This has been one of my all time favorite records since I was a kid raiding my father’s record collection in search of something different. This live set of Louis Prima and his wife Keely Smith knocked me out. I think it was a best seller in 1958 so you see this in most used record stores, but it remained my personal discovery for many years until David Lee Roth did a cheesey remake of “Just a Gigilo” and the Gap used “Jump, Jive and Wail” in a ubiquitous TV commercial.

As fun as Louis Prima and the high-voltage swing of Sam Butera and the Witnesses, it was also the sweet and seductive singing of Smith that hooked me. Both when joking around with Louis and singing soft and pretty, Keely remains a favorite.

(14 votes, average: 4.36 out of 5)

 Loading ...