connoisseur series500 Posted September 24, 2003 Report Posted September 24, 2003 When I was young my father used to stick on Louie Prima, "Call of the Wildest." Imagine my surprise when I ran into a collection of Prima's stuff from three sessions including "Call of the Wildest." I've listened to it quite a bit and there are some good spots, but I cannot get into this stuff. the music is atrocious. His singing is decent and he is definitely funny, but the music, again, just sucks. Sounds like a vastly inferior Louis Armstrong. Am I missing anything here? Quote
Harold_Z Posted September 24, 2003 Report Posted September 24, 2003 Am I missing anything here? Yes. There's some really good things happening here and as far as the HOKUM - that's well in the New Orleans and entertainment tradition and convention of the times. Prima was undoubtedly influenced by Pops, but I don't see that as any kind of negative or as anything unusual in trumpet players from New Orleans who were roughly Pops' contemporaries or came a little after him. I think we can safely say there are a lot of trumpeters and entertainers who are NO equal to Louis Armstrong. As a matter of fact - that's an understatement. Prima was one of the major lounge acts - the Jazz was secondary to the entertainment, but it was present, and the jazz went from 50s R&B to Dixieland and everything in between. The band, led by Sam Butera, who was an outstanding musician, swung like mad. The rythym section was VERY hapenning. The act was a MAJOR influence on lounge acts and bar bands in my area of the country, and I suspect it was pretty big elsewhere. I urge anyone interested in this band to check out a video entitled THE WILDEST. I think you will be highly entertained and it will also put the Vegas act into perspective....and you'll get to see some 30s footage of PeeWee Russell...and PeeWee is doing SHTICK with Prima! ...and PeeWee considered his time with Prima as a musical high in his career. There was a good thread at the now defunct board that went into a lot of this. That's just my thoughts at 6:00 AM - I hope this discussion develops more. I'm not going to have a lot of computer time for the next week or so, but I'm looking forward to checking in on it when I can. Quote
jazzbo Posted September 24, 2003 Report Posted September 24, 2003 Well, I have a lot of Prima and enjoy the forties and fifties material for what it is, entertaining music, and love the thirties material---it is hot jazz of high order in my opinion, with the sides wtih Pee Wee Russell being a big highpoint for me (I'm a huge Russell nut.) Prima called Russell somtinghinlike "the finest musical mind" he ever met. Their music together is wonderful to hear in my opinion. Quote
clandy44 Posted September 24, 2003 Report Posted September 24, 2003 I have the Mosaic Prima but nothing else of his. Needless to say, the Prima music of the 30s was jazz through and through and highly entertaining. If Prima can be accused of mugging too much, so can Fats and many others-none of that criticism bothers me because I have always found it historically and musically interesting. Eventually, I will follow Prima into his 40s and 50s work to see if I admire it as much as his 30s stuff. Quote
Bright Moments Posted May 27, 2004 Report Posted May 27, 2004 Imagine my surprise when I ran into a collection of Prima's stuff from three sessions including "Call of the Wildest." I've listened to it quite a bit and there are some good spots, but I cannot get into this stuff. the music is atrocious. His singing is decent and he is definitely funny, but the music, again, just sucks. paul - send it to me! B) Quote
JSngry Posted May 27, 2004 Report Posted May 27, 2004 Am I missing anything here? Yeah, probably. Quote
GA Russell Posted May 27, 2004 Report Posted May 27, 2004 I have a Rhino collection of his Las Vegas 50s stuff called Zooma, Zooma which I enjoy from time to time. But there is a sameness to the music on it, and I've never been tempted to buy more. But I'm glad I have what I have. Quote
Pete C Posted May 27, 2004 Report Posted May 27, 2004 Not someone I listen to much, but I would have loved to have seen "The Wildest!" show live. Quote
jazzman4133 Posted May 27, 2004 Report Posted May 27, 2004 (edited) These are my Louie Prima albums. The first two are definately worthwhile for dixieland fans. They are both on the Classics label. As you can see, "Call of The Wildest" is paired with "Wildest Show....." on a CD with both LPs on it. Pretty Music and Wonderland At Night, both LPs are also on one CD. This is definately late night background music. The first two should be your choice if you want to find out what Louie was really like before his lounge act. LOUIS PRIMA & HIS NEW ORLEANS GANG 1934-1935 LOUIS PRIMA & HIS NEW ORLEANS GANG 1935-1936 LOUIS PRIMA & KEELY SMITH: TOGETHER LOUIS PRIMA & KEELY SMITH-BUONA SERA LOUIS PRIMA FEATURING KEELY SMITH LOUIS PRIMA VOLUME 1 LOUIS PRIMA: 1940'S BROADCASTS W. KEELY SMITH. VOL. 2 LOUIS PRIMA: 1944-1945 LOUIS PRIMA: BEEPIN' & BOPPIN' LOUIS PRIMA: BREAKING IT UP LOUIS PRIMA: CALL OF WILDEST/WILDEST SHOW AT TAHOE LOUIS PRIMA: LET'S SWING IT LOUIS PRIMA: PRETTY MUSIC/WONDERLAND BY NIGHT LOUIS PRIMA: SAY IT WITH A SLAP Edited May 27, 2004 by jazzman4133 Quote
DrJ Posted May 28, 2004 Report Posted May 28, 2004 I have yet to delve into the 30's Prima stuff, can't wait until that Mosaic box makes it up on my list (I buy them in chronological order of release). Regarding the Keely Smith years, not incredibly deep music obviously, but fiery and obviously accomplished and most importantly great and innocent fun. But then again I'm mostly Italian and the music has been a part of family get togethers since as long as I can remember. It's funny because some of my extended family, if you asked them, would say they don't like jazz - yet they were listening to it all along (albeit a little Tahoe-ized!). Butera was (and apparently still is) one hell of a saxophone player, too. Quote
JSngry Posted May 28, 2004 Report Posted May 28, 2004 The thing for me about the Vegas-era Prima stuff is 1) it's tighter than a gnat's ass yet played with verve and elan - clever, by no means predicatable or cliched arrangements (their version of "Skin" is just plain nuts!) executed with all the fun of a good bar band; and 2) the shit is New Orleans ALL the way out the wazzo. Some people don't know that N.O. was as big a seminal influence on R&B as it was on jazz. In Prima's 50s stuff, though, it's right there in front of you - Butera (who btw was WAAAAAAYYYY ahead of the pack as far as white guys playing R&B sax with a real feel/concept) plays "Trad" clarinet licks with the tone of a greasy bar-walker (snf vice-versa!), and a tune can go from a dirty shuffle into a "dixieland" collective blowout in the drop of a hat, and without you really noticing it if you're not thinking about it. But there it is! Some of the stuff that band did was silly, insipid, corny, whatever, but the best of it rings true to me as genuine "folk" music (the musical/cultural melting pot that was/is New Orleans) that got lucky and was able to be packaged for mass consumption w/o losing any of its essence, at least a good enough percentage of the time. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that there are still people around from that time who LIVE that vibe, musically and personally, and who always have. It's real. Quote
John L Posted May 29, 2004 Report Posted May 29, 2004 (edited) Prima is OK with me too. The first time I heard the recordings with Keely Smith and Butera, I was....well....alarmed. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. But it sure did sound different, even though every element was very familiar. Edited May 29, 2004 by John L Quote
Brownian Motion Posted May 29, 2004 Report Posted May 29, 2004 Life is too short for much Prima, even prime Prima. Quote
RDK Posted May 31, 2004 Report Posted May 31, 2004 fun makes life last longer I'll agree with this, Prima or otherwise! Quote
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