Live From las Vegas
Louis Prima
Producer: Frank Collura
Capitol/EMI Records, 2005
1 CD
Catalogue #: 75937
EAN: 0724387593725
UPC: 724387593725
You save: 20%
This includes 13 previously unreleased tracks.
Personnel: Louis Prima; Keely Smith; Sam Butera & The Witnesses.
Liner Note Author: James Ritz.
Talented, comic, lovable, and zany, Louis Prima and Keely Smith were one of several acts who became virtually synonymous with Las Vegas. They knew how to work as a team (their rapport was legendary), and they also knew how to put on a show that mirrored the freewheeling nightlife of Sin City. Backed by the hard-swinging, sax-dominated sounds of Sam Butera & the Witnesses (who appear here), Prima and Smith were legendary for having "the wildest show on the Strip."
All of those qualities and more are revealed on this excellent live document, recorded at the Sahara. Like many of the recordings in the LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS series, this set boasts crystalline sound and a warm, intimate quality that gives the listener the impression of being stage-side. In addition to the excellent vocal performances (Smith's "Nothing Can Replace a Man" and Prima's "Too Marvelous for Words," among others), the duo's comic banter makes the experience complete. Of particular interest--and Prima completists should take note here--is that of the album's 19 tracks, 13 are previously unreleased, making LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS a rare and unique recording, in addition to its value as a rollicking good time.
Tracklist
Louis Prima
New Orleans-born singer/trumpeter Louis Prima started recording in the 1930s with his New Orleans Gang. Around this time, he also composed the classic swing tune "Sing, Sing, Sing," which became a smash for Benny Goodman. In the '40s, Prima started working with singer Keely Smith, who he eventually married. With a raucous stage show mixing swing, R&B, some Italian flavor, and a hefty dose of humor, they were hugely successful all the way into the early '60s. Prima later earned accolades as the voice of King Louie in the hit Disney film THE JUNGLE BOOK. He passed away in 1978, but Smith went on performing and recording into the 21st century.
