Louis Prima & Keely Smith – That Old Magic
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C Music: B
Louis Prima is one of the seminal Jazz music performers
and a celebrated Italian American in music to boot, something that has kept
interest in him outside of the genre he is so famous for. Keely Smith is one of the great Big
Band/Swing front lady singers, so Passport has brought out a film collaboration
of theirs. That Old Magic is one
of the best vintage releases in content from the company, if not offering restored
and preserved copies of the following:
1) [That]
Old Black Magic
2) Porgy
3) Get On
Board Little Chillen (with The Pied Pipers)
4) Sing,
Sing, Sing (with Buddy Rich on drums)
5) Flip,
Flop & Fly (with Charlton Heston introduction)
6) Robin
Hood
7) Oh Marie
8) Can’t
Help Lovin’ That Man
9) [When
The] Saints Go Marching In
10) Whoa Baby
11) Up A Lazy River
12) Be My Love
13) Personality
14) I’m Confessin’
15) MEDLEY: Robin Hood, Josephina, Hey Baba Re
Bop
16) I’d Climb The Highest Mountain
17) And The Angels Sing
Rich really was one of the great drummers, and his
performance here propels the classic Sing, Sing, Sing into a brilliant
frenzy that is as much a Rock precursor as anything. Prima does some comic moments with Smith and as you watch, you
realize why this music was so phenomenally popular. It was really good, they were extremely talented and it was
fun. Few DVDs to date have shown
that. Personality may be rushed
through a bit, missing the great callback backup form the hit version, but this
is amusing in its own way. Some of the
moments could be considered some of the earliest precursors to music video.
The 1.33 X 1 black and white images and dull Dolby Digital
2.0 Mono are par for the course on these discs, but they are more tolerable
than usual due to the content. Unlike
most discs in this series of compilation releases, three Gene Krupa
performances are included. Be Bop
Boogie has an unidentified guest vocalist.
Sabre Dance is the first time in history I have seen the music
accompany actual fencers going at it while the music plays. Something about that still is not
right. Disc Jockey Jump is
another good drumming frenzy moment, with a drummer giving it his all. That Old Magic is a must-see and hear
for any serious music fan at least once.
- Nicholas Sheffo
