1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 6. Louis Prima – The Wildest! (1956)


Ah! We come to one of my karaoke specialities – Just a Gigolo. Although I kind of do the David Lee Roth version more than Louis’ original, but who can resist? And while researching this I discover that this is, in fact, two earlier songs mashed together – Just a Gigolo and I Ain’t Got Nobody. But they go together so well. 

The musical genre here is mainly “jump blues”, which blends some of the elements of swing and big band, but is characterised by the kind of call-response elements seen in Just A Gigolo (and a signature feature for Cab Calloway). Many of the tracks have Prima’s then wife Keely Smith on vocals, and she provides a wonderful counterpart to Prima’s characteristic raspy voice. 

Prima and Smith have fun with the lyrics, notably on The Lip, about the secret formula of a wizard horn player, but the band also has musical fun, slipping suddenly into The Hall of the Mountain King on the instrumental track Body and Soul. You can almost hear the smiles through the music. Prima also likes to pay homage to his Italian heritage with some great vocal tricks with either Italian or Italian-esque nonsense (I can’t tell) on the track Oh Marie. Of all the albums so far this was the most fun to listen to. 

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