Big Night: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Everything on this CD by Louis Prima is excellent. My favorite track of his is Buona Sera, but I also love the rendition of O Sole Mio with Sam Butera's fantastic saxophone work. Rosemary Clooney's Mambo Italiano is the sort of song that stays in your head even when you wish it would leave. It's delightful, but a tad too catchy. A bit of history: this was a successful hit for her, but she didn't like it, nor did she understand why it became a hit.

Claudio Villa's "Strada del Bosco" (road through the woods) and "Tic-Ti Tic-Ta" are two of my favorite Italian tracks, with "Pescivendolo" (fish monger) a close third. Of course, if you saw the movie, the first track, "Stornelli Amorisi" by Claudio Villa will be immediately recognizable and will stick with you.

I was not keen about the instrumentals ("Art of Art", "Dinner", "Pascal's Waltz", or "Big Night Theme"), but that may be because those tracks were so integrated into the movie that they just didn't sound right on a CD. I was also not too keen about Keely Smith's "Don't Take Your Love from Me". It just didn't have the same energy as some of the recordings she made on other records with Louis Prima. They were made for each other, and this track without his strong (overpowering?) presence and style shows it.

All in all, this is a well put together set of tracks that capture the very essence of the Italian-American experience of my husband's generation, and that before him. It will also give you an aural reminder of how delightful the movie - The Big Night - was the first time you saw it. And if you haven't seen it, you should.