AMERICAN MOSAIC #817 - Keely Smith

By Nancy Steinbach

HOST:

Keely Smith was a popular jazz singer in the Nineteen-Fifties.She is probably most famous for her work with her husband, bandleader Louis Prima. Jim Tedder has more.

ANNCR:

Keely Smith was born in Nineteen-Thirty-Two in Norfolk, Virginia.She started working with Louis Prima in New York City in Nineteen-Forty-Nine. They were married four years later. They performed at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, and recorded many songs together. Perhaps their most famous is this one, "That Old Black Magic."

((CUT 1: THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC))

Keely Smith and Louis Prima ended their marriage in Nineteen-Sixty-One.She stopped singing for a time to care for her children. She started again when they had grown up. A few years ago, she recorded an album of swing music. Here is the title song, "Swing, Swing, Swing."

((CUT 2: SWING, SWING, SWING))

Earlier this year, Keely Smith released another album, "Keely Smith Sings Sinatra." It was recorded in Nineteen-Ninety-Five. Frank Sinatra died soon after. She decided not to release the album then because of his death. Keely Smith says she had sent him the recordings and he especially liked one of the songs. We leave you now with that song , "New York, New York."