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ent001379-008
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    University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Libraries

    BIOGRAPHY LOUIS PRIMA Along with fallout shelters, the most talked-about subject today Is Louis Prima. Now people don't talk about something that much unless it's really important. Whereas fall- out shelters are a product only of the 60?╟ s, Louis Prima has been a "Headline" attraction since the word "swing" moved out of the playgrounds and Into the world of music. Louis Prima is easily the youngest living legend in show business. In night clubs from coast to coast .. . on theater screens . . . on television V . . on stage .|, . on records . . . wherever discriminating audiences gather for exciting entertainment, they look first for the name of Louis Prima. In the truest sense of the word, Louis Prima is a star. His name alone has commanded top billing for the past 25 years. From the time he was eighteen years old and the leader of his own group, Louis has set a showmanship standard seldom equaled and never surpassed. As a teenager, he set himself the pattern of trumpet playing and throaty vocalizing that over and over has received the highest compliment show business personalities can convey; imitation. Louis Prime's style is more than an exciting entertainment spectacle* It's a goal to which performers always aspire. His instrument, of course, is the trumpet - the basic tool with which he crafted his repu- tation as one of the greatest. With his horn, Louis possesses the ability to capture all the warmth and feeling suggested by instruments of a more delicate nature. This fact has its basis in the background of this magnificent man of music. The actual start of his career was as a violinist. During the period from age 7 until he was 15, Louis was headed toward a career as a concert violinist. But the sheer physical development of the Prima brawn, as well as the hardening rigors of high school football, began to make it difficult for him to feel the sensitivities of the violin. It was then that he turned to the trumpet and made if the trademark of his great and numerous successes. Less than a handful of performers make the transition from one generation to another. Louis Prima?╟ s successes are not controlled by any such arbitrary standards. His recording of "The Lady In Red" is as refreshing today as his recent adventures with the "TWIST". Between these extremes emerges a variety of hit recordings bearing the unmistakable Prima tag. De- lightful and energetic discussions arise when good men of music gather to try and pick the best one. And what of Louis Prima and the people who work with him? In 1954, Louts discovered the exciting talents of Sam Butera, one of the outstanding tenor saxophone players in the enter- tainment field. And only last year, Louis Prima unveiled in the person of singing star Gia Maione, one of the greatest talent discoverys in the last ten years. From these roots sprang an entirely new concept in excitement. Being a man of vision, Louis realized that with ballrooms, theaters, and supper clubs discontinuing bands, the thing to do was to create an act - an act that could be booked into any club ... small or large.