I’ve had a couple of long work
days with not a lot of leisure or sleep time in either of them, but I just rose
from a two hour nap. I’m groggy, but I’m ready to face the evening with a fresh
outlook…as soon as the cobwebs clear away.
Disc 713 is…. That’s Amore: the Very Best of Dean Martin
Year of Release: 1996 but with music
from 1953 to 1961
What’s up with the Cover? I don’t like this
cover. It just isn’t how I remember Dean Martin. This picture looks like a
goofy Tony Bennett. Dean Martin is just always cooler than this. Like this
picture from inside the jacket sleeve:
Now
that’s Dean Martin. Cool as a cucumber with a smoke idling in his off hand,
ready to down a whisky and slay the ladies with his smooth moves and golden
voice.
How I Came To Know It: In the mid-nineties I was caught
up in the excitement of the Swing revival. I think Sheila may have actually
bought this one, but I’m glad she did.
How It Stacks Up: This is the only Dean Martin album I have but it is
a best of, so it can’t stack up.
Rating: for the second review in a row, I
must remind you, gentle reader: no ratings for compilation albums. Yes, I know
it is Dean Martin. There are no exceptions.
I admit I wasn’t enthused to listen to this album
when I rolled it. Dean Martin always feels to me like the crappy version of
Frank Sinatra. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. Tony Bennett is the
crappy Frank Sinatra.Dino is his own man with his own music
I still prefer Frank overall, but Dean Martin drew
me in from the very first notes of “That’s
Amore” despite the song later featuring that really annoying “bells will sing/ting a-ling-a-ling” from
the background singers that makes it sound like a Christmas carol.
Martin’s voice has a beautiful tone that comes out
effortlessly, in a slightly breathy way that feels like he’s never short of it.
His timing is perfect, whether he is working with a few backup singers or a
full orchestra pumping out horn flourishes. More than anything, he always
sounds like he’s having a good time and that you’re invited to the party.
Martin is a softer sell than Sinatra, and he
definitely sells up the crooner persona on these tracks. These are good songs
to play over dinner with a girl you want to impress but not freak out. Call it
first date make-out music. You should still proceed with caution on the tracks,
however. There is a touch of creepy on “Standing
on the Corner” where hopeful bachelors go down to Main Street to eye up
girls and ‘select’ their favourite. Worst line:
“Brother you can’t go to jail for
what you’re thinkin’
Or for the rude look in your eye.
Standing on the corner watching
all the girls go by.”
For the most part, though, Dean is happy to stick with innocuous love
songs like “Memories Are Made of This”
and “Vieni Su (Say You Love Me Too).”
On this latter note it is worth pointing out how Dean likes to work
Italian into his crooning style. He was born Dino Crocetti and it is clear he
is proud of his heritage. That said, he makes sure it stays decidedly white-bread,
so as not to offend his fifties audience. Being of Italian heritage myself, I
am glad that he doesn’t stray into the insulting stereotypes of the time (think
Rosemary Clooney singing “Mambo Italiano”).
When Dino sings Italian you feel like you are walking down a street in
fifties Rome. Maybe you’re not a local, but you’re enjoying the visit. He even
has a song called “Arrivederci Roma”
that had me fondly remembering my own recent visit to the Eternal City.
When we got this album, Sheila drew my attention to a couple of great
ones I hadn’t known as a kid, notably the dance-driven foreplay that is “Sway” and the drunken revelry of “Hey Brother, Pour the Wine.” Both have
since become favourites for me. Best line from the latter:
“She introduced me to another
No my friends, he’s not her brother.
I will miss the way she walks.
Hey brother, pour the wine!”
Dino never misses a chance to watch a girl walk, even when she’s walking
away.
My only quibble with the collection is that it didn’t have his amazing
duet performed with Ricky Nelson in “Rio Bravo,” “My Rifle, My Pony and Me”. Here it is, because it is too good not to share.
Martin died on Christmas day 1995 and this album was released the
following year. No doubt it was a soulless record exec scoring some money from
his catalogue, but it just feels like a labour of love to me. That’s the power
of Dino, I suppose. He made everything feel light, airy and easy.
Best
tracks: That’s
Amore, You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You, Sway, Hey Brother Pour the Wine, Arrivederci
Roma, Canadian Sunset
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