[Dixielandjazz] Book Review: 'That Old Black Magic: Louis Prima, Keely Smith

[Robert Ringwald]

Book Review: 'That Old Black Magic: Louis Prima, Keely Smith, and the Golden Age
of Las Vegas' by Tom Clavin
by Ted Gioia
Dallas Morning News, December 5, 2010

I grew up in a Sicilian household, and my earliest musical memories were shaped by
the Italian-American singers venerated by my relatives. At a young age, I heard records
by Frank Sinatra, Mario Lanza, Tony Bennett and other sons of immigrants who became
stars in the New World. Then there was Louis Prima, the most ethnic of them all in
his onstage demeanor, whose records stood out by their noticeable absence.
I knew my parents had seen Louis Prima and Keely Smith in Las Vegas before I was
born -- they even admitted that this show had been the high point of their vacation.
But Prima's performances, advertised as "the wildest," were the kinds of things that
stayed in Vegas. Mom and Dad, like so many other casino visitors, were delighted
by the excitable Prima and the coy Smith, but wouldn't think of bringing their suggestive
music into the family home.
Now Tom Clavin's book, "That Old Black Magic," tells us what all the fuss was about.
Prima had been a successful New Orleans trumpeter and modestly popular singer in
the 1940s, but his career was on the way down when, in the summer of 1948, he met
the young Keely Smith. Together they crafted an edgy, unpredictable act that was
destined to become the most popular lounge show in Las Vegas.
Prima, who was born 100 years ago this Tuesday, was two decades older than Smith.
Much of their stage appeal came from the sexual chemistry between Prima's passionate
performance style -- Alan Greenspan would probably call it "irrational exuberance"
-- and Smith's prim and often deadpan responses. In the 1960s, Sonny and Cher would
follow a similar formula, with equal success.
Clavin presents little new information in his account but successfully conveys the
energy and commotion of the Prima-Smith pairing for those who weren't around to experience
it firsthand. The Las Vegas Sun boasted, soon after their debut, that they were "absolutely
the hottest combo to hit this town yet." Clavin quotes Sin City expert Mike Weatherford,
who asserts that "Prima did more than anyone except Sinatra to fuel Vegas' image
as a wild all-night party."
Prima and Smith, who were married in 1953, couldn't keep the bandstand repartee going
after their divorce in 1961. Prima tried to re-create the formula with his fifth
and final wife, Gia Maione, but their routine never matched his earlier successes.
Prima's last taste of fame before his death in 1978 came instead from his contribution
to Walt Disney's animated feature, "The Jungle Book," providing the voice for orangutan
King Louie. Smith performed infrequently after her breakup with Prima.
Even if you are a Prima devotee, you will learn a few interesting tidbits here. I
never knew that Elvis Presley admitted to stealing the wiggle that accompanied his
song "All Shook Up" from Prima. Nor had I heard that Smith had a romance with Sinatra
after leaving Prima -- possibly before. Still, Clavin comes up short on new gossipy
revelations. He apparently never interviewed Smith, who is still alive, and most
of the information presented here seems lifted from previous articles, books and
videos on the duo.
Clavin excels when exploring the chemistry between these two star performers. Long
after their act came to an end, the story of this unlikely couple who put their courtship
routine onstage every night still makes for compelling reading. For once this is
a love story from Vegas that really ought not stay in Vegas, and this is the book
that shares it with the rest of us.
__________
Ted Gioia lives in Plano and is author of "The Birth (and Death) of the Cool."


--Bob Ringwald
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