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..."
Yes We Have No Bananas
Louis Prima Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's run by a Greek.
And he keeps good things to eat
But you should hear him speak!
When you ask him anything, he never answers "no".
He just "yes"es you to death, and as he takes your dough
He tells you
"Yes, we have no bananas
We've string beans, and onions
Cabbageses, and scallions,
And all sorts of fruit and say
We have an old fashioned to-mah-to
A Long Island po-tah-to
But yes, we have no bananas.
We have no bananas today."
Business got so good for him that he wrote home today,
"Send me Pete and Nick and Jim; I need help right away."
When he got them in the store, there was fun, you bet.
Someone asked for "sparrow grass" and then the whole quartet
All answered
"Yes, we have no bananas
We have-a no bananas today.
Just try those coconuts
Those walnuts and doughnuts
There ain't many nuts like they.
We'll sell you two kinds of red herring,
Dark brown, and ball-bearing.
But yes, we have no bananas
We have no bananas today."
Yes, we are very sorry to inform you
That we are entirely out of the fruit in question
The afore-mentioned vegetable
Bearing the cognomen "Banana".
We might induce you to accept a substitute less desirable,
But that is not the policy at this internationally famous green
grocery.
I should say not. No no no no no no no.
But may we suggest that you sample our five o'clock tea
Which we feel certain will tempt your pallet?
However we regret that after a diligent search
Of the premises
By our entire staff
We can positively affirm without fear of contradiction
That our raspberries are delicious; really delicious
Very delicious
But we have no bananas today.
Yes, we gotta no banana
No banana
We gotta no banana today.
I sella you no banana.
Hey, Marianna, you gotta no banana?
Why this man, he no believe-a what I say.
Now whatta you want mister?
You wanna buy twelve for a quarter?
No? well, just a oneofadozen?
I'm-a gonna calla my daughter.
Hey, Marianna
You gotta piana
Yes, banana, no
No, yes, no bananas today
We gotta no bananas.
Yes, we gotta no bananas today.
Louis Prima And His Orchestra's song "Yes We Have No Bananas" is a humorous and catchy tune that tells the story of a fruit store run by a Greek man who is always out of bananas but has various other fruits and vegetables in stock. The song is structured as a conversation between the Greek shopkeeper and his customers, who are disappointed to find that there are no bananas available. The Greek man tries to appease them by offering alternative products and insisting that his store has "all sorts of fruit and say."
One interpretation of this song's lyrics is that they are a parody of the widespread shortages and rationing that occurred during World War I. At the time, bananas were a popular fruit that were difficult to import due to shipping disruptions and trade embargoes. The Greek shopkeeper's insistence that he has "no bananas today" despite having plenty of other items in stock could be seen as a humorous commentary on the frustrations of wartime scarcity.
Another possible interpretation of the song's lyrics is that they are a commentary on the challenges of communication between different ethnic groups in America. The Greek shopkeeper's accent and tendency to say "yes" to everything could be seen as a stereotype of immigrants who are eager to please their customers but struggle to understand their requests. The confusion between the customers' requests for bananas and the shopkeeper's offers of other fruits and vegetables could be seen as a humorous example of misunderstandings between people from different cultural backgrounds.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a fruit store on our street
There's a green grocery store present on our street.
It's run by a Greek.
A Greek individual owns and operates the store.
And he keeps good things to eat
It is a store that stores good quality food items.
But you should hear him speak!
The owner has a distinct speaking style that catches attention.
When you ask him anything, he never answers 'no'.
The owner never refuses to answer any customer queries.
He just 'yes'es you to death, and as he takes your dough
The owner use flattery to attract customers and take their money.
He tells you
'Yes, we have no bananas
We have-a no bananas today.
The owner tries to explain that bananas are out of stock and unavailable.
We've string beans, and onions
Cabbageses, and scallions,
And all sorts of fruit and say
We have an old fashioned to-mah-to
A Long Island po-tah-to
But yes, we have no bananas.
The owner suggests an alternative list of items they have, but unfortunately bananas are not available.
Business got so good for him that he wrote home today,
'Send me Pete and Nick and Jim; I need help right away.'
The owner's business has taken off and he needs more hands to manage it.
When he got them in the store, there was fun, you bet.
Someone asked for 'sparrow grass' and then the whole quartet
All answered
'Yes, we have no bananas
We have-a no bananas today.
When the owner's help arrives, they playfully follow their boss's style of responding with 'yes'.
Just try those coconuts
Those walnuts and doughnuts
There ain't many nuts like they.
We'll sell you two kinds of red herring,
Dark brown, and ball-bearing.
The staff suggests other options for the unavailable bananas like coconut, donuts, etc. and not just fruits but also fish types.
Yes, we are very sorry to inform you
That we are entirely out of the fruit in question
The afore-mentioned vegetable
Bearing the cognomen 'Banana'.
The store repeatedly apologizes for the non-availability of bananas.
We might induce you to accept a substitute less desirable,
But that is not the policy at this internationally famous green
grocery.
The store does not provide less desirable substitutes for unavailable items which goes against their policy.
But may we suggest that you sample our five o'clock tea
Which we feel certain will tempt your pallet?
The store suggests that instead of a substitute, customers could consider sampling their five o'clock tea.
However we regret that after a diligent search
Of the premises
By our entire staff
We can positively affirm without fear of contradiction
That our raspberries are delicious; really delicious
Very delicious
The store admits to having searched the store, but no bananas are available. They suggest their raspberry as a delicious option.
Yes, we gotta no banana
No banana
We gotta no banana today.
I sella you no banana.
The owner repeats that there are no bananas available for Sale and that he cannot sell bananas.
Why this man, he no believe-a what I say.
Now whatta you want mister?
You wanna buy twelve for a quarter?
No? well, just a oneofadozen?
I'm-a gonna calla my daughter.
Hey, Marianna
You gotta piana
Yes, banana, no
No, yes, no bananas today
We gotta no bananas.
The owner laments that a customer refuses to believe him. He makes casual banter and humour but makes it clear that bananas are not available.
Yes, we gotta no bananas today.
The owner concludes by repeating that there are no bananas for Sale today.
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: FRANK SILVER, IRVING CONN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind