:
<quote on>
OSWALD: SELF PORTRAIT IN RED
Copyright 1964 by the Information Council of the Americas (INCA)
INCA Records
Mastering by Cosimo Recording Studios
Narration by Marshall Pearce
And a Audio Clip!!!!
http://www.conelrad.com/media/oswald_01.ram
Introduction by the Hon. T. Hale Boggs (D-Louisiana), Congressman from
Louisiana and House Majority Whip, in whose District the debate was held,
and who supported the INCA TRUTH TAPES program from the outset.
Impression by Dr. Alton Ochsner, world famed surgeon and President of both
the Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation and the Information Council of the
Americas (INCA), who perhaps was the only listener who knew of Oswald's
defection before the debate.
Analysis by Edward Scannell Butler, Executive Vice-President of INCA and
panelist on the fateful evening, who has interviewed scores of refugees from
Communist colonies, and who was the only propaganda specialist ever to
confront Oswald in person.
This is a 33.1/3 r.p.m. high fidelity recording playback with R.I.A.A.
characteristics.
Album cover art by Edward Scannell Butler
FROM THE BACK COVER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
"I AM A MARXIST"
- Lee Harvey Oswald, August 21, 1963
With these words, a few weeks before President Kennedy's assassination, Lee
Harvey Oswald sketched the indelible outline of this Self-Portrait in Red.
HEAR OSWALD'S OWN VOICE AND LEARN:
What did Oswald really think of President Kennedy?
Hear the only recorded statement in existence, as Oswald gives his own
opinion of President Kennedy.
Was Oswald alone?
Listen to this record, as Oswald defends the Fair Play for Cuba committee.
Then decide for yourself.
Was Oswald insane?
Listen to this record... then judge for yourself.
What did Oswald call his enemies?
Hear Oswald pin a label on people he dislikes, and smear the State
Department and the CIA.
Whom did Oswald admire?
Hear Oswald's own suggestion, that the United States should have dropped
weapons "into the Sierra Maestra where Fidel Castro could have used them."
How did Oswald explain his three years in Russia?
Listen to this record, and hear his revealing reply.
This Album contains the authentic, full, unedited recording of the now
famous "Conversation Carte Blanche" interview, originally broadcast live on
Radio Station WDSU in New Orleans, just a few weeks before President
Kennedy's assassination.
This is the original Oswald Self-Portrait in Red.
ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Those readers who saw Oliver Stone's film "JFK" may recall a brief scene in
which Lee Harvey Oswald is depicted debating a Cuban man in a New Orleans
radio studio. As it turns out, this is one of the few factual elements to be
represented in Mr. Stone's film. Oswald ACTUALLY did debate a Cuban man
(Carlos Bringuier) in a New Orleans radio studio (WDSU) on the evening of
August 21, 1963 - just a few weeks prior to assassinating President Kennedy.
In fact, the tapes that make up this album were the primary source for Gary
Oldman's near-flawless vocal impression of the young assassin (or, if you
prefer, patsy).
Despite its garish presentation*, questionable analysis and hyperbolic
red-baiting, this is a fascinating historical document that provides
invaluable insight into Oswald's narcissism and stupidity. Indeed, after
listening to this album, one can't help but wonder whether Oswald, given
half a chance, could have gone on to become an eccentric overnight talk show
host and not a double murderer.
Find this LP and decide for yourself, but, remember, "Accept No
Substitutes."
* The cover illustration was not, in fact, a "self portrait," but rather a
crude rendering by Edward Scannell Butler, who also happened to be the
Executive Vice President of the anti-Communist organization/record label
INCA which distributed the album.
<quote off>
This information from this source:
http://www.conelrad.com/media/atomicmusic/sh_boom.html
Peter Fokes
http://www.toronto.hm/
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Fokes" <pfo...@rogers.com>
To: "DRoberdeau" <drobe...@aol.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: Oswald - Self-portrait in Red Record Album
> Hi Don,
> I vaguely recall hearing about this album. I do know another copy sold
on
> Ebay awhile back for just over $30. Let me do a little searching around
and
> see what I can come up with. I have no connection with this sale on Ebay.
> It would be very interesting to know who put up the money for this
> record. It sure "paints" Oswald as a "RED" during those crucial years just
> after the assassination. I may not get back to you until tomorrow as a
> relative is in town.
>
> Regards
> Peter
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "DRoberdeau" <drobe...@aol.com>
> Newsgroups: alt.assassination.jfk
> To: <pfo...@rogers.com>
> Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 12:55 PM
> Subject: Re: Oswald - Self-portrait in Red Record Album
>
>
> > Good Day Peter.... Have never seen this "Red Album".... what are the
> details
> > behind that album's history?
> >
> > Don
> > CV-67, "Big John," USS John F. Kennedy Plank Walker
> > Sooner, or later, the Truth emerges Clearly
> > http://members.aol.com/DRoberdeau/JFK/DP.jpg
> > http://members.aol.com/DRoberdeau/JFK/ROSEwillisANNOUNCEMENT.wps
> >
> > "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they
> shall
> > be filled."
> >
> > ----St. Matthew 5:6
> >
>
>
>
>
>
DRoberdeau
Peter Fokes
"DRoberdeau" <drobe...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030301125552...@mb-ci.aol.com...
> Good Day Peter.... Have never seen this "Red Album".... what are the
details
> behind that album's history?
Hey......someone bought it!
Don??? lol
Peter Fokes
DRoberdeau
>Date: 3/1/2003 1:29 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <3e60...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu>
>
>
>"DRoberdeau" <drobe...@aol.com> wrote in message
>news:20030301125552...@mb-ci.aol.com...
>> Good Day Peter.... Have never seen this "Red Album".... what are the
>details
>> behind that album's history?
>
>Hey......someone bought it!
>
>Don??? lol
>
>
>Peter Fokes
....Good Day Peter.... Thank You for the backround info.... I was not the
buyer.
Don
Peter Fokes
> >pfo...@rogers.com
> >Date: 3/1/2003 1:29 PM Eastern Standard Time
> >Message-id: <3e60...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu>
> >
> >
> >"DRoberdeau" <drobe...@aol.com> wrote in message
> >news:20030301125552...@mb-ci.aol.com...
> >> Good Day Peter.... Have never seen this "Red Album".... what are the
> >details
> >> behind that album's history?
> >
> >Hey......someone bought it!
> >
> >Don??? lol
> >
> >
> >Peter Fokes
>
> ....Good Day Peter.... Thank You for the backround info.... I was not the
> buyer.
It is a fascinating bit of propoganda indeed!
Whoever DID put in a bid backed out, according to the seller.
The album is back up for sale in case anyone is interested.
My daughter wants a copy of Spy Kids II so my budget is too tight for this
pricey item.
Cheers
Peter Fokes
Michael O'Dell
people associated with it. I'll be posting it as time permits.
Michael
"DRoberdeau" <drobe...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030301125552...@mb-ci.aol.com...
Michael O'Dell
"Peter Fokes" <pfo...@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:3e60...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu...
> Here's an item I'd never seen before...a record album entitled
> Self-Portrait in Red from 1965 under Spoken word category on Ebay. I guess
> it has tracks of Oswald speaking. Kinda pricey though... $85 to buy now.
> Here's the picture:
>
>
The following is commentary supplied to me in response to my asking about
the "Oswald, Self Portrait in Red" album.
The person that wrote this commentary was in New Orleans in 1963 and has
either first-hand knowledge of the events, or knew the principals.
Some of you will likely have opinions about who wrote this. I ask the favor
that you keep them to yourself. He values his privacy.
This is supplied in the interest of sharing a little background history.
Michael
==================================
If I recall correctly, Ed put out two records. The first was based on the
WDSU debate tape, with some commentary by Ed and other people. I can't
remember the year it was released, late '60s I think, but I used to see
stacks of the records in Ed's INCA offices in New Orleans.
Unfortunately, "documentary" records never sold very well and almost no one
ever bought his records.
After Bill Stuckey interviewed Oswald on August 17th, he took that half-hour
tape (about 35 minutes) home with him, and he held on to it. He tried to get
John Corporon (WDSU's News Director) to air the whole interview, but John
didn't like it, so he refused. Stuckey later talked Corporon into allowing
for the debate the following Wednesday.
WDSU kept a copy of the debate tape and gave out free copies to any media
who asked for a copy. That tape was never copyrighted. However, Bill
copyrighted the first interview tape and tried to sell it to the media. Bill
flew to New York a few times to preview the tape for various media, but I
think he sold some print rights only to the Saturday Evening Post.
Ironically, in December of '63 and all of '64, it was so well known that
Oswald was indeed a Marxist, there was nothing in the tapes that were
thought to be "revealing", and the high price Stuckey was asking for rights
to his copy caused the media not to be interested in it.
Several years later Bill sold the copyright to Ed Butler and INCA, and
Butler released a second Oswald phonograph record based on that particular
interview. Again, because it was a documentary record, not many people were
interested in it.
It's a strange thing, but neither Ed nor Bill, both professional writers,
never sold any national magazine articles about their encounters with
Oswald. I think the reason was because Ed always wanted to add too much
anti-Communist "propaganda", and Bill was never interested in discussing
"conspiracy" theories. By the late '60s, the national newspapers and
magazines were only interested in "conspiracy" stories, and they weren't
interested in a basic story about what we learned and observed about Oswald.
Simple, "I knew Oswald" type stories would not sell. The media always wanted
"Oswald and the Giant Conspiracy" type stories.
In the late '50s or early '60s, Ed Butler left the Army (I think it was the
Army), and thought up an idea about how to "fight Communism" in his hometown
of New Orleans. Ed was quite a "talker" and he worked his way into
anti-Communist business circles and got financial support to start INCA. The
earliest basic principle of INCA was to make anti-Communist propaganda
tapes, called "INCA Truth Tapes", in the Spanish language, and send them
free to radio stations all over Latin America, as a method of discouraging
Communism among the peasants.
Ed had a long supply of Cuban refugee names of people in New Orleans, and he
arranged for those people to be interviewed about their experiences in
Castro's Cuba. He made self-contained little audio programs out of each tape
and then INCA mailed free copies of them down to dozens of Latin American
radio stations. Generally speaking, wealthy New Orleans businessmen helped
finance Ed's project. Those guys not only hated Communism, but they were
concerned that other Latin countries would turn Communistic and that would
cut off their various business contacts in Latin America.
Anti-Communism was basically a side-interest of Dr. Ochsner's. He was mainly
a wealthy old doctor who built Ochsner's clinic (a well-known hospital) in
New Orleans. And on the side, he was concerned that Communism would take
over the Western Hemisphere. So he supported Ed Butler and INCA.
Bill Stuckey died of a heart attack in San Francisco in the early '90s. I
think he was about 60 years old at the time.
Ed was interviewed on.... I think it was the Discovery or The Learning
Channel for an Oswald documentary in the mid '90s. I think that's the last I
heard of him.
Ed Butler had old-time anti-Communist contacts, and they had contacts with
the old House Committee on Un-American Activities. In the early '60s, that
was the biggest government organization that kept track of Communists in the
US, other than the FBI. Information would be shared by Committee members
with any person or journalist deemed trustworthy and anti-Communist. One or
more of Ed's contacts was where Ed got the information about Oswald being a
"defector".
During the liberal political era of the late 1970s, the House Committee was
abolished, and federal laws were passed making it difficult for people like
Ed to get information out of the old House Committee files.
In 1963, Bill Stuckey had contacts within the FBI in New Orleans, which was
common among reporters in those days. Every good freelance reporter had
contacts with various local and federal agencies back then. The FBI had not
yet been burned with bad experiences from reporters. That didn't begin to
happen until the era of the Church Committee Hearings in the mid-'70s, when
a lot of reporters turned liberal and turned against the FBI. So in '63, FBI
agents were allowed to become friendly with various reporters who seemed to
be on their side and who didn't seem to be Marxist or Communistic.
Stuckey took his copy of his first interview tape to the local New Orleans
FBI office and he let the FBI guys copy the tape. While he did that, he
fished around for information, and he learned from agents that Oswald had
once been a "defector" to the Soviet Union. That was typical of the
relationship between some reporters and the FBI in those days. They "shared"
information. The FBI was a good confidential source of information for
reporters and reporters were a good confidential source of information for
the FBI.
Peter Fokes
"Michael O'Dell" <ml...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3e65...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu...
>
> "Peter Fokes" <pfo...@rogers.com> wrote in message
> news:3e60...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu...
> > Here's an item I'd never seen before...a record album entitled
> > Self-Portrait in Red from 1965 under Spoken word category on Ebay. I guess
> > it has tracks of Oswald speaking. Kinda pricey though... $85 to buy now.
> > Here's the picture:
> >
> >
>
> The following is commentary supplied to me in response to my asking about
> the "Oswald, Self Portrait in Red" album.
>
> The person that wrote this commentary was in New Orleans in 1963 and has
> either first-hand knowledge of the events, or knew the principals.
>
> Some of you will likely have opinions about who wrote this. I ask the
favor
> that you keep them to yourself. He values his privacy.
>
> This is supplied in the interest of sharing a little background history.
Thank you, Michael. It would be interesting to know how many of each of
the two records were produced, how the record was promoted, etc. Of
course, at that time few doubted that Oswald really was what he appeared
to be. I don't quite understand the purpose of producing the record. Was
it strictly to make money or was there a political motivation behind it?
Peter Fokes
Blackburst
>Army), and thought up an idea about how to "fight Communism" in his hometown
>of New Orleans. Ed was quite a "talker" and he
>worked his way into
>anti-Communist business circles and got financial support to start INCA.
Here's a brief segment of my manuscript "Perfect Villan: David Ferrie and the
JFK Mystery" dealing with Butler, Free Voice and INCA. (I hope MSWorks
translates to the internet OK !!!):
The Free Voice of Latin America group was beginning to have qualms about the
activities of Bill Dalzell, who seemed to be more interested in spending money
than in raising it. Toward the end of February, Dalzell was dismissed by the
Free Voice for "charging office equipment under the corporate name."
Secretary-Treasurer Bill Klein found a suitable replacement at a Free Voice
presentation at a meeting of the Young Men's Business Association. Edward
Scannel Butler III had been a male model, a Fuller Brush salesman and an
advertising agent, but now he was active in right-wing politics and described
himself as a "Conflict Manager", a professional anti-Communist. Klein's "first
impression of this young man was favorable. He seemed agressive and dynamic,
precisely what the organization needed. Butler turned out to be an incredible
organizer and in a few short months he had gotten together a board composed of
prominent New Orleans citizens." But his radicalism quickly put Butler at odds
with the organization.
"Ed Butler was ultimately asked to leave the Free Voice of Latin America. This
young man's ultra right-wing views were not only embarrassing but in my
opinion, dangerous. After assuming office as Executive Director, this
ex-John Bircher metamorphosized into a kind of leashed Robespierre. He could
think of nothing but the danger of some kind of globe-encircling communist
conspiracy and that it
was the primary goal of the Free Voice to warn the people of Latin America. His
insistence on "exporting" this message abroad made his removal from office
mandatory...
In spite of these apparent shortcomings, Butler formed his own organization -
The Information Council of the Americas (INCA) and induced every member of our
Board to join his organization. This seduction of our membership arrested the
growth of Free Voice...
Butler is one of those people with so little faith in his country that he
perceives it's imminent downfall. He calls himself an expert on Communism [and]
can quote
from the Manifesto, but has never heard of the Federalist Papers or the writing
of Tocqueville. Butler once told me that fighting Communism was his whole life
but
conversely, one is never really sure what people like this are defending."(33)
Butler would go on to play a minor role in the story of David William Ferrie
and a more substantial role in the story of Lee Harvey Oswald.
James K. Olmstead
forward to it being published. I might have asked you this in the past
however, I thought I would ask again...memory is fading after all these
years of newsgroup discussions.
In connection to your work dealing with INCA and Free Voice did you ever
run across a Cuban named Santiago de Juan? Santiago was a Cuban radio
personnality who fled Cuba in late 1962, first going to Cleveland and then
to New Orleans.
If you don't want to post a long answer that's ok, I'm just interested if
you ran across the guy, during August 1963.
jko
"Blackburst" <black...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030306105730...@mb-fb.aol.com...
Blackburst
Thanks for the nice words about my work-in-progress. It looks at Ferrie
from a variety of angles, taking no sides, and puts on the record a lot of
information for the first time. I don't know about general sales, but JFK
researchers will find it readable and useful. I think a couple of writers
may publish short excerpts from it this year.
I had to send that segment from my new laptop, which has unbelievably
small AOL graphics (anybody know how to make them bigger?), and I
misspelled my own title! Correct: "Perfect Villain: David Ferrie and the
JFK Mystery".
>In connection to your work dealing with INCA and Free Voice did you ever
>run across a Cuban named Santiago de Juan? Santiago was a Cuban radio
>personnality who fled Cuba in late 1962, first going to Cleveland and then
>to New Orleans.
The name doesn't ring a bell. Does he connect with Ferrie at all? I have a
general file on miscellaneous Cuban activities in NO, and I'll check to
see if he's there.
James K. Olmstead
Cleveland. Cleveland was having a great deal of problems with Cuban
Exhiles "taking jobs" when the city was having a great deal of
un-employment. I can't directly connect him to Ferrie, because I never
was able to get the record of phone calls DWF had with people outside of
his family in Cleveland, or other parts of Ohio.
If you run across the name.....please remember my interest. He has CIA and
Mafia connections, encountered Lee and is of interest in my script "Cuban
Shadows". Since he is one of the main characters.
keep us posted on the book. I have one heading to the publisher on the
fingerprints shortly so I know the problems you can face.
jko
1974
> "Peter Fokes" <pfo...@rogers.com> wrote in message
> news:3e60...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu...
> > Here's an item I'd never seen before...a record album entitled
> > Self-Portrait in Red from 1965 under Spoken word category on Ebay. I guess
> > it has tracks of Oswald speaking. Kinda pricey though... $85 to buy now.
> > Here's the picture:
>
> I've found out more about this album put out by INCA!
>
> Ed Butler drew the illustration on the cover!!
> Link to Audio Clip below:
>
> <quote on>
>
> OSWALD: SELF PORTRAIT IN RED
> Copyright 1964 by the Information Council of the Americas (INCA)
> INCA Records
> Mastering by Cosimo Recording Studios
> Narration by Marshall Pearce
>
> And a Audio Clip!!!!
>
> http://www.conelrad.com/media/oswald_01.ram
>
> Introduction by the Hon. T. Hale Boggs (D-Louisiana), Congressman from
> Louisiana and House Majority Whip, in whose District the debate was held,
> and who supported the INCA TRUTH TAPES program from the outset.
>