Before teaming up with Keely Smith, Prima was already a popular trumpet player, singer and consumate SHOWMAN for over a decade who'd already been married three times. He had scored success by writing the swing anthem "Sing, Sing, Sing" a huge hit for for Benny Goodman, and scored with some novelty tunes for himself like "Robin Hood", "Bell Bottom Trousers" in 1945 and 1948's "Civilization (Bongo Bongo Bongo)". Prima had emerged from the New Orleans jazz scene, before starting a big band, and his charm & looks had him selling out major venues nationwide including drawing record crowds to New York's Paramount Theater. His records often played upon his Sicilian heritage, and novelty tracks included "Please No Squeeza Da Banana," and "Josephine, Please No Lean On The Bell."
He was considered a bit philanderous, and dated numerous women even when married. The boisterous & colorful Italian-American performer had already operated a nightclub under the name the "Famous Door" in Los Angeles where he also began dating starlets & using show biz contacts to appear in some films alongside fellow performers like Bing Crosby.
Dorothy Jacqueline Keely aka Keely Smith was discovered by Prima in Norfolk VA on tour in the late 1940's. She came up to the bandstand and won an impromptu talent contest with her voice. Prima took an instant liking to her dry wit and got the young girl's mother to sign a permission slip and she hit the road with the band. At the time Prima was signed to Columbia, and they began recording material under the direction of Mitch Miller.
Prima's career had many ups & downs, and his financial status was always precarious. By the early 1950's, with his popularity waning he could no longer afford to pay a big band, and he could find no steady work anymore on the east coast. After a desperate plea to an old talent agent friend, he was signed to play five graveyard sets in a small lounge in a new Las Vegas casino called the Sahara in 1954. Legend has it that Prima was so broke when he arrived in the desert outpost that his shoes had holes in them.
Explaining his situation to his brother in New Orleans, it was arranged that a small combo of young musicians led by Sam Butera would be shipped out to Las Vegas pronto to back Louis & Keely.
Barely having met before their opening night, the group instantly became a hit in Las Vegas, and they performed nightly from midnight until 6 am. Prima would blow his horn ala Louis Armstrong, joking, jigging and jostling against Butera on the tiny stage. Keely would ignore the boys hyperactive hub bub, filing her nails, and looking bored & blase' between her vocal lines. The audiences ate up the mix of comedy & hot swing sounds.
The tiny Casbar lounge began filling up early and joining stray gamblers some nights were other show people and celebrities like Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack entourage. Suddenly, like a phoenix, Prima was back on top and was offered a recording contract from Sinatra's label Capitol.
They had numeous hits, and the casino show excitement was captured live for the 1956 album the album The Wildest! They later won a Grammy in 1959 for their collaboration on "That Old Black Magic".
The liner notes described their combination of talents:
"By all odds, the combination of Louis Prima and Keely Smith shouldn't work. How could Louis, a confirmed inciter to riot, and Keely, normally a model of smoky-voiced sobriety, do anything but clash? But clash they don't. Explode they do!"
-from The Hits Of Louis And Keely, Capitol Records
Despite having two children, Prima and Smith divorced in the early 1960's after it became apparent the couple were no longer aligned, most conspicuously the curious culprit Louis "Just a Gigolo" Prima being unable to curb his wandering eye. He eventually remarried for a 5th and final time to Gia Maione and continued the act in a similar vein while Keely Smith went on to a solo career that continues to this day as a popular balladeer.
Baby Won't You Please Come Home
Louis Prima & Keely Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause your little daddy's gonna be all alone
I have tried in vain never no more
To call your sweet loving name
And if you go you'd break my heart
I've never thought we could part
For every hour in the day
Baby, won't you please come home
I need you, I need you badly
Won't you hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry
Baby, won't you please come home
'Cause your little mama's gonna be all alone
I have tried in vain
Never no more, never no more
Never no more, never no more
When you left you broke my heart
Never thought that we would ever part
For every hour in the day
You can hear my baby say
Oh baby wont you please come home
I need some some lovin'
Baby won't you please come on home
Louis Prima's song "Baby Won't You Please Come Home" is a classic blues song that was released in 1957. The lyrics depict a man who is pleading with his lover to come back to him. He sings, "Oh baby, won't you please come home? 'Cause your little daddy's gonna be all alone." He admits that he has tried to call her sweet loving name in vain and that he needs her badly. He fears that if she goes, she will break his heart. The urgency in his voice is evident in the lyrics when he keeps asking her to hurry, hurry, hurry.
The man is reminiscing about the times they spent together when he sings, "Never thought that we would ever part. For every hour in the day, you can hear my baby say." He misses her company so much that he is willing to do anything to have her back. The woman, on the other hand, is referred to as "little mama." The man is telling her that if she doesn't come back, he will be all alone.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh baby, won't you please come home
The singer addresses their lover, begging them to return home.
'Cause your little daddy's gonna be all alone
The singer says they will be lonely without their lover.
I have tried in vain never no more
The singer has attempted unsuccessfully to reach out to their lover in the past, but will no longer do so.
To call your sweet loving name
The artist wishes to express their affection for their lover.
And if you go you'd break my heart
If their lover leaves, it will cause the artist great emotional pain.
I've never thought we could part
The singer did not believe that their relationship could ever end.
For every hour in the day
Throughout the day, the singer constantly thinks of their lover.
You can hear me say
The artist wishes their lover could hear them vocalizing their longing for them.
Baby, won't you please come home
The repeated plea for their lover to return.
I need you, I need you badly
The artist expresses their deep desire for their lover's presence.
Won't you hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry
The singer emphasizes the urgency of their request for their lover to return.
'Cause your little mama's gonna be all alone
In the second verse, the artist refers to themselves as the lover's 'little mama' and reiterates their loneliness.
Never no more, never no more
Continuing from the first verse, the singer emphasizes that they will no longer try to reach out to their lover in vain.
When you left you broke my heart
The singer is still feeling the emotional pain caused by their lover's departure.
Never thought that we would ever part
The singer is surprised by the end of their relationship.
You can hear my baby say
The artist imagines their lover calling out for them.
I need some some lovin'
The artist expresses their need for affection and attention from their lover.
Baby won't you please come on home
The final plea from the singer for their lover to return.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Charles Warfield, Clarence Williams
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Benny Killer
¿Alguién más encontró estas hermosas canciones por la película "Igor"? Diganme que no soy la única xd :'u
It'sBrillitos!
No no eres la única yo estaba buscando la música jsjs
IC Tubes
Yo si, yo vine por Igor, no eres la unica
Issyos
Xdd yo tambien vine por Igor
Noe de CHUCHO
No eres la única
Ken Jackson
Oh to have seen them live...sensational magic ahead of their time!
salkizar
keeley has the voice of an angel...........i could listen to her for eternity
Thomas Lombardo
They were so perfect together .
SAR9theway
Young people.....LISTEN TO THIS STUFF! Learn from the few that have mastered it and pass it on to the next generation. Don't allow ignorance and apathy generated from the modern music business to allow our cultural treasures to be lost.
aim land
we do lol