Breaking It Up! (1951)

About this title: In late 1951, Louis Prima was hot on the heels of a comeback success the year before with "Oh Babe!," and a record so big that it spawned numerous cover versions by everyone from Wynonie Harris and Lionel Hampton to Kay Starr and even a Spanish language version by Lalo Guerrero ("Chitas Patas Boogie" on Imperial and used in the movie Zoot Suit with Edward James Olmos). After three follow-ups went nowhere (one of which was the immortal "Zooma Zooma"), Prima came to Columbia Records and was handed over to A&R chief Mitch Miller. And here was part of the problem. Prima's audience liked a cruder ... read more

Tracks:

1. Eleanor [Paone]
2. Shake Hands with Santa Claus [Hilliard/DeLugg]
3. Oooh-Dahdily-Dah [Smith/Prima]
4. Basta [Wilder/Barer]
5. The Bigger the Figure [Barer/Wilder]
6. Boney Bones [Prima/Eddy/DeMare]
7. One Mint Julep [Toombs]
8. Chili Sauce [Kinberg]
9. Oh, Marie [DiCapua/Prima/DeCap]
10. Luigi [Antonio/Araco/DiLeo]
11. Paul Revere [Stillman/Shanon/Dar]
12. It's Good as New (I Painted It Blue) [Bernier/Charlap]
13. Barnacle Bill the Sailor [Robison/Luther/Robi]
14. Shepherd Boy [Bagdasarian/Carlyle]
15. Chop Suey, Chow Mein [White]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.