Bill Bailey – 1962
Louis Prima & Gia Malone
A fun version that includes some new lyrics
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Louis Prima was always a great entertainer as a trumpeter, singer and bandleader.
In a long episodic career, he really hit it big in the 1950s when he teamed up with his wife singer Kerly Smith, tenor-saxophonist Sam Butera and the Witnesses.
After he and Keely Smith were divorced,Prima groomed his new wife Gia Malone to be Smith’s replacement.
Although Gia Malone did not have the burning desire to be a singer and she eventually retired to become a mother, she sounded pretty good at times, including on this 1962 appearance from the Ed Sullivan Show.
Prima (very much in control) and Malone perform a humorous version of “Bill Bailey.”
-Scott Yanow
Ella Fitzgerald