Take a gifted performer from the 50s (Louis Prima), cross it with a TV commercial (Gap’s 1997 “Khakis Swing†spot), and you get a winning brand, musical revival, and lifestyle all in one.
I’m talking about Louis Prima’s “Jump, Jive, an’ Wail.â€
Originally released on Prima’s 1957 album The Wildest!, Brian Setzer did a spectacular cover of the song for his 1998 releaseThe Dirty Boogie.
Swing, both the music and dance style were undergoing a minor resurgence when GAP used the Louis Prima version of the song in a 30-second commercial. From there, things just sort of took off.
Both the original and cover versions are driven almost entirely by the horn part and vocals. Prima fills in with piano and string bass where Setzer punches up the string bass and drops the piano for a sizzling guitar part. No surprise, given Brian Setzer’s considerable guitar talent.
The two versions are essentially twins, and for the first 1:45 they are. After that, they break away from each other (see the timeline below).
Prima’s original runs an extra 30 seconds before the outro, adding a piano solo, swapping the order of the final verse and a chorus, and a horn call and response. Setzer runs the two final verses back to back, triples up the last chorus, and leaves out the call and response part. It was interesting to listen to the two versions side by side, having run them through some audio editing software to get them to start at the same time.
It’s impossible to pick a winner here. They are, for all practical purposes, identical. A true reproduction. It really comes down to whether you prefer the traditional big-band sound, or would rather have a modernized version with a bit of guitar shredding.
There are several bands, neo-swing acts, who might not have had careers had it not been for the one commercial. Would bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and countless local/regional bands, have become personal favorites if khakis didn’t swing? I may have gotten there eventually, but it unlikely wouldn’t have been as soon.