 Happy Fourth of July  | a JL production Louis Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an Italian-American singer, actor, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he formed a seven-piece New Orleans-style jazz band in the late 1920s, fronted a swing combo in the 1930s and a big band group in the 1940s, helped to popularize jump blues in the late 1940s and early to mid 1950s, and performed as a Vegas lounge act in the late 1950s and 1960s. |
| From the 1940s through the 1960s, his music compassed early R&B and rock'n'roll, boogie-woogie, and even Italian folk music, such as the tarantella. Prima made prominent use of Italian music and language in his songs, blending elements of his Italian identity with jazz and swing music. At a time when "ethnic" musicians were often discouraged from openly stressing their ethnicity, Prima's conspicuous embrace of his Italian ethnicity opened the doors for other Italian-American and "ethnic" American musicians to display their ethnic roots.[1][2] | |
| In 1954 Prima was offered to stay at The Sahara in Las Vegas to open his new act with Keely Smith.[4] He enlisted New Orleans saxophonist Sam Butera and his backing musicians, "The Witnesses".[4] The act was a hit, and ultimately led Prima to sign with Capitol Records in 1955.[4] He released his first album with Capitol Records, The Wildest!, in September 1956.[4] Some of the popular songs include his medley of "Just a Gigolo" and "I Ain't Got Nobody".[4] | |
In 1957, they released The Call of the Wildest. Keely worked with other artists to release the album I Wish You Love, and received a Grammy for it in 1958.[4] Keely also received a Playboy Jazz Award in 1959. She got a number one female vocalist reward in 1958/1959 from Billboard and Variety.[4] The duo also redid "Old Black Magic", which was a Top 40 hit for two months. It earned the duo a Grammy. The couple also had two daughters together,[4] one of whom, Toni, is an actress and singer in her own right.[5]
| The constant performances and Prima's sometimes flirtatious actions were too much for Smith. After finishing up their contract at the Desert Inn, she filed for divorce at the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court of Nevada in Las Vegas.[4] After Keely was out of his life and his performances, Prima tried to prove that he did not need her. In the New York Post, there was a suggestion that Keely should rejoin for an act in New York's Basin Street East nightclub. | |
Prima said, "I have no desire whatsoever to have any dealings with Keely Smith under any conditions…There is nothing in the world or no one that could ever make me accept this woman in our act."[4] In 1962, he tried to form his own recording company called "Prima One Records".[4] He tried to fill Keely's spot with Gia Maione, a waitress who was 21 years old. He did his best to make her famous by producing her first album "This Is … Gia." It was funded entirely by him, and it was not successful.[4] With Gia, his fifth wife, Prima had a daughter and his only son Louis Prima, Jr., the last of his six children.
| In 1967, Prima landed a role in Walt Disney's animated feature The Jungle Book, as the raucous orangutan King Louie. He performed the hit song "I Wan'na Be like You" on the soundtrack, leading to the recording of two albums with Phil Harris: The Jungle Book and More Jungle Book, and also covering MC duties and singing the theme song "Winnie the Pooh", for the 1967 album entitled, Happy Birthday Winnie the Pooh, all of these on Disneyland Records. | |
He can also be heard on the soundtrack of another cartoon feature, The Man Called Flintstone. One of Prima's final television appearances was on What's My Line? as a "mystery guest" in 1970.
Prima suffered a heart attack in 1973. Two years later, following headaches and episodes of memory loss, he sought medical attention, and was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and went into a coma following surgery. He never recovered, and died three years later, in 1978,
Prima suffered a heart attack in 1973. Two years later, following headaches and episodes of memory loss, he sought medical attention, and was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and went into a coma following surgery. He never recovered, and died three years later, in 1978,
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