'Wildest!'

In the 1950s, with big-band music waning in popularity, Louis Prima found himself at a crossroads.

The Italian immigrant could continue to schlep around the East Coast doing gigs for gas money, just enough to get by while trying to provide for a family.

Or he could take the deal offered to him: Regular side stage shows at The Sahara in Las Vegas, one of the city's oldest casinos and clubs back in the day when that was the rottenest city in the United States if you considered the clientele and the gangsters running the casinos, books and all that jazz.

Prima took the gig and it wasn't long that it was an extremely popular show featuring Prima's signature vocals. In 1956, he and his band recorded Wildest! at The Sahara in order to capture the energy that Prima and his players brought every night in their live performances. They wanted to capture 3 a.m. at The Sahara in 1955.

This is a really good album, one that would not only somehow influence David Lee Roth, but also directly lead to the the ill-advised resurgence of swing music in the late-1990s.

However, I think Prima's best performance is that of King Louie in The Jungle Book and his song "I Wanna Be Like You."