Sam Butera --- Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody

Sam's Rendition Of The Louis Prima Classic

[@MrFred901]

In 1958 I was working washing dishes at Harrah's Tahoe and snuck into one of the north shore clubs where Louis Prima was playing. First time I ever heard him or keely or sam and was smitten. Been a fan ever since. I worked casinos for another ten years in Reno and Tahoe and saw a lot of lounge and showroom acts, but never saw them again, and I regret it. They were great entertainment.

[@roseadams3397]

That's where I met Sam too. Best Alto Sax ever...

[@JoeTrippi2]

I was working at Harrah's in New Jersy and Sam came in because I was the only one doiing Gigalo, and I'm a funk and rock n roller kind a guy. This is before David lee roth did it. Sammy came in to see my show and he loved it! I did Gigalo and he came up and not only sat in, he played sax on it. I was blown away!!! I mean I was frickin BLOWN AWAY!!! We ran into one another in A.C. I WAS BLESSED!! God Bless ya Sammy!!

[@hoz49]

On a junket to Vegas in the early 80's my wife and I learned Sammy was playing in the lounge at the New Orleans Casino. That night we made it a point to be there. It was almost a private concert as there were posibbly 10 people in the joint. The old man could swing like nobodys business. Face it, he was "there". At the end he and the band did the New Orleans Saints go marching in walk around and I got a picture of a beaming Mr Butera at our table. What a PRO! Highlight of my music career.

[@Paulguynj]

OMG! This brings back such great memories of my younger years. I used to see Sam and the Wildest during the 80's into early 90's whenever they were in Atlantic City. They played at the Rendezvous lounge at Resorts Casino. Chuck Stevens his former drummer used to stay at my condo in Margate when they were in town. Chuck passed away and so did Sam. They will be sorely missed. Sam was a class act and they don't make entertainers like him anymore. RIP Sam.

[@jaschaheifetz]

Love you, Sam. Always did. Always will.

[@gjc82071]

This REALLY brings back some memories! My step-father played in Sam's band back in the early 80's. As a kid I spent my summers/spring breaks on the road with them in the Pocono Mts. resorts & Atlantic City NJ. I remember they played @ Resorts International Hotel & Casino & we lived next door @ the Seaside Inn Hotel. Atlantic City in the early 80's was such a cool place. Video arcades everywhere, & it wasn't all built up yet (gambling just came) & there was a still bit of the old A.C. left.

[@mariagraziaboni4381]

Grande swing .........artisti cosi fanno parte del passato , non credo che il presente ce ne regali simili.........musica favolosa

[@rubenzoppi]

thanks SAM !!

[@joehart9458]

great band ,,,

[@gjc82071]

LOL I've heard Sam/the band so many times, these songs are eternally etched into my brain.

[@beckywoodley8588]

gjc82071 Paulguynj I loved Sam dearly. I was a young girl on the road in a showband and was on the boards with Sam and his wildest. Remember how he referred to Chuck Stevens as his "Time Keeper Superb"? Since they were the headliners, he and his guys closed out the sets. I always sat in the audience after I changed out of my show clothes. One of those evenings/mornings, my guitar player and I were listening to the last set as usual, when all of a sudden, Sam says, "Ladies and gentleman I'd like for you all to hear someone I don't think gets heard enough." We all looked around because, as you remember, celebrities were liable to be in the audience at any time. But then he says, "Becky, you want to come up and sing us something"? I almost fell out. The very thing I had wished to do while watching him backstage, because I was singing rock n' roll in my band, not standards. My mind went blank. So, he told me to go and talk to Chuck on drums and work out the key etc. Chuck started listing off songs that I might know, but I was still blank. Periodically Sam would ask if we were ready, and Chuck told him, "Not yet. Just talk to the people. We'll let you know." Then it came to me, "What Now My Love" except I sing Streisand's version, which is in French, "Et Maintenant". We worked out the key, I explained the feel I needed and he translated that to the guys. I can't remember the piano player's name or the guy on trumpet with the great hair. Anyway, I finally sang my song. Toward the end of the set, Sam asked if I wanted to come up and sing another one, but I had to back out, because I'd had a Black Russian which created a lot of mucous on my ultra sensitive vocal chords. Would NOT have had one if I'd suspected he might ask me to sing again. GREAT MEMORIES INDEED!!!

[@Paulguynj]

What a wonderful story. Buck Monari was the trumpet player and Arnie Teich was the Piano player. Chuck was a among the best swing style jazz drummers ever. He played in many big bands, for TV and movie studio bands, and toured with many famous singers before joining Sam. He passed away in 1996. What band were you with? I may have seen you since I was a regular in the Rendezvous lounge from the 80s to early 90s..I knew most of the bands including the Treniers, Freddie Bell, Bandstand,Then and Now,Apple Band,Gina Roche, Jeanane Marie (what a voice),Tony Tillman,and etc.

[@Bad-Brad-GTO]

The best that ever was and one hell of a nice guy

[@bluenote824jones7]

Man he got old looking.r.i.p. to a super star

[@jaschaheifetz]

Sam was the king of the Swingers... Drummer reminds me of Ed Shaughnessy.

[@cadillacjackellis]

Amateur..?????? this is the guy who put Vegas on the map !!

[@cadillacjackellis]

Ruggerio loses a stick at 4:24, searches in his stick bag and smoothly hits the accents.......

[@SarahMariahx3]

sam is my uncle :)))) ciao zio

[@femurdroit347]

Ciao Sarah Mariah otre oncle a le swing , la classe et la performance Salut du Pays de Cézanne C le Mat

[@jaysaponaro5436]

I was so lucky to discover Sam's live show in Atlantic City back in the 80's. It was in a small room off Resorts casino's floor

[@briankavanagh7191]

Dodgy harmonies!

[@Rocky-ne9vf]

Just a bit. ha ha

[@dantelafrefo984]

Amateur

[@markusr7421]

Do you know, who is this man? Obviously not, if so you would not have written such amateurish comment...

[@hartley252]

I'm so proud to have a photo of myself with great man when he visited the UK a few years back. Wonderful performer. Great man.

[@robertimpallomeni3767]

made that sax SING.

[@stegil56]

and walk!

[@NoodleStudioRecords]

Sam had such a smooooth style. Miss Louis Prima loads

[@bluenote824jones7]

Love him.seen him at Westbury ny years ago.sold out great show

[@veronicavero9498]

MY FAVOURITE TENOR SAXOPHONIST!

[@aavisharri]

He was in Helsinki, Finland and made a great show.

[@gjc82071]

I knew him when I was a child. My step-father played saxophone in Sam's band =D

[@alexhenderson8356]

If you listen to him sing when he was younger, he had a great voice. Possibly better than Louis Prima. Great performer, great musician, great singer. Why was he playing at that age? He loved what he was doing. Great man. Rest in peace, Sam. Thank you for all the great music!

[@CarloRossiJr]

one of the last times I saw him play, he practically had to be carried off. but when he was onstage, there was no way to know he was in pain. he played and sang with the strength of a man much younger. RIP Sam, Chris

[@elizabethdaniellesimaviggi3289]

I sing this gem as JUST A GIGILETTE...

[@lisalovelylpa]

Sammmmyyyyyyy !!!! My mom loved ya !!! Winks Lisa

[@frankvan228]

One of a kind. Just great.

[@warbirds3339mike]

The Best Great Stuff

[@hyzercreek]

Sam was the wildest.

[@gjc82071]

"Sam Butera & The Wildest". My step-father played in Sam's band from 1981-83. When I was a kid, my summers were spent "on the road" w/the band. We spent a few weeks in the Poconos, & the rest of the summer in Atlantic City where they played at Resorts International Hotel & Casino. I knew Sam. I'd often go w/my dad to watch the shoes & Sam would say "There he is! What's up little guy?". hehehe Sam was cool, & he was always nice to me. Some of my best memories & life experiences are from that time, & I cherish them greatly.

[@Joemommas]

gjc82071 Wow. Thats amazing!

[@beckywoodley1081]

@gjc82071 HELLO!!! I am so glad you have these fabulous memories of Sam. YES, he headlined at Resorts in the Rendez-vous Lounge, and my showband was on the boards with him in the early 80's, but we were booked there in the winter months starting in January, and then we went to Aruba during Carnivale. I'm on the boardwalk there in Atlantic City, in my profile shot here, and as you can see, it's NOT summer. When Paradise Island Resort opened up in the Bahamas, the Treniers appeared there first. Before we got there, they contacted and told us what to expect and to be prepared if any of our luggage got lost on the way to the resort from the little airport. At the time, luggage was thrown on top of the transport vehicle and sometimes it would bounce off. Thank heaven that didn't happen to any of us. Toward the end of our 2-month stay, we found out Sam was to appear there next, so my bandleader informed him about how things worked and what to expect. They arrived the day we left, but we missed them. They were probably stuck at the airport waiting for their band equipment to pass inspection. That took for-E-ver! Watching this video brings such joy to me. Sam had me come up to sing one night after my show came down. My guitar player and I were sitting right in front, when Sam said, "We have someone in the audience I don't think we get to hear enough of.." There were always stars in the audience, so Paul Good, my guitar player, and I both turned around to see who Sam was talking about. Then Sam says,"Becky, you wanna come up and do a number for the people?" I loved him. His drummer, Chuck Stevens, and I had breakfast together a couple of times after the show, which came down at 2:00 a.m. I think. He spoke with me about the business and his sister Connie's career, because he knew I was an actress. I was on the road with a showband for just a few years before returning to acting. Sam was such a hoot. How much of a "kid" were you when you watched him? I guess you had to be drinking age though right because children weren't allowed in lounges. Therefore, whether you spoke Italian or not, you knew that he said his more "off-color" jokes in Italian. You could tell because the laughter fItalian-speaking people was different. Hys-TE-rical! He once sat me at a table with 8 or so of his friends ( I don't know where my guitar player was that night, probably in the casino proper) all of them around his age. People still dressed when they came to see shows, in those days. The women at the wore black beaded dresses and the diamonds were dripping. Anyway, he sits me down, and tells them to take care of me because I'm special people. There were lots of "buongiorno's" all around, one of the husbands asked what I was drinking and flagged down a waitress. The woman next to me asked, "Parla Italiano", and sadly I had to say "no", just French. Lots of Italians were in the audience that night, and so his act was peppered with a LOT more jokes in Italian. Every time he'd tell one, the woman next to me would "nudge" my arm with the back of her hand and translate for me. A lot of "nudging" happened that night, I was almost a little sore. She was not a small woman. One night, for whatever reason, I didn't come out of my dressing room right away, and went somewhere else before going back to the lounge to watch Sam's show. My guitar player had been there since our show had first come down. The transition time between acts was exactly 15 minutes, union rules. I misjudged my time. When I got back, Paul told me I had just missed Sinatra, who was on the boards at the Superstar Theatre!! @#R$@TRW@!!! Of ALL the times for me to go and do something ELSE after our show. Apparently, Sam had told one of his Sinatra stories, then the audience gasped, and who walked out from between the side speakers, but Ol' Blue Eyes himself !! They feigned a little boxing sparring, hugged and sang a little something. And WHERE was I ??? Oy vey! When I showed up I was wondering why the crowd was extra animated and Sam was in hysterics. How cool that his ol' buddy popped over before heading to his own show. Working at the Rendez-vous was just the best, although I hated the small stage. It was fine for Sam, but I was one of 3 front people, so we had to perform our choreography in a tight space. Which one of the musicians is your step-father? Remember the piano player with the toupee? Can't remember anyone else's name right now. Oh my goodness. I don't want to stop this stroll down memory lane, but I have to. Have I worn your eyes out? Take care

[@beckywoodley1081]

One more thing. Ha! Remember how he and the band used to lead a conga line march through the audience during "When the Saints.."?

[@ilehyhatdog2134]

was here cuz of suicide squad harley's scene :)