'I brought along my drummer and my piano player.' He said good, see you then.' Sam Butera told me in an interview in 2003. I told him it was Christmas and I got my kids and I can't leave on Christmas but I could be there on the 26th. 24th and said ' Sam, you want to come to Vegas?' and I said when and he said tomorrow. The next day, Sam Butera and the (hastily named) Witnesses were headed for Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Strip would never be the same.

Sam told Prima that the contract would have to wait until 26th as it was Christmas Day and he couldn't leave his family and it would be hard to round up the band. They had a contract with to play the Casbah Lounge at the Sahara Hotel. 24th, 1954 to come and join him and Keely Smith in Las Vegas. He had joined up with Louis Prima more than once. He grew up in New Orleans and had bounced around the French Quarter enough to make a name for himself. He was best known as Louis Prima's sax player but Sam was in a category all by himself. He was living the retired life in Las Vegas, long his home. One of my most favorite people in the world and one of my most favorite interviewees, Sam Butera has passed away.

( Sam Butera has died - Classic Las Vegas History Blog - Blog) Posted on Wednesday, Jat 9:52PM in Current Day, Historical, Las Vegas History by 'Las Vegas Lynn'. Personally, I was lucky enough to see Sam play live in Vegas with Louis Prima and will never forget it.Ĭlassic Las Vegas, June 2009. It's a compilation of three different articles. I wanted to repost the information as insurance in case the other site ever goes down. John Laughter posted a link to this article published June 2009 on the 'Classic Las Vegas' website.

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