Sam Butera dies at 81; 1950s-'60s tenor saxophonist

Los Angeles Times ^ | June 5, 2009 | Adam Bernstein

[scott says]

Sam Butera, a hard-swinging tenor saxophonist who formed a rowdy and successful onstage partnership with entertainers Louis Prima and Keely Smith in the 1950s, died Wednesday at a hospital in Las Vegas. He was 81.

He had Alzheimer's disease, according to a report in the Las Vegas Sun.

Prima, nearly 20 years older than Butera, was a composer ("Sing, Sing, Sing"), trumpeter, singer and irrepressible stage performer, a combination of Louis Armstrong and Jerry Lewis. His career was on the wane when he teamed in 1954 with Butera, who a few years earlier had been named the country's outstanding teenage jazz musician by Look magazine. Both men were New Orleans natives of Italian heritage.

Butera was enjoying a long engagement at a New Orleans club owned by Prima's brother before he and Louis Prima began a musical union in 1954 that lasted nearly two decades. They recorded hit albums for Capitol Records, became nightclub fixtures from Las Vegas to New York and appeared in movies and on television.

[scott says]

Sam Butera was a WONDERFUL musician--I had the pleasure of seeing him live many times and he always put on a great show. His work with Louis Prima is classic and his solo material is among my very favorite-- Rest in Peace Sam-and THANK YOU for all the fabulous music over the years!

[the invisib1e hand]

He does rock.

[llevrok]

jazz ping

[scott says]

Not sure if anyone is familiar with Sam Butera—he was the sax player and arranger for Louis Prima and a GREAT live performer.
I was at a friends house last night playing him some rare Sam recordings , a 8 cd set of The Capitol Recordings, Louis Prima and Keely Smith live and studio recordings.
I did a google search for Sam this morning and was saddened to get this news——

Sam was one of the greatest musicians EVER! and will be sadly missed.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Cute clip!

What’s with the short haired gal in the Spock uniform? Is she somehow strapped to the stage prop? LOL.

[pissant]

I’m not familiar. You back east now?

[gorush]

He was the Gato Barbieri of his day.

[the invisib1e hand]

I see people looking “amazed,” in stage fashion, including her. Apparently a scene from something...

[scott says]

Great stuff.
Sam is in my top five favorite artists/bands.
I have just about every cd he put out and a lot of albums and cassettes he put out over the years.
Its so strange that last night I brought my Bear Family cd set over to my friends house to let him borrow.
He had a web page opened up to the info on the cd set--I did a google search for Sam and was shocked to learn of his passing--
Luckily the last time I saw Sam back in 2004, I got him to autograph the box set on the cover and the 40 page booklet-- I listen to his cds all the time--his music is absolutely wonderful.....ungh, what a huge loss to the music world. ;)

[Michael.SF.]

Scott,

Did you see Sam Butera in SF when he opened for Van? This was probably 8 years ago, or more maybe.

It was a great show, sorry to see him go.

[EggsAckley]

When I was growing up I had the wonderful opportunity to see Prima, et.al. many times. Keely was one of my idols when I later became a pro singer. What a gal!

I saw her about 30 years ago with Butera in Reno. She wasn’t skinny anymore but she was still just as beautiful and elegant on stage. When she and Sam did one of Prima’s big hits, they both had tears in their eyes. They loved him so much.

Prima used to say she was American Indian and would ask her what tribe she was from. Her answer was always “we’re the Fuqauee”. Totally deadpan.

[a fool in paradise]

Wail that saxomaphone...

that makes 3 (Koko Taylor, David Carradine, and Sam Butera).

[justapicker]

That’s KEELEY freakin SMITH man!

She is awesome. Prima and Smith were fabulous in their harmonies and schtick. Way ahead of their time. They kicked ass. Sonny and who? Jump, Jive & Wail and Just a Gigolo have been covered by modern acts that pale in comparison (David Lee Roth, et al)

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Sam+Butera&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=O4opSqm4GIS0MI201cgJ&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=6&ct=title#q=Keeley+SMith+just+a+gigolo&hl=en&emb=0

[scott says]

Yeah—they played 3 nights at the Bimbos 365 Club and 3 nights at the Masonic Auditorium. It was Jan of 1999 believe it or not, I went to one show each at the venues.
The last time I saw Sam was Feb 2004 at 19 Broadway in Fairfax, CA—a TINY bar.
I sat first row dead center, literally 5 feet in front of Sam— he was awesome! He retired shortly after that show and kept to himself. This is a very sad day-Sam was one of the greatest EVER—

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Fair enough. Why is she being such a sourpuss in that clip?

[scott says]

Yes-—got back to CT about 10 days ago. Its a nice change of pace.
I do not think I will be going To Cal anytime soon.
I have had no phone calls for work so it looks like coming back to CT was the right move for me.
The drive across the country was an adventure....open road and the tunes cranked! I had a really good time——

[justapicker]

That’s her schtick and part of the act - no matter how boisterous Prima would become to win her attention, she would act totally laconic and unimpressed, roll her eyes, deadpan, etc., but sing she can, man.

I can’t document it, but sure looks like the premise for Sonny & Cher, who were tame in comparison.

I have some of their 50’s albums - my parents used to see them in New Orleans

Glad to hip you to something old & new

Enjoy

[truth_seeker]

Louis Prima and Sam Butera: “Hey Marie”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnw50VM-21A&feature=related

[scott says]

Keely had the most awesome voice---just mind blowingly awesome. I love cranking her tunes up and just revelling in the sonic glory. Her version of "Autumn Leaves" with Louis and Sam from the Live From Las Vegas cd gets my vote for best female vocal performance ever-----

[nuconvert]

Thanks!