One of Louis Prima’s most notable and earliest hits was his original composition “Sing, Sing, Sing” in 1936, which was later covered by Benny Goodman’s orchestra and which became an iconic tune for the entire swing era. In the 1930s, he moved from New Orleans to Los Angeles, where his band played regularly at night clubs and was featured in several films, including Rhythm on the Range with Bing Crosby. In 1940, he formed a conventional big band, and it was with this band that he developed a distinctive shuffle rhythm style that he dubbed “Gleeby Rhythm,” while singing most of the bands vocals.

In the 1949, Prima took on singer Keely Smith who went on to become his fourth wife and a key component of his 1950s Vegas lounge act, along with drummer Sam Butera and his backing band The Witnesses. In addition to Smith’s beautifully deep vocals, the two developed a lively stage act with Keely playing it straight and innocent in contrast to the wild and zany Prima.

One of my earliest CD purchases as a swing dancer (we’re talking about back in 1997) was the Capitol Collector Series: Louis Prima Compilation, which features 25 great songs featuring Prima and Smith’s harmonized vocals. Many of the songs are great for dancing, and some of my favorites are:

• Just a Gigolo / I Ain’t Got Nobody
• Buona sera
• Jump, Jive & Wail
• The Lip
• Whistle Stop
• 5 months, 2 weeks, 2 days
• Banana Split For My Baby
• Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home
• I’ve Got The World On A String

Another fun novelty song that Prima recorded for Disney’s cartoon production of the Jungle Book is:

I Wan’Na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)

Louis Prima passed away from a brain tumor in 1978, but he left behind a great musical legacy that had an impact on many of the swing revival era bands of the 1980s and later, including the Brian Setzer Orchestra and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. San Francisco’s own swing band Stompy Jones, which plays regularly at Club Verdi on Tuesday nights covers Louis Prima songs all the time, and we were even fortunate to have a guest appearance of Keely Smith at the Red Devil Lounge about a year ago, while she was touring along with the London-based Jive Aces.

Miss Rhythm herself: Ruth Brown

Ruth Brown was an American R&B singer who was notable for bringing a popular style to the rhythm and blues, through a series of hit songs in the 1950s, including “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” and “Teardrops from My Eyes.”

Brown’s father was the director of the local church choir, but she was more interested in singing in USO shows and nightclubs. She ran away from her childhood home of Portsmouth Virginia, with trumpeter Jimmy Brown, whom she married, to sing in bars and clubs. After a brief stint with the Lucky Millinder Orchetra, Blanch Calloway — Cab Calloway’s sister and bandleader– took Ruth under her wing, helping manage her act and setting Ruth up with a regular gig in Washington D.C. She was taken up by Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson at Atlantic Records, and Ertegün convinced her to switch from ballads to an R&B style. At the same time, Ertegün’s arrangements retained her “pop” style, with clean, fresh arrangements and the singing spot on the beat with little of the usual blues singer’s embroidery.

Teardrops from My Eyes, written by Rudy Toombs, was one of her earliest hits that featured her upbeat musical style, and topped the Billboard R&B charts for 11 weeks, earning her the nickname “Miss Rhythm.” A stream of hits followed including “I’ll Wait for You” (1951), “I Know” (1951), “5-10-15 Hours” (1953), “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” (1953), “Oh What a Dream” (1954), “Mambo Baby” (1954) and “Don’t Deceive Me” (1960).

In her later years, Ruth Brown went on to pursue a bit of acting on television, film and on Broadway, where she won a Tony award for performance in Black and Blue.

“Rockin’ in Rhythm: The Best of Ruth Brown” is a particularly good compilation that features great tunes to rock out your lindy hop as well as some bluesy ballads to get your groove on.

If you would like to join our team, or even if you’re just thinking of it, please come to our open house and informational meeting:

Sunday, January 17, 4-5pm
Nathan’s House
1479 17th Ave @ Kirkham
San Francisco, CA 94122

Thanks! We hope to see you there!

The San Francisco Dance-A-Thon Team

Thick. That’s how I would describe the heavy-hitting sound of alto saxophone player Buster Smith. He was instrumental in developing, along with Count Basie & Lester Young, what came to be called the Texas Sax Sound. Buster’s contribution to this sound was that he used a tenor saxophone reed with his alto saxophone to achieve a louder, “fatter” sound. Lester Young, who had played with Smith and Basie on the Oklahoma City Blue Devils and the Buster Smith-Count Basie Band of Rhythm, followed suit using a heavier baritone reed with his tenor saxophone. Buster Smith definitely had plenty of practice creating a bold sound from his early music days playing medicine shows around Dallas…where he had to play loud to help attract customers.

Buster Smith was a huge influence on the Texan music scene and industry and was known for teaching, mentoring and influencing the sounds many important musicians including Charlie Parker, Charlie Christian, Aaron “T-Bone” Walker and Red Garland. Although he did plenty of session work with famous musicians such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Earl Hines, he only ever recorded one solo album, The Legendary Buster Smith in 1959. What a powerful album though!

I remember the first time I heard Buster Smith. Jesse Miner used to DJ Kansas City Riffs (and still does) as a birthday jam song and I loved that hard-hitting sax & rhythm instantly…so much so I rushed to the DJ booth to identify the artist. Alas, that single solo album was a rare one to find in the record stores so imagine my delight when I found it online finally available for download….what a score!

My favorite tracks for dancing:

1. Kansas City Riffs
2. E-Flat Boogie
3. Organ Grinder’s Swing

They’re a bit lengthy in the 5-6 minute range which is why DJs often use them as birthday jam songs.

Artie Shaw was known to be a musical innovator, experimenting with unusual instrumentation, incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythms, and especially breaking away from the patterns of traditional big band dance music. Dancers wanting to express the breaks and accents in a piece of music often latch onto repeated themes and recognizable riffs and patterns. Artie Shaw tried to keep dancers on their toes by mixing up the riffs in less predictable ways…a way to challenge all but the best dancers.

Indeed, I remember that two of my early swing dance instructors, Kevin and Carla, loved performing to music by Artie Shaw as well as playing his music in classes…precisely because the unpredictability and surprise element in his music made it challenging and fun to dance to.

Artie Shaw was quite prolific, so I’m not going to list all my favorite songs, but here are two sets of music that you might like:

Mellower Tunes with a Nice Steady Beat:

1. Begin the Beguine
2. Stardust
3. Moonglow
4. Frensi
5. Softly as a Morning Sunrise

High-Energy & Fast Lindy Tunes

1. Traffic Jam
2. Diga Diga Doo*
3. Carioca*
4. Lady Be Good*
5. Man From Mars*
6. Scuttlebutt
7. All the Cats Join In

* indicates tunes that I’ve performed to at one time or another.

Here’s a great Lindy Hop routine that’s danced to a splice of All the Cats Join in and Traffic Jam.

One2Swing Jitterbugs

And a great Artie Shaw album on Amazon.com to help you jump start your collection:

The Andrews Sisters rose to fame through their 1937 radio broadcast, during which time Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen became one of their earliest smash hits. They played with nearly all of the most famous big bands of the era, including those led by Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, Joe Venuti, Freddie Slack, Eddie Heywood, Bob Crosby (Bing’s brother), Desi Arnaz, Guy Lombardo, Les Brown, Bunny Berigan. They also enjoyed a particularly successful collaboration with singer Bing Crosby — nearly half the songs they recorded with him made the Billboard Charts.

The Sisters were active and generous in helping to entertain America’s Armed Forces during WWII and support the war cause. Along with several other prominent actors and musicians, the Andrews Sisters helped found the Hollywood Canteen, a retreat for American servicemen. Indeed, many of their songs contained war related lyrics and themes. The Andrews Sisters appeared in a handful of films, especially after being snatched up by Universal Pictures. They appeared in three Abbot & Costello comedies, including Buck Privates and Universal eventually had them star in their own B-Musicals, including What’s Cooking, Private Buckaroo, and Give Out, Sisters.

Here’s a good starting compilation of Andrews Sisters tunes for dancing:

as well as some individual tunes from other albums that I really like:

1. Rhumboogie
2. Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)
3. Shortnin’ Bread

Two tracks on this album are my absolute favorites:

• Oh I’m Evil
• The Boogie Wooglie Piggy

I love the way that Miss Carlisle’s vocals manage to blend an innocent and carefree sweetness with a deep tone and smoky delivery. Her song lyrics crack me up

Slim & Slam was a 1930s musical partnership formed by Bulee “Slim” Gaillard (vocals, guitar and piano) and Leroy Elliott “Slam” Stewart (bass). They produced novelty jazz numbers featuring Slim’s distinctive vocal style with vocalese and scats, hipster argot and nonsense words. Their biggest hits were “Flat Fleet Floogie (with a Floy Floy)”, “Cement Mixer (Puti Puti)” and “The Groove Juice Special (Opera in Vout)”. Slim & Slam also provide the musical introduction to that famous clip of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers in Hellzapoppin…

If you’re out looking for CDs, look for:

…which has most of Slim & Slam’s notable hits…

Julia Lee was an American Blues Singer who grew up and performed in Kansas City. When I think of the Kansas City jazz sound I think of grounded, deep horn playing and I think you can hear this influence reflected in Julia’s beautifully baritone voice. Some of my favorite tracks are: The Spinach Song, Give Me What You Got and of course The Glory of Love.