Louis Prima & Keely Smith to Uriah Heep (SMLP #13: Special Uriah Heep Edition)

Today's LPs for the Saturday Morning Listening Party were selected from the nearby second-hand store by my sister Margo who is visiting from Pennsylvania.

Album #1: Louis Prima & Keely Smith, Together. Margo especially liked "Mashuga". Her husband always thinks of King Louie from The Jungle Book movie when he hears Louis Prima. Margo feels like this 1960 album does not sound like it was recorded shortly before Prima and Smith divorced. Smith sounds vaguely like Lena Horne to Margo. She likes how Prima and Smith have contrasting and complementary voices.

Album #2: Uriah Heep, Sweet Freedom. Margo thought that Mick Box looked like "Weird" Al Yankovic and Gary Thain looked like Kristy McNichol. The album sounds to me a lot like Styx, especially vocalist David Byron who sounds indistinguishable from Dennis DeYoung to my ear. The lyrics did not impress the SMLP attendees. One song resorts to reciting the alphabet. Margo said the album sounded like Jethro Tull meets Air Supply being mocked by Spinal Tap. I'm pretty sure the Uriah Heep record drove Humu's mother from the building. Humu looked online and found that Uriah Heep played in Armenia last month. Uriah Heep dominated conversation for a while. We had a lot of fun sending each other e-cards from www.uriah-heep.com.

The route from Together to Sweet Freedom</a> is 6 steps.  Here we go!

The route starts with "Mutual Admiration Society" by Prima and Smith.  Unfortunately, I can't find it available from any free and legal service on the web. (Help?)

Louis Prima and Keely Smith did a brief television performance with Frank Sinatra that was eventually released on the album Classic Duets.

On the same album, Sinatra sings with Bing Crosby and Dean Martin on "Together". Incidentally, this is a different tune than the title track from the Prima/Smith album that started this route.

Christmas is coming.  Bing Crosby and David Bowie had a duet on the Christmas song "The Little Drummer Boy".

One of Bowie's most beloved songs, "Changes", has Trevor Bolder on bass.

Bolder was the bass player in Uriah Heep for a while. But he's not on Sweet Freedom. He is on Conquest. The route contains "Out On The Street" but again, I cannot find it on a free and legal web service. (And again: Help?) Here's "Carry On" from the same record.

This takes us to the end of the route, "Circus" from Sweet Freedom.

Best track in route: I have to go with Bowie, "Changes".