In his youth, Prima played trumpet with Irving Fazola, his brother's band, and the pit band of the Saenger Theater. In 1933 he began his busy recording career, as part of the David Rose orchestra at station WGN, Chicago; he was also part of the small recording group The Hotcha Trio, with Rose on piano and Norman Gast on violin. In 1934 Prima moved to New York, working regularly on 52nd Street with old New Orleans friends like Eddie Miller (tenor sax and clarinet) and George Brunies (trombone), and also new acquaintances like Pee Wee Russell (clarinet). Prima's informal jazz group was known as Louis Prima and His New Orleans Gang, and this band recorded prolifically for Brunswick through 1936, and then for Vocalion and Decca.
Prima's 1936 composition, "Sing Sing Sing", which he had released with the New Orleans Gang in March, 1936 as a Brunswick 78, Brunswick 7628, with "It's Been So Long" as the B side, became one of his biggest hits and one of the most covered standards of the swing era; Benny Goodman's performance of the song at Carnegie Hall with a featured performance by Gene Krupa on drums has become iconic.
Louis Prima and His Band
Prima moved to Los Angeles to headline at the Famous Door nightclub. He appeared in several Hollywood movies, including a featured performance with Bing Crosby in the 1936 film Rhythm on the Range. Prima and his Dixieland Gang continued to play club dates across the nation, including a 1939 stint at New York's Hickory House.
Big bands were big business then, and Prima apparently bowed to pressure from booking agents and formed a conventional big band in 1940. He exploited a distinctive, shuffling beat (which he called "Gleeby Rhythm"); this trademark Prima shuffle remained part of his repertoire for two decades. Prima sang most of the band vocals, with Lily Ann Carol as the "girl singer." Prima's high-powered drummer at this time was Jimmy Vincent, an energetic teenager who remained with the Prima band for many years.
In 1947 he added singer Cathy Ricciardi, who recorded under the name Cathy Allen. She was succeeded in 1949 by Keely Smith (who was to become his fourth wife), and the band concentrated on novelty songs like "Civilization (Bongo Bongo Bongo)" and "All Right, Louis, Drop the Gun." Prima's big band continued into the early 1950s, with a series of novelty recordings supervised (sometimes heavy-handedly) by record producer Mitch Miller.
Vegas years
The popularity of the big-band sound started to wane, and Prima began losing money, just as he needed it to support the pregnant Smith. Prima found work with Smith in small venues all over the East Coast. Eventually he called up his friend Bill Miller, who was then entertainment director of The Sahara nightclub and casino in Las Vegas, and asked for a job. His friend Cab Calloway warned him against the cramped Sahara lounge, but the financial pressure was too great. Prima telephoned saxophonist Sam Butera and instructed him to pick up a few musicians and go to Las Vegas in time for Prima's debut.
Prima acknowledged his new musicians for the opening-night crowd, and spontaneously asked Butera what the name of the band was. Butera ad-libbed, "The Witnesses!" From then on, Sam Butera and the Witnesses backed Prima and Smith on stage and records.
Prima and Smith worked hard throughout the 1950s, performing multiple shows a night and finishing at 6 a.m. Their efforts were rewarded with a resurgence in their popularity, and they were at least partly responsible for making the lounge at The Sahara a hotspot. On stage, Prima insisted on Smith adopting a humorless, poker-faced character that would play straight to Prima's zany ad libs. Smith actually had a fine sense of comedy that is often audible on the team's recordings; no matter how much the incorrigible Prima tried to disrupt her vocals, Smith would often come back with a funny remark of her own.
Louis Prima and Keely Smith were very much the model for Sonny & Cher: the exuberant Italian musician and the serious, exotic female singer, Smith and Cher both being of Cherokee descent (although Cher's heritage is primarily Armenian). Similarly, echoes of the stage banter between Prima and Butera would be heard years later in the early performances of the E Street Band and the interplay between Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons.
In 1959, Prima and Smith won the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus for "That Old Black Magic."
In 1956 the Prima ensemble performed at the Sahara Hotel and Casino to record tracks for the album The Wildest!. It was an attempt by Capitol Records to capture the essence of the Vegas act. Over the next nine years, Prima and Smith raised two children, while he made scores of records, owned racehorses, appeared on television, and even opened a golf course. They outgrew the lounge and were promoted to the big room. They appeared in a few quickie musical films, including Senior Prom and Hey Boy! Hey Girl! Prima co-produced the feature Twist All Night, in which his band also appeared.
During this whirlwind of activity, according to Smith, the couple drifted farther and farther apart. One night, he refused to conduct for one of Smith's performances, delegating to Butera instead. A few days later they were in court, petitioning for divorce.
Later years
Following the divorce, he began dating Gia Maione. Maione was a long-time fan of Prima's, was already familiar with all the arrangements to his songs, and even kept a signed photo of him in her purse. She eventually became Prima's fifth and final wife, and was with the band right up until 1975. By this point, the band was putting out a markedly different and more contemporary sound, with electric organs and synthesizers, even dabbling in progressive rock.
In 1967 Prima's distinctive voice and jazzy delivery landed him a role in Walt Disney's animated feature The Jungle Book, as the raucous orangutan King Louie. He performed the hit song "I Wanna Be Like You" on the soundtrack, leading to the recording of two albums with Phil Harris: The Jungle Book and More Jungle Book, on Disneyland Records. He can also be heard on the soundtrack of another cartoon feature, The Man Called Flintstone.
He suffered a mild heart attack in 1973. In 1975, following headaches and episodes of memory loss, Louis Prima sought medical attention, and found out he had a stem brain tumor. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and went into a coma following surgery to remove the tumor. He never recovered, and died three years later, having been moved back to New Orleans. He was buried in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans; his gray marble crypt is topped by a figure of Gabriel, the trumpeter-angel. The inscription on the crypt's door quote the lyrics from one of his hits: "When the end comes, I know, they'll all say 'just a gigolo' as life goes on without me. Lovingly, your little family..."
Banana Split
Louis Prima Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A glass of plain water for me
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Dispenser Man, if you please
Serve my chick a mess of calories
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Flip back the lid
Scoop everything in sight
Make it a rainbow of red, brown and white
Chocolate chip and everything that's nice
Tutti frutti once and spumoni twice
Banana split for my baby
And a glass of plain water for me
Spray the whipped cream for at least an hour
Pile it as high as the Eiffel Tower
Load it with nuts, about sixteen tons
Top it with a pizza just for fun
Banana split for my baby
And a glass of plain water for me
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Stack her up with crazy goo
That's the stuff she likes to wade right through
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Now add the cherries
The kind she loves to munch
Skip one banana
Use the whole darn bunch
Drown it with fudge
Six or seven cans
Give her two spoons
She'll eat it with both hands
Banana split for my baby
And a glass of plain water for me
Separate checks, it must be
Charge the split to her
The water to me
Oh the banana split's for my baby
And the glass of plain water's for me
Ain't got no money
The glass of plain water's for me
Louis Prima's "Banana Split for My Baby" is a swing or jazz song from the 1950s that is all about indulgence, pleasure, and decadence. The main character of the song is a man who takes his "chick" out on a date and orders a banana split for her and a plain glass of water for himself, all the while hoping that the Dispenser Man would serve it quickly. The lyrics describe how the man wants to pile as much ice cream, whipped cream, nuts, cherries, fudge, and other toppings on the banana split as humanly possible, creating a "mess of calories" that his girl loves to wade right through. The song ends with the man having no money left and having to charge the banana split to his girl, while he drinks plain water.
The song's lyrics are full of innuendos, metaphors, and playful language that suggest much more than what is being said on the surface. For instance, the banana split could be a euphemism for sex or sexual pleasure, while the plain water represents the idea of control, restraint, or abstinence. Conversely, the female character can be seen as enjoying and indulging in her senses of taste, touch, and sight while eating the split. Her willingness to "wade right through" the mess of calories suggests that she enjoys taking risks or experiencing pleasure beyond propriety. Lastly, the man's lack of money and the need to separate the checks suggest a conflict between the genders or competing desires, where the man is less willing to indulge in pleasure or spend money than his girl.
Line by Line Meaning
Banana split for my baby
I want to get my girlfriend a Banana Split.
A glass of plain water for me
I will just have a glass of water for myself.
Banana split for my baby
Once more, I really want that Banana Split for my girlfriend!
A glass of plain water for me
I am still just having a glass of water for myself and feel good about it.
Dispenser Man, if you please
Hey, restaurant employee, can you bring over a really big banana split for my girlfriend?
Serve my chick a mess of calories
I want my girlfriend to have a lot of calories, and I think a banana split is a sweet way to enjoy them!
Flip back the lid
Now that we have received the Banana Split, let's take the lid off the top!
Scoop everything in sight
Let's start scooping all the delicious toppings in the bowl!
Make it a rainbow of red, brown and white
We have a bunch of different colored toppings that make the Banana Split very pretty!
Chocolate chip and everything that's nice
We are using a ton of different tasty toppings!
Tutti frutti once and spumoni twice
Let's also add some special fruity flavors that make this Banana Split extra fun.
Spray the whipped cream for at least an hour
We really need to take our time adding the whipped cream!
Pile it as high as the Eiffel Tower
Let's add so much whipped cream that it feels like we are in Paris looking up at the Eiffel Tower!
Load it with nuts, about sixteen tons
We are going to add a bunch of nuts!
Top it with a pizza just for fun
I'm going to add a pizza on top of my girlfriend's Banana Split just for laughs!
Stack her up with crazy goo
I want the toppings to be stacked up really high for my girlfriend!
That's the stuff she likes to wade right through
My girlfriend likes to dig through the toppings with her spoon!
Now add the cherries
Don't forget to add cherries to the top of my girlfriend's bowl!
The kind she loves to munch
I know my girlfriend loves to munch on those cherries!
Skip one banana
Let's just leave one banana instead of adding more.
Use the whole darn bunch
We are going to load up on the one banana we're using!
Drown it with fudge
We are going to pour fudge all over the top of the Banana Split for an extra sweet touch!
Six or seven cans
I'm going to use six or seven cans of fudge to really do up the Banana Split!
Give her two spoons
I will give my girlfriend two spoons so we can share the Banana Split together!
She'll eat it with both hands
My girlfriend's really excited to eat the Banana Split, and might even have to use both hands to enjoy it!
Separate checks, it must be
We need to have separate checks!
Charge the split to her
Put the Banana Split on my girlfriend's bill.
The water to me
I'll just pay for my glass of water.
Oh the banana split's for my baby
I want my relationship to be sweet like this Banana Split!
And the glass of plain water's for me
I'm happy with something simple like just a glass of water.
Ain't got no money
I don't have any money to spend on anything extra.
The glass of plain water's for me
I'll just stick with my simple glass of water.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: LOUIS PRIMA, STAN IRWIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@PeterHD-hj6bi
I flew from UK and visited Vegas for my first time in 1993 and was walking by Sands Hotel & Casino.
On the list of bands playing there was Freddie Bell and I went back to see them play that evening.
When Freddie took a break I got talking to him and mentioned Louis Prima and Freddie said Keeley was on her way to his show.
Minutes later we were introduced and Keely chatted for ages to me about Louis and their songs.
Then one of Freddie's band mentioned that Sam Butera was playing at Palace Station Casino the next evening, so off I went and really enjoyed that evening too.
Sam even gave me a souvenir membership card of his C.R.S. Club (Can't Remember Sh**} and signed 2 of his CD's for me
That was a holiday to remember but poor old Vegas ain't the same any more since Sands Casino was taken down, a lot of musical history in that place.
@mitina4608
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
來一客香蕉船給我寶貝
一杯白開水給我
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
來一客香蕉船給我寶貝
一杯白開水給我
Dispenser man, if you please
如果可以的話，服務生
Serve my chick a mess of calories
給我的寶貝一堆卡路里
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
來一客香蕉船給我寶貝
一杯白開水給我Slip back the lid, scoop everything in sight
拉開冰櫃蓋子，看得到的都挖個一球
Make it a rainbow of red, brown and white
搭成紅、褐、白相間的彩虹
Chocolate chip and everything that's nice
加上巧克力脆片還有所有其他好吃的配料
Tutti-frutti once and spumoni twice
一匙蜜餞再兩匙義式冰淇淋
Banana split for my baby
And a glass of plain water for me
來一客香蕉船給我寶貝
一杯白開水給我
Spray the whipped cream for at least an hour
灑大概一小時的鮮奶油
Pile it as high as the Eiffel Tower
把它堆得像艾菲爾鐵塔一樣高
Load it with nuts, about sixteen tons
加滿碎堅果，大概十六噸重的份量
Top it with a pizza just for fun
何不在最上面加上披薩呢？Banana split for my baby
And a glass of plain water for me
來一客香蕉船給我寶貝
一杯白開水給我
Stack her up with crazy goo
用糖漿把它疊高高
'Cause that's the stuff she likes to wade right through
因為她最愛在糖漿裡跋涉
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
來一客香蕉船給我寶貝
一杯白開水給我
Now add the cherries the kind she loves to munch
現在加點櫻桃，她最愛啃的那種
Skip one banana, use the whole darn bunch
不要只加一根香蕉，就用一整串吧!!!
Drown it in fudge, six or seven cans
用六七罐的熱巧克力醬把它淹沒
Give her two spoons, she'll eat it with both hands
給她兩支湯匙，她左右開弓
Banana split for my baby
And a glass of plain water for me
來一客香蕉船給我寶貝
一杯白開水給我
Separate checks, it must be
結賬時要分開結，這是一定要的
Charge the split to her, the water to me
香蕉船算她身上，白開水算我的
Oh the banana split's for my baby
And the glass of plain water's for me
香蕉船是給我寶貝的
我的是一杯白開水
Ain't got no money
因為我一毛錢也沒有
The glass of plain water's for me
所以白開水是給我的
@Rafu23
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Dispenser man, if you please
Serve my chick a mess of calories
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Slip back the lid, scoop everything in sight
Make it a rainbow of red, brown and white
Chocolate chip and everything that's nice
Tutti-frutti once and spumoni twice
Banana split for my baby
And a glass of plain water for me
Spray the whipped cream for at least... an hour
Pile it as high as the... Eiffel Tower
Load it with nuts, about sixteen tons
Top it with a pizza, just for fun
Banana split for my baby
And a glass of plain water for me
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Stack her up with crazy goo
'Cause that's the stuff she likes to wade right through
Banana split for my baby
A glass of plain water for me
Now add the cherries the kind she loves to munch
Skip one banana, use the whole darn bunch
Drown it in fudge, six or seven cans
Give her two spoons, she'll eat it with both hands
Banana split for my baby
And a glass of plain water for me
Separate checks, it must be
Charge the split to her, the water to me
Oh the banana split's for my baby
And the glass of plain water's for me
Ain't got no money
The glass of plain water's for me
@jzzr345
Love his music ! Put's a smile on my face every time .I would have loved to have seen him and Keely Smith in Vegas back in the day .
@PeterHD-hj6bi
I flew from UK and visited Vegas for my first time in 1993 and was walking by Sands Hotel & Casino.
On the list of bands playing there was Freddie Bell and I went back to see them play that evening.
When Freddie took a break I got talking to him and mentioned Louis Prima and Freddie said Keeley was on her way to his show.
Minutes later we were introduced and Keely chatted for ages to me about Louis and their songs.
Then one of Freddie's band mentioned that Sam Butera was playing at Palace Station Casino the next evening, so off I went and really enjoyed that evening too.
Sam even gave me a souvenir membership card of his C.R.S. Club (Can't Remember Sh**} and signed 2 of his CD's for me
That was a holiday to remember but poor old Vegas ain't the same any more since Sands Casino was taken down, a lot of musical history in that place.
@sarebarelovesyou
My grandpa used to sing this to me, now I sing it to my little ones<3
@FreshTillDeath56
Same <3
@RosarioRodriguez420
So proud of my Heritage I hope my kids will show theirs this kinda music 🇮🇹
@gabespetit1006
I miss my parents.Til' the day they passed, they were 50's people and that was a good thing. I was born in '62, but I'm a '50's person too.Don't get me wrong, I tore it up in the '70's/'80's, but I have a hard time living in the current world. Too fast, impersonal, & unfriendly. I miss the simple pleasures in life. I thank God for my upbringing and for the old So.Cal. life my sainted parents gave me. Love Louis, Keely & Sam...baby!
@johncaash7868
I feel the same way
@PeterHD-hj6bi
Spot on.
I was born in '58, got listening to Suzi Q, Wizzard, ELO etc in the early 70's and went to a proper Rock & Roll pub in 1974 and got hooked on this great music Fromm the 1950's
Rocking till I drop
@51maryruth
This was my Dad's favorite singer, we had this song played at his funeral service, he passed away December 28th 2010... Was 87, served 21 years in the United States Army, served in Korea, was the best and most fun Dad ever, I am thinking of him always but especially on this Father's day, I miss him dearly.. R.I.P. Joe Warrick...This song makes me smile and think of him
@dukevalentino5967
God Bless you and your father, he seemed like a good man.