Louis Prima The Wildest 1982 RE RM Applause Keely Smith Sam Butera
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Description
Louis Prima The Wildest 1982 RE RM Applause Keely Smith Sam Butera Archival sleeve
The Wildest! is an album by Louis Prima, first released in 1956. It features singer Keely Smith with saxophonist Sam Butera and the Witnesses. It is considered an innovative mixture of early rock and roll, jump blues and jazz as well as eccentric humor.
Seriously, this is some fantastic music. People are always saying "Crank It Up!" on their favorite rock records, but crank this up and you will be in for a ride! Lucky to have a clean pressing...it's the bomb. Even though I am a rock fan first, this is some good stuff! I'm going to buy one of the reissues just to see how it compares. Great album and so full of life!
A veritable greatest-hits album, The Wildest! is the gem of Louis Prima's catalogue. None of his other efforts transcend its raunchy mix of demented gibberish, blaring sax, and explosive swing, which rocked as hard as anything released at the time. Almost all of Prima's signature songs are found here: "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody," "Oh Marie," "Jump, Jive, an' Wail," and "Buona Sera," to name a few. A plethora of greatest-hits packages (especially Capitol's Collectors Series) may offer wider song selection and greater value, but the reissue of Prima's masterpiece is a welcome event that's been a long time coming.
Louis Prima was a well-known 1930s and 1940s trumpeter and singer who had a moderate series of hit singles at that time. He initially gained popularity in his home city of New Orleans and later in New York. By 1954, Prima had joined a Louisiana band led by Sam Butera. With Prima's stage partner and wife Keely Smith, he, Butera and the Witnesses secured a gig at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. They soon became the most popular act in that city.
On April 19, 1956 the band gathered at the casino lounge to record tracks for the album. Capitol Records attempted to retain Prima's "in person" performance and spirit to capture what he referred to as "three o'clock in the morning at the Sahara" with the group. One of the songs recorded, "Jump, Jive, an' Wail" would become a hit through Brian Setzer's cover version in 1998.
The Wildest! was reissued on August 13, 2002, by producer Michael Cuscuna. The album contains four additional tracks recorded on September 13, 1956 as well as new liner notes by the producer
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