Label: Waxtime
Reissued 2021, Originally released 1956
A tireless showman and an underrated musical talent, Louis Prima swung his way to icon status thanks to an irresistible, infectious sound whose appeal translated across generations. Nominally a swing artist, Prima’s distinctive sound also encompassed New Orleans-style jazz, boogie-woogie, jump blues, R&B, early rock & roll, and even the occasional Italian tarantella. Regardless of what form his music took, it swung hard and fast, with a rolling, up-tempo shuffle beat. His greatest period of popularity coincided with his marriage to singer Keely Smith, whose coolly sophisticated vocals and detached stage manner made a perfect counterpoint to Prima’s boisterous presence: mugging, clowning, and cavorting around the stage with the boundless enthusiasm of a hyperactive boy. A veritable greatest-hits album, The Wildest! is the gem of Louis Prima’s catalogue. None of his other efforts transcend its raunchy mix of demented gibberish, blaring sax, and explosive swing, which rocked as hard as anything released at the time.
Track listing:
- Medley: Just A Gigolo / Ain’T Got Nobody
- (Nothing's Too Good) For My Baby
- The Lip
- Body And Soul
- Oh Marie
- 5 Months, 2 Weeks, 2 Days
- Banana Split For My Baby
- Medley: When You’Re Smiling / The Sheik Of Araby
- Medley: Basin Street Blues / When It's Sleepy Time Down South
- Jump, Jive An’ Wail
- Buona Sera
- Night Train
- (I’ll Be Glad When You’Re Dead) You Rascal You
- Whistle Stop
- Be Mine (Little Baby)
- I’ve Got The World On A String
- Pennies From Heaven