Oops - I had to bodliboodblibeep!

February 11, 2015 8:53 AM

Louis Prima and Keely Smith attempt to sing "I'm In the Mood For Love." From Louis Prima - The Wildest documentary
posted by Mchelly (19 comments total)

Thanks for this! Anyone who doesn't adore Louis Prima and Keely Smith has no soul.
posted by entropicamericana at 8:54 AM on February 11, 2015 [10 favorites]

My grandparents had a ton of Prima/Smith records. Loved 'em, even as a kid.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:56 AM on February 11, 2015

Awww, I'm a huge Prima fan. His shtick of "tricking" his sax player/co-writer (Sam Butera) in to playing impossible lines never got old. "Come over here boy, Sam" "I knew I would get ya!"

It wasn't until I was much older did I realize it was all rehearsed and Sam could likely play anything.
posted by remlapm at 9:25 AM on February 11, 2015 [3 favorites]

Wow, Keely is still alive! And performs "a light schedule"!
posted by IAmBroom at 9:43 AM on February 11, 2015 [3 favorites]

You may be, like me, wondering why that voice sounds so familiar.
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:45 AM on February 11, 2015

Because it's a Louis Armstrong ripoff?

(Jk I love Louis Prima even if he is doing a Sachmo impression all the time)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:48 AM on February 11, 2015

This doc has so many great moments. Especially the version of the song that gave my daughter her name. That's right I named my child Sara (after that song Bono Sara)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:49 AM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

Potomac Avenue: ...I named my child Sara (after that song Bono Sara)

*squints, thinks hard* Waitaminnit...
posted by wenestvedt at 10:14 AM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

I had a crush on Keely Smith when I was in junior high school. Then I found out she was married to Prima, and my heart was broken. This was worse than when I found out the truth about Santa Claus.

Thanks for the clip....if only for the rare smiles.
posted by mule98J at 10:27 AM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've never seen Keely Smith (at least I don't think so) and at the risk of sounding horribly sexist and base, wow. She's um...quite attractive.
posted by damnitkage at 10:37 AM on February 11, 2015

If I have to karoake...
posted by jcruelty at 10:53 AM on February 11, 2015

I first heard Louis Prima waaaay down at the end of the long dock when I was working at a marina. A rich guy's party boat pulled in to fuel up and they were blasting it out of the cabin. This was way before iPhones and Shazam, so I asked the guy who it was, and he gave me the cd of Louis Prima's Greatest Hits plus a $50 tip because I was "hep enough to ask."

The woman/girl I was with at the time and I both fell in love with that album, we knew all the songs and would dance around in our apartment together singing those songs.

Later on, we were "on a break" and she went to a show and met and fell in love with someone in Keely Smith's band, and that was the end of that. I hadn't been able to listen to him since, but seeing as how I'm pretty damn well over her by now, I'm going to throw a bunch of his stuff on my phone tonight. My favorite was always "The Music Goes 'round and Around."

They're married with a kid and I'm madly in love, so I guess it all worked out alright.
posted by nevercalm at 11:05 AM on February 11, 2015 [7 favorites]

My mom gets sort of funny about pronunciation (and usually, she's wrong). One time when I told her I wanted provolone (prō-və-ˌlōn) on my sandwich, she corrected me with prō-və-ˈlō-nē.

"It's like Minestrone," she says.

When I told her that I knew people who said minestrone like I pronounced provolone, my grandmother incredulously asked, "Who says it like that?"

Thinking fast, I blurted out "Louis Prima!"

Case closed.
posted by hwyengr at 11:16 AM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

This Angelina is not the same as the Angelina that Prima was singing about, but definitely she's the one I sing about to my little girl:

🎶 Angelina,
The mouse-y ballerina 🎶

posted by wenestvedt at 12:19 PM on February 11, 2015

I can't really handle the sound that those live mics get in that performance, it sound so good and so polished. Does anyone have any idea of the after effects that might be on those mics? Is it just a bit of reverb/echo combined with their amazing voices?
posted by wyndham at 12:20 PM on February 11, 2015

Went on to listen to That Old Black Magic - another great tune they did. Thank you for a great post and good memories.
posted by aryma at 2:20 PM on February 11, 2015

Yeah, those two always bring a smile and some toe-tappin' to the party. the world sure did swing in those days.
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:38 PM on February 11, 2015

Wyndam: yep. I think so, not really any effects on the vocal to my ear. Performers who know how work with a mic and really really expensive mics running into meticulously set-up board and recording on analog tape. Still, pop the same folks into a cable access studio in the mid-80s and you'd probably still hear pure joy.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:50 PM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

And then once the clowning is over, they get right back into the groove for the last verse. What craft!
posted by Gelatin at 3:41 AM on February 12, 2015 [1 favorite]