Louis Prima (1910-78) did almost everything. Originally a jazz trumpeter, he composed Benny Goodman’s standard "Sing Sing Sing" and co-authored "A Sunday Kind Of Love," which Jo Stafford, Fran Warren, The Harp-Tones, Reba McEntire, and Etta James have done over the decades. The Village People, David Lee Roth and Brian Setzer too have covered Prima. With Keely Smith (his deadpan fourth wife), Sam Butera and The Witnesses, Prima created a hugely successful ‘50s Las Vegas act. Did Louis and Keely’s humor inspire Sonny & Cher?

Prima’s final singing partner and widow, Gia Maione Prima (born 1941) runs Prima Records (www.louisprima.com), where Louis released 11 heavily Vegas 1963-75 recordings. Nine now are on CD. (Yes, that’s his mother, Angelina Prima, gracing the cover of his Italian-novelty album, Angelina.) Here Gia Prima talks with Goldmine.

How did you and Louis meet?
When I was 14, I got Louis’ autograph. I idolized him. Later, in 1962, he was having a nationwide search for a female vocalist. He came to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to play the Latin Casino, and was auditioning singers there. I got the job on Mother’s Day 1962. We were married a year later.

Did the Italian background you, Sam and Louis shared help your teamwork?
It had tons to do with the relationship on stage as well as at home. I can cook Italian food like you wouldn’t believe. Louis loved his food. The first time I fixed him moscacciole, he said, "You’ve got the job."

Did the age gap between you and Louis impact your stage show?
It had no impact at all. Louis was almost ageless in everything about him. He could work anybody under the table. The personality people saw on stage was Louis at home: constant happiness, laughing, kidding each other.

What led Louis to form his own record label?
Louis formed the Prima One label at the time of the British Invasion with the Beatles. The major labels only wanted to record groups that came from England and had a British accent. Everyone else—the Sinatras, Dean Martins, Louis—was put on a back burner so Louis formed his own label. Mainly he sold the discs at live performances.

It sounds like Louis’ New Orleans jazz origins remained part of his music.
Sure. He was the greatest ambassador New Orleans ever had. Wherever he appeared, he always gave his New Orleans message—"That’s my home"—and explained second line and Mardi Gras and jazz funerals. When big bands were fading out, he stopped his and kept up with the times by forming a smaller group. Of course, he selected New Orleans musicians—Sam Butera on sax and Lou Sineaux on trombone. I can’t say whether he was the first to introduce the shuffle beat, but it became his main style. To me, putting New Orleans syncopation into the shuffle beat was the beginning of southern rock and roll. One secret of his maintaining his success for 50 years was that he never got left behind, he never got stuck in one genre. He always kept one or two younger musicians. On The Prima Generation ’72, Louis didn’t do the Rolling Stones instrumental "Symphony For The Devil." Little Richie [Varhola] played it on Hammond B-3. Louis played "Lazy River." The act always had Louis, but to appeal to the younger people in the audience, you might have a current song.

On The King Of Clubs, how did you hold your breath so long singing "I Want You To Be My Baby"?
It wasn’t hard. I always had really good breath control. I’d had classical voice training for opera and studied with the choir director of the Westminster Choir College at Princeton University so I was skilled and trained, but not in Louis’ style. Lillian Briggs had recorded the song in the ‘50s. I always liked it as a kid. Louis was tickled to death when I suggested it for his show because it got a lot of laughs. He’d tell the crowd, "You never want to get in an argument with Gia." Our daughter Lena, who’s named after Louis’ mother Angelina, does it in a tribute show to her dad. She’s raised the tempo and does it much faster still.

Was it hard to step into Keely Smith’s shoes both musically and in private?
I was an entirely different person with an entirely different style of singing. The intention was never to duplicate their act. She had a deep, smoky sound. She was a torch singer, but Louis immediately saw that my niche was novelties like "I Want You To Be My Baby" and "Goody Goody" or more serious things that Louis had me do on my solo album, This Is … Gia. When I was hired, neither Louis nor any of the Witnesses made me feel that I would have to fill her shoes. They immediately respected my style and the way I was, and they helped me mature and grow up as a performer with Louis.

What’s the story behind "Sing Sing Sing"?
Louis and Bing Crosby were longtime friends. They both loved race horses. They were at a track in California. Every time Bing picked a horse in a race, he’d sing it’s name, he’d scream it. Louis standing next to him was going, "Sing, Bing, sing." And it hit Louis that it was a song. So right there at the racetrack, he’s writing a song, "Sing, Bing, Sing," for Bing as he’s hollering to cheer his horses on. Later Louis changed the title and lyric to "Sing Sing Sing" to make it more viable commercially.

What does your managing the Prima estate and archive involve?
Two years ago we finished The Wildest, a biography with a lot of live performances, for the American Movie Classics channel. It’s on DVD now. People are constantly emailing me asking where can they get films of Louis. It’s the only thing I know of that’s available other than old films from big-band days like Rose Of Washington Square or Rhythm On The Range with Bing Crosby.

I’ve constructed an official web site whose guest book is overloaded with questions. I’m also working on a book of Louis’ life. I’ve got a wealth of material to get out.

Did Louis keep lots of memorabilia?
Darling, I have everything from the 1920s to today. Everything. Office files, memorabilia, scrap books, recordings, photographs, boxes of news clippings. My next big chore is to find a few college kids and get the archive organized chronologically and preserved.