1. Sam Butera was an American tenor saxophonist and singer best noted for his collaborations with Louis Prima and Keely Smith.
11 Facts About Sam Butera
1. 2.
Sam Butera was born and raised in an Italian-American family in New Orleans, where his father, Joe, ran a butcher shop and played guitar in his spare time.
3.
Sam Butera heard the saxophone for the first time at a wedding when he was seven years old, and, with his father's encouragement, he began to play.
4.
Sam Butera was named one of America's top upcoming jazzmen by Look magazine when he was only eighteen years old, and, by his early twenties, he had landed positions in the orchestras of Tommy Dorsey, Joe Reichman, and Paul Gayten.
5.
Sam Butera remained the bandleader of The Witnesses for more than twenty years.
6.
Sam Butera is noted for his raucous playing style, his off-color humor, and the innuendo in his lyrics.
7.
Sam Butera had a featured role in the Cinemax TV special Viva Shaf Vegas, which starred Paul Shaffer.
8.
Sam Butera was featured in an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
9.
Sam Butera played a part in the movie The Rat Race, starring Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis.
10.
Sam Butera played a scam artist along with Joe Bushkin who fleeced Curtis out of his instruments.
11.
Sam Butera died of pneumonia in Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of 81.