Jump, Jive an' Wail

Album: The Wildest! (1956)
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Songfacts®:

  • A popular nightclub singer/trumpeter in the 1930s and 1940s, by 1954 work had dried up for Louis Prima. However his career revived after he joined with young saxophonist Sam Butera and secured a gig at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. They soon became the most popular act in that city and cut The Wildest! album live in April 1956 at the casino lounge. The record is considered one of Swing music's finest, and this track became Prima's signature recording from the set.
  • The Brian Setzer Orchestra covered the song on their 1998 album The Dirty Boogie. Released as its lead single, it peaked at #23 on the Hot 100. Setzer's cover won the prize for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the following year's Grammy Awards.
  • Brian Setzer's cover of this song was used for a GAP commercial. According to the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Butera, whose arrangement it appropriated, grumbled that he was paid three pairs of pants for the privilege.
  • Prima's other claim to fame was voicing the jive-talking orangutan in the Disney movie, The Jungle Book. The King Of The Swingers performed the hit song "I Wanna Be Like You" on the soundtrack.

Comments: 1

  • Luciano Mezzetta from ItalyWhat? No mention is given that Louis wrote the swing classic "Sing, Sing, Sing."
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