Customer Reviews

Call of the Wildest/Wildest Show at Tahoe

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We have a need to pidgeon hole music. So we call Louie Prima,Keely Smith,and Sam Butera and the Witnesses,"Mob Music", "Lounge Music","Las Vegas cool" and none of it is right, but all of it is right, and so much more. New Orleans born,trumpet Player Louie Prima is credited in some Jazz encyclopedia with inventing "Scat Singing" but he was much more. He made movies,did television,palyed and sang Pop music, and Jazz and "Rock 'n Roll" in Longes and concert venues. Always the showman, in Vegas and Tahoe he drew crowds that alway included entertainment ledgends and just plain folks,whenever they played. Wheather the seductive Jazz Balads and love songs that Keely Smith lent her talent to,or the straight faced rockin' tunes she and Louie perfected long before Sonny and Cher,you were always more than entertained. Most of the limited knowledge of Italian I have, Prima brought with him from the large Italian community in New Orleans to his music and his recordings,and for a few minutes while listening and patting your feet,you became Italian too. When you buy this album please take note of the driving sounds of Sam Butera,one of the most under rated Sax players in the music business. Old Sammy is still working he was here in Columbus at the Italian festival two years ago,and works Atlantic City quite a bit as well. The Stray Cats and Sonny and Cher are just two groups of performers who owe, in large part, much of what they are and were to Louie Prima,Keely Smith,and Sam Butera and the Witnesses. Buy this CD, the stuff in here will Knock your sox off and rock your world,and in short, it is just great great fun....

Although he's likely listening to the ethereal harmonizing of an angel choir now, when my Pa (who was truly one of my best friends) was still with us, his favorite vocalists were Nat King Cole and Dinah Washington. But the records I remember him most often playing were 'Golden Hits' by Roger Miller (he had a penchant for waking us up for school by blasting, 'You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd') and the two LOUIS PRIMA albums collected here on this one cd.

As a little kid I was fascinated by the cover photo on 'THE CALL OF THE WILDEST' and I spent a lot of time scrutinizing it. I thought that the over-the-top rambunctiousness of the song THERE'LL BE NO NEXT TIME was hilarious (and I didn't even know what adultery was!)

The second album, 'THE WILDEST SHOW AT TAHOE', recorded live at Harrah's Club in 1958 always reminds me of our family vacation to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, about fourteen years later : Out on the lake in a small boat, my Pa says, "Look at the size of that fish!" Stephen, like the idiot he was and is, peers over the side of the boat and gets the predictable shove in the back. My Pa knew he had erred when I resurfaced bluer than the lake. Cold? Folks, you don't even know what cold is until your Pa has pushed you into the notoriously frigid Lake Tahoe! My brain was instantaneously transformed into blue raspberry Jello. Forget swimming! I couldn't even remember how to dog paddle! But over the years, that regrettable little event gained me great leverage - "Pa, you remember that time when you........?" Ah, such fond memories this disc calls to mind for me.

The music produced by this top-notch small jazz band (featuring Sam Butera on tenor sax) is consistently good. It's performed fast and loose with a sense of humor and an eye toward the novelty. But they play it straight (and quite well) on most of those numbers that feature Keely Smith. Two things about Keely that cannot be disputed: 1) She was perpetually in great need of a decent hair stylist. 2) The lady could really sing! I like her renditions of AUTUMN LEAVES and THE BIRTH OF THE BLUES, but I love FOGGY DAY and I GOTTA RIGHT TO SING THE BLUES with its shifts in tempo. This may be the definitive take on these songs.

LOUIS PRIMA, of course, supplied the voice for the animated character, King Louie, in Disney's original movie THE JUNGLE BOOK (1967). If you liked his singing in that, you'll like his singing in this - they're essentially cut from the same cloth. THERE'LL BE NO NEXT TIME still cracks me up, and this is simply the best Tenor Sax-Honkin' Italian Jazz Novelty Lounge Music I own. In fact, this is the ONLY Tenor Sax-Honkin' Italian Jazz Novelty Lounge Music I own. Afterall, it's not exactly an extensive genre, you know.

As an adult in 1990, I had the great pleasure to visit Las Vegas with my Pa, and to catch Keely Smith and Sam Butera at the Sands Hotel playing on a stage the size of a Klondike Bar. Keely was still in desperate need of a decent hair stylist, but vocally the gal could still bring it. They were great fun. After the show, my Pa and I sauntered across the Vegas Strip to get a drink at Caesar's Palace, where he pushed me into a Roman Fountain in the Hotel courtyard. Not exactly the "drink" I'd had in mind. Gee, how I miss the Old Man, but I've still got his music!

Many people from my generation mostly remember Louis Prima as the singer who lent his voice to the Disney "Jungle Book" movie character "King Louis". This man was, one of the great jazz singers, trumpet players, and band leaders in his time.He also was married to at time one of the most talented women singers ever, Keely Smith(who is also featured here on this CD). There was a time when you could go to Bourbon Street in New Orleans and visit any one of the numerous clubs that practically every well known jazz musician had, and see incredible live music. And if you couldn't make it there, they would tour of course and you could see their show like the one recorded here in Lake Tahoe. These particular recordings are some of their best on Capitol when Louis Prima had a particularly talented Sax man in his band Sam Butera(he is also featured on this CD). If your looking for a CD that has a good representation of them at their prime both in studio and live, this is a good one. Not many slow quiet ballads which Keely could do so well, but she shines and its a whole lot of fun. This is best listened to with the stereo system cranked up, especially during the concert portion of the CD.

I've been a Louis Prima fan for years, ever since I started attending our friends' annual party where nothing but Prima is played. The host told me to get this when I asked how to start my Prima collection. He was not wrong. A wild time for all. Great music. You feel as though you are there. Terrific. Fun. Love it.

I first got into this group with the capitol compilation and had to buy everything I could find by them finding myself falling in love with keely's ultra sexy voice and louis'soulful humor to sum it up my wife hates when i play this cd in the car she can't get the songs out of her head for days

As a kid my parents had "CALL OF THE WILDEST". I used to listen to this album all the time and really loved Keely Smith's version of Autumn Leaves. I have tried over the years to find that song and couldn't, so needless to say when I found the CD on your site I was very happy.

Thank You, my only wish is that my parents were still alive to hear the album, they so loved Louie and Keely.

Linda Young

Wow, this is something! Two albums on one cd. Call of the Wildest was his second album for Capitol. Released in 1957. Of course Sam Butera and the Witnesses are here and Keely Smith either! All the hits are here. Keely Smith has her own performance on "Autumn Leaves" and "There'll Be No Next Time" is featuring Sam Butera and Luigi on vocals. Very nice duet.
"The Wildest Show at Tahoe" is recorded live in Lake Tahoe in 1958. Keely has another performance of her own ("A Foggy Day"), there are few instrumentals ("How High The Moon" and "Come Back To Sorrento") and four medleys ("On the Sunny Side of the Street/Exactly Like You", "Angelina/Zooma Zooma", "Don't Worry 'Bout Me/I'm in the Mood for Love" and "Robin Hood/Oh Babe").