ARTIST: Louis Prima
TITLE: Jump, Jive An' Wail: The Essential Louis Prima
LABEL: Capitol Records
GENRE: Swing
BITRATE: 156kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 18m total
RELEASE DATE: 2007-07-17
RIP DATE: 2007-07-03
Track List
----------
1. Angelina/Zooma Zooma (Live 4:21
Medley)
2. Jump, Jive An' Wail 3:29
3. That Old Black Magic (w/Keely 2:57
Smith)
4. Oh Marie 2:24
5. The Lip (w/Keely Smith) 2:19
6. Bourbon Street Blues 2:14
7. I've Got You Under My Skin 2:39
(w/Keely Smith)
8. Pennies From Heaven 2:22
9. Hey Boy! Hey Girl (w/Keely 2:41
Smith)
10. Luigi 2:46
11. (Up A) Lazy River 3:28
12. When You're Smiling/The Sheik 4:00
Of Araby
13. I've Got The World On A String 2:27
14. Sing Sing Sing 4:11
15. Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got 4:44
Nobody
16. Felicia No Capecia 3:02
17. 5 Months, 2 Weeks, 2 Days 2:11
18. St. Louis Blues 2:57
19. When The Saints Go Marching In 2:41
20. Big Daddy 2:46
21. Just One Of Those Things 2:38
22. Buona Sera 3:00
23. I Wan'na Be Like You (The 4:04
Monkey Song)
24. Hello Dolly! 2:36
25. Cabaret 2:39
26. Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, 3:18
Bongo)
Release Notes:
On July 17, Capitol/EMI will release new single-disc hits collections for Louis
Prima and Keely Smith on CD and digitally, featuring the best solo and
collaborative work of the formerly married big band and swing music icons.
Jump, Jive An' Wail: The Essential Louis Prima gathers 26 of the late Grammy
winner's classics, including "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)," which
makes its first-ever appearance on a Prima compilation, "Jump, Jive An' Wail,
"Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody," "Buona Sera," and "Just One Of Those
Things." Known as the "King of the Swingers," Grammy Award winning Louis Prima
swung his way to icon status thanks to an infectious sound whose appeal
translated across generations.
Keely Smith: The Essential Capitol Collection features 27 of Smith's best
recordings, including a previously unreleased live version of "When Day Is Done"
from the Sahara with an intro by Prima, and two classic duets with Frank
Sinatra. This ultimate single-disc collection also includes many of her most
sought-after solo recordings with orchestral direction by Nelson Riddle and
Billy May.
Discovered in New Orleans in 1934 by bandleader Guy Lombardo, Louis Prima's
breakthrough year was 1935, when he garnered rave reviews at The Famous Door in
New York, packing the club with his down-homey slant on jazz and his hilarious -
and somewhat suggestive - approach to the art of singing. Prima moved to
Hollywood later that year, and before long, he was a bi-coastal sensation
co-starring with Bing Crosby in Paramount's Rhythm On The Range. Wow, being the
official nfo typer sure does suck sometimes. Especially with these long
paragraphs. Anyways, I should get back to work.
By the early '50s the big band era had cooled. Prima survived by paring down
his group and hitting the road on one-nighters. His ace-in-the-hole was his new
girl singer, a 16 year old christened Dorothy Jacqueline Keely who joined his
act as Keely Smith.
Prima and Smith performed a dizzying five shows a night at the Sahara Hotel's
Casbar Lounge in Las Vegas, beginning at midnight and ending at 6am. They
married, and for the rest of the '50s reigned supreme on The Strip. Prima moved
the show to the main room at the Sands for a reported three million dollars.
Recording contracts at Capitol Records followed, where they made the most famous
recordings of their careers, many recorded live by Capitol's state-of-the-art
remote facilities.
Perhaps Louis Prima's most durable recording - due to the sheer number of
generations it has transcended - is his jaunty take on "I Wan'na Be Like You
(The Monkey Song)." His musical legacy, solidified by the brilliant work he did
at Capitol, is radiantly captured on this consummate collection. Prima's vital
influence on the swing genre continues to this day.
Less than a week after Prima's group cut its first Capitol recordings, Smith was
recording solo with none other than arranger extraordinaire Nelson Riddle. "I
Wish You Love" became the title track of her debut LP and was nominated for a
1958 Grammy in the Best Female Vocal category. She lost out to one of her
idols, Ella Fitzgerald, but she and Prima won the award that year for Best Vocal
Group for their landmark recording of "That Old Black Magic." As part of
Prima's entourage, Smith was Louis' 'straight-man' supreme, flinging zingers and
musical counterpoints to his shouts and verbal anarchy. On her own, she was a
high priestess of the art of pop singing.
Besides the I Wish You Love collection, Smith made two other superb solo albums
for Capitol, Politely with the masterful Billy May and Swinging Pretty, her
second collaboration with Nelson Riddle. She added to her recording legacy with
a group of first-rate albums for Dot and Reprise throughout the 1960s, before
devoting the rest of the century to rearing her children. Well, I'm almost
done, but i've got to go to the washroom. I'll just end it here, no one will
notice.