Lionel Hampton on Letterman, 1980 (m) and 1987 (st.) 

My late dad's all time favorite musician. I did not know he was on either show. Thanks Don.

The quality of the musicians and guests was outstanding on that show

Got to see the great Lionel Hampton in Carbondale, Illinois in the early 1990's.

😙 How can you not smile? LOVELY!

Thank you @donz! This was a total gem!

Amazing little portal to the past!

Don, thank you for this upload. I think of my dad, who loved jazz for all of his life (growing up from the late '30s into the early '50s), who was a fan of Lionel Hampton and Dave Letterman, and who loved "Summertime," a song he was proud to perform on drum set using mallets. I wish he could have seen this.

Very cool! I have a few of his lps.

The origin of the synthesizer (?) Beautiful. Thanks Don! 👍

Oooh a nice treat ! Oddly, only about 2 weeks ago I 'discovered' LH. Although I knew of him I didn't know any of his songs. My new favorite song/record is a lesser-known one of his named 'Martin on Every Block', a bouncy catchy tune from '41, named in honor of the NY DJ Martin Block, in the 40s. He was the first to play records on the radio, increasing exposure for the bands and musicians, including Lionel

brings back the warm memories of listening to Jazz After Hours on the radio and the heavenly vibes of Hampton

Yooo that’s wild

Thanks for the upload, Don! The second song is a John Coltrane tune called "Mr. P.C."

Shit Lionel those are some sweet jams me and mama ganja thank you brother melt my worries away 🥰

1. I was so upset as a 10yo when the morning show went off and was replaced locally by Richard Simmons. 2. Those shutters are soo 80s.

I loved the daytime David Letterman show. This episode aired the day I turned 18 years old! It Doesn’t feel like it was over 41 years ago. 🤔

If you were a good deal older, Don, you'd have the meeting of Steve Allen and Art Tatum who played "together" on the Tonight Show. Of course, Steve could really play, but Tatum was like a rocket ship to the moon, compared with Steve's sensible automobile ride. 1980 was such a great clip, and Hamp's meeting with Louis really did result in a truly nice recording of "Memories of You".

The audio on that 1980 set is as good as any Cal Tjader record from that time. Mono!!

Legend 👏

Actual music on letterman!

Hey Don, you may be the only person who can answer this question with so little to go on. Do you remember a Late Night guest who was supposed to be so smart you could ask him any sort of advice and he'd have an answer for you, but after a few minutes it began to look like he had no real depth of knowledge? After that appearance, Late Night began to mock him with their own version of a guy who acted like he knew it all but was clearly just a fraud, and then the original guest turned around and sued over the show's mocking him. I can't remember any more details. Also, thanks for all your archival work. You and Dave have brought a lot of laughter into my life!

Is it true Michael McDonald wrote that old David Letterman Show theme?

Please edit to a new video Christ Elliot Leprechaun skit 12:20.

.......And Lionel's dead...:(