Best Louis Armstrong LP to Start With?

If you start with just one, I would second Rushton's recommendation of the Satchmo Plays King Oliver LP. Both the musicianship and the recording quality are stunning.

I love the Ella & Louis LPs and Satchmo Plays King Oliver but if its Louis' best music you are after you need to get the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings from the beginning of his career. These are not audiophile fair, but they are musically astonishing. Columbia released these as LPs several years ago, but even if you can only find these recordings as CDs they are so essential that I would never let that stop me from getting them.

Agree with above: "St. James Infirmary" Classic Records 45rpm will blow your mind!

The 4 cd " portrait of an artist as a young man". Also the Ellington/Armstrong cd has been remastered and the sonics are FANTASTIC. - Jim

Strangely enough, on my system the Echoes of an Era with Armstrong and Ellington is about as good as it gets, usually used and barely played if at all for around $6.