Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Cuz It’s June Video: ‘June In January’ By Dean Martin


 dave125 Dave Fogel 



  

Hey pallies, yesterday's google blog Dino-searchin' has rendered the perfect post to end our all month of June celebratin' of "The Day That Coolness Came To Earth.  What came 'cross our path is a post tagged "Cuz It's June Video: 'June In January' By Dean Martin."  Scribed by Mr. Dave Fogel, and posted at the radio blog for  Chicago's K-HITS 104.3.

Fogel's post combines a powerful posted pix of your most beloved Dino with his partner in comedy Mr. Jerry Lewis, a bit of patter, and the a historic vid clip of our Dino croonin' said tune on an early television programme.  Likes any of  youse pallies have a clue what TV show this was?  The post is short 'n sweet, but as we sez, perfect for the conclusion of our special month of Dino-celebratin' of the day of his entrance onto our planet.

We thanks Mr. Dave Fogel and all the pallies at K-HITS for rememberin' and homagin' our Dino in this way.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.
Dino-delightedly, DMP

Cuz It’s June Video: ‘June In January’ By Dean Martin


(Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

Remember when it was cold and snowy and this past winter and we couldn’t wait for summer to hit?
Well, that’s what this song is all about!
Well, it’s actually talking about the warmth of June and the rain and gloominess we’ve had lately, but you get the idea.
“June in January” is from the 1959 Dean Martin album “A Winters Romance.”
But one of the founding members of The Rat Pack wasn’t the first to record it.
Bing Crosby actually did the song first in 1934.
This was just one of the many hits that Dean Martin had, others included  “That’s Amore”, “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You” and “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?”

Monday, June 29, 2015

Cool Grooves: A Musical Appreciation of Dean Martin's Capitol Studio Albums, 1953-1962


My Photo
Hey pallies, likes we are always so pleased to be able to return to blogs that we have visited in the past....blogs that continue to lift up the name of our Dino in wonderfully wise ways.  Case in point would be today's post from the always well researched and well scribed musical blog "The Vintage Bandstand where Mr. Anton Garcia-Fernandez holds forth with his bride Erin.

We have made a couple of great stops at Anton's blog previously.....for a remarkably reverent review for Anton's fav Dino-al-b-um, "Dream With Dean" tagged "The Intimate Dean Martin: Dream with Dean (1964)" that you may locate  HERE....and for Garcia-Fernandez's powerfully potent post on our Dino's wintery al-b-um "A Winter Romance" tagged "Bandstand Christmas Essentials 1: Dean Martin's A Winter Romance" that you may locate  HERE.

We recently we were most deeply delighted to have our usual 20 pages of google Dino-blog searchin' send us once 'gain to Anton's super site for the post "Cool Grooves: A Musical Appreciation of Dean Martin's Capitol Studio Albums, 1953-1962."  Per usual Anton has done huge homework to gives us the low down on all of our most beloved Dino's LP recordin's for Capitol Records...well all but one that is 'cause Gracia-Fernandez previous post covered "A Winter Romance" in depth.

We have learns so so much beau-ti-ful background on these classic al-b-ums that we can't wait to start playin 'em over and over 'gain.  This is 'nother perfect addition to our celebration of "The Day That Coolness Came To Earth" 'cause these recordin' embody a decade of cool croons by our one and only Dino.  We specially salute our Dino-lovin' pallie Anton for this wonderful homage of our Dino and hopes he will see his way clear to work on posts accentin' the various al-b-ums that  our main man recorded for Reprise.  To checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.  Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP


WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2015


Cool Grooves: A Musical Appreciation of Dean Martin's Capitol Studio Albums, 1953-1962

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the passing of Dean Martin, and his musical legacy keeps going strong. Widely celebrated as the epitome of cool, Martin cut a series of consistently excellent studio albums for Capitol Records in a span of nine years, between 1953 and 1962. Though they did not make as much of an impact on the charts as his later, more commercial work for Reprise, these albums are among the many high points in his career. In this article, I will briefly discuss these eight LPs, which can all be found on CD and should be in the collection of any serious Dino fan.

By 1953, about three years before they dissolved their partnership,Dean Martinand Jerry Lewis were one of the top acts in the country, a constant presence in nightclubs, movies, and television. As far as records were concerned, Martin had signed with Capitol in 1948 and had concentrated mostly on cutting singles, some of which (particularly "Powder Your Face with Sunshine") were quite successful. It was now time to release a ten-inch LP, called simply Dean Martin Sings (1953), which contained eight songs, all of them from the then-current Martin and Lewis movie, The Stooge. The album was recorded in two sessions held on the same day, November 20, 1953, and it consists of a well-balanced mixture of brassy fast numbers and slow string charts. The latter were recorded first, with Ted Nash's saxophone providing beautiful fills that complement Dino's smooth crooning perfectly on songs such as "I'm Yours," "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming," and "A Girl Named Mary and a Boy Named Bill." Martin also plays tribute to his boyhood idol, Bing Crosby, with a version of "Just One More Chance" that does not stray too far from the original. The uptempo numbers were cut at the second session, including "Who's Your Little Who-Zis," "I Feel a Song Comin' On," "I Feel Like a Feather in the Breeze," and "Louise," which Lewis actually sings in the film. Two years after the release of Dean Martin Sings, the record industry had adopted the twelve-inch LP as its primary long-playing medium, and so the album was reissued with the addition of four more songs: a lovely ballad treatment of"When You're Smiling," the number-two hit "That's Amore," and two Italian-flavored songs, "Oh Marie" and "Come Back to Sorrento," the latter sung entirely in Italian.

On paper, a collection of songs about the American South sung by an Italian American from Ohio may sound like an unlikely choice for Martin's second Capitol LP. But that is precisely what Swingin' Down Yonder (1955) is, and it works because the Dixieland idiom perfectly suits Dino's devil-may-care approach to swing. This time no marathon one-day session was needed; Martin's first true concept album took shape over the course of three sessions held between September 1954 and February 1955. Like on the previous record,Dick Stabile is at the helm, but the arrangements are now all bouncy and jazzy, though a little gimmicky at times. The studio band sounds tight and includes fine musicians like trombonist Milt Bernhardt and trumpetersCharlie TeagardenConrad Gozzo, and Mannie Klein. Dino is obviously at ease crooning Southern-themed standards such as "Carolina Moon," "When It's Sleepy Time Down South," and "Georgia on My Mind,"and he gets the chance to pay homage not only to Crosby ("Mississippi Mud," "Dinah," "Basin Street Blues") but also to Al Jolson ("Carolina in the Morning"). One of the lesser-known tracks on the album is the Gene Krupa-associated "Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina," and this musical journey into a fairly recent past, as revivalist as it clearly sounds, makes it evident that Martin's easy-swinging style would not be out of place on any Mississippi river steamboat.




Martin turned to ballads for his next project, entitled Pretty Baby (1957) and recorded over the course of two sessions held at the end of January 1957. Although the concept is not as evident here as on the previous album, Dino's nonchalant performances are always more enjoyable than the often annoying Pied Pipers-like vocal accompaniment with which the arrangements are saddled. Martin's happy-go-lucky persona is underscored by the cover, which has our man looking knowingly at the camera as he passes by a beautiful blonde who openly smiles at him. A similar motif would reappear two years later on the jacket of A Winter Romance. The charts, provided by Gus Levene on this occasion, make the ballads swing in a comfortable manner, and the studio orchestra, whose size is much more reduced than before, features notable names such as drummer Nick Fatool, pianist Buddy Cole, trombonistElmer Schneider, and guitarist Alvino Rey. Martin keeps tapping into the Crosby songbook ("Only Forever" and "It's Easy to Remember"), and besides the title track, he turns in some solid performances on songs like "I Can't Give You Anything but Love," "Sleepy Time Gal," "The Object of My Affection," and "Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You."

If Martin seems to be very relaxed onPretty Baby, he is even more so on Sleep Warm (1959), where relaxation actually becomes the concept. Recorded over three sessions in October 1958, the album boasts appropriately dreamy arrangements byPete King and has Dino's favorite pal,Frank Sinatra, conducting the orchestra. This was not the first time that Sinatra took up the baton: he had already conducted a series of Alec Wilder tone poems in 1956 and Peggy Lee's LP The Man I Love in 1957. It seems clear that Martin was attempting to create a concept album in the manner of Sinatra's classic Capitol concepts here, since even the title track was specifically written for this project. The rest of the tunes are mostly standards that make reference to the acts of sleeping or dreaming, such as "Hit the Road to Dreamland,""Dream," "All I Do Is Dream of You," and "Dream a Little Dream of Me." Once again, Martin finds room for songs associated with Crosby ("Goodnight Sweetheart," "Let's Put Out the Lights (and Go to Sleep)," and"Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams") as well as quoting the classics ("Brahms' Lullaby") and unearthing the rather obscure gem "Cuddle Up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine." Another woman appears on the cover, but this time she is comfortably sleeping in a bed of clouds and not looking at Dino (and perhaps not wearing any clothes under those nebulous sheets), who would further this concept five years later when he cut the album Dream with Dean for Reprise.

Rather than a full-fledged Christmas package (he would not release one such record until 1966), Martin's next project, A Winter Romance(1959), is a concept album built around the theme of winter, with a couple of Yuletide songs thrown in because in at least half the globe the Christmas holidays happen to take place during the winter. I have already published a more in-depth article about this lovely LP—one of my personal favorites in Martin's discography—in The Vintage Bandstand, so if the reader is interested, the piece may be accessed here. Then, for his first record of the new decade, Martin would have his first opportunity to collaborate with Nelson Riddle, who had been working closely with Sinatra for about seven years. For their first album together, This Time I'm Swingin'! (1960), Riddle and Martin selected a repertoire made up of older and newer songs, to which they gave an irresistible, laid-back swinging treatment, with arrangements that are not very different from the ones Riddle would write for the LP Sinatra's Swingin' Session about one year later. In fact, one of the songs, "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me," would also be selected by Sinatra for that album, and "Imagination" had been recorded by Young Blue Eyes back during his tenure with Tommy Dorsey and was a song that he often featured in his live performances. Two songs, "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" and "On the Street Where You Live" are culled from Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's My Fair Lady, and Dino shines on "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You," "Mean to Me," and "Just in Time." It seems that by now it had become almost necessary for Martin to tip his hat to Bing Crosby at least once on every record, so here he includes one of Der Bingle's latest hits, "True Love," done as a mid-tempo swinging ballad. The studio orchestra is full of West Coast luminaries (Buddy ColletteDon FagerquistPete Candoli, andShorty Sherock are just a few examples) and in this kind of company Martin delivers on the title's promise—he is definitely swinging this time!

Just why it took Martin and Capitol so long to think of cutting a whole album of Italian and Italian-influenced songs is anyone's guess. To be fair, three out of the four tunes added to the twelve-inch version ofDean Martin Sings have an Italian origin, so in that respect they foreshadowDino: Italian Love Songs(1962), which was completed in three sessions held in September 1961. Unlike Sinatra, Martin had always openly celebrated his Italian-American heritage by performing Italian-flavored songs (sometimes even in Italian) and producing a collection of some of his favorite tracks of this kind was a stroke of genius. In fact, Dino: Italian Love Songs, was the only one of his Capitol albums that actually charted, and many of the songs it includes ("Return to Me,""On an Evening in Roma") have become closely associated with Martin, who featured them prominently in nightclub appearances. The arrangements are by Gus Levene, who also conducts the orchestra, and although some of the charts sound grandiloquent at times, they usually complement Dino's laid-back crooning beautifully. Though not all the tunes are genuinely Italian ("I Have But One Heart" is an example of this), they all have an Italian feel, and many of them do indeed hail from Italy. For instance, "Take Me in Your Arms" is "Torna a Surriento" (also included in Dean Martin Sings) with a different set of lyrics, and "There's No Tomorrow" is "O Sole Mio" with the same English lyrics sung by Tony Martin on his RCA recording of this classic Neapolitan song. Other standout tracks from the album are "Just Say I Love Her" and "Arrivederci Roma," and Dino sounds so much at ease warbling these Italian ditties that it is fairly surprising that he never recorded a follow-up to this marvelous LP.

By the time Martin's last project for Capitol, Cha Cha de Amor(1962), was released, the singer had switched labels and signed with the Frank Sinatra-owned Reprise Records, for which he had already cut an album, French Style. Recorded in three sessions in December 1961, Martin's last Capitol LP is one of his strangest: as the title suggests, here we have a set of twelve songs, most of which did not originate in Latin America, set to a cha cha beat. The concept is even more unlikely if we bear in mind that by 1961-62, the brief cha cha craze of a few years earlier had practically waned. But, oddly, the concept works because Nelson Riddle handles the arrangements, which are anything but pretentious and which suit Dino's relaxed delivery much better than one would expect. It is difficult to pick standout tracks on this album, both because all the performances are strong and because, as annotator James Ritz points out in his notes for a 2005 CD reissue, "although [it is] delightful and easy to listen to, there's an inherent sameness about the album that left room for very few surprises." Yet this sameness should be attributed neither to Martin, who always sings with gusto, nor to Riddle, whose arrangements are highly inventive, but perhaps to the repetitive nature of the cha cha rhythm itself. In any case, if pressed to choose favorites, I would name the title song"Somebody Loves You,""Love (Your Spell Is Everywhere)," "I Wish You Love," and "A Hundred Years from Today." Dino clearly enjoyed the format of this album, for one of his first LPs for Reprise, Dino Latino, would follow a similar Latin American theme. After completing the sessions for Cha Cha de Amor, Martin began to record in earnest for Reprise, entering a highly successful phase in his career that, at least as far as charted hits were concerned, would surpass his Capitol era. But that is, as they say, an entirely different story to be told at a different time.


Sunday, June 28, 2015

Danny G's Sunday Serenade with Dino: "It's The Talk Of The Town"



Hey there pals! What's shakin'?
How's my brethren of Dino-holics?
Well, we made it to Summer, mi amici! Soak it in, pallies.
Hit those beaches!
Grab a little tan!
 Sip a yummy drink...or two!
Make SURE Dean is settin' the atmosphere just right! These HOT, STEAMY days & nights go by SO SO fast!
Let's wind down "The day that coolness came to Earth" month in style, pals! Sound good to youse? Good! I thinks I got JUST the right tune!

Nothin' I dig more than chillin' on a beach...or by a cool cool pool...with a drink in my hand & Dino in my ear, pals! THAT'S Summer to me & I'm gonna make it happen as much as I can this year! Haha!!

Now...youses know me...I LOVE to keep a good time rollin'!
 I dug  jammin' to Dean's "trucker jams" SO SO much last week... that I simply HAD to play 'nother!

Today's Serenade, "It's The Talk of The Town", is from that same easy flowin' moment in time.

Dean was a wee bit older...a wee bit blonder! Hahaha!!!
 A bit of a "rebirth" for our bestest guy.
The 70's were upon us! Haha!!
A VERY cool time, actually, for Dean.
 His TV show was still doin' great! His songs were still makin' the charts! His movies were still sellin' tickets & his live act was still packin' 'em in!
Man! Busy fella!
 Let's celebrate those GREAT GREAT times with a GREAT GREAT Dino-tune!
This one is PERFECTO for a hazy, lazy Summer day, like this.
 Melt into it, pals.
Enjoy.


I can't show my face can't go anyplace
People stop and stare it's so hard to bear
Everybody knows you left me it's the talk of the town

Every time we meet my heart skips a beat
We don't stop to speak though it's just a week
Everybody knows you left me it's the talk of the town

We send our invitations to friends and relations announcing our wedding day
Friends and relations gave congratulations how can you face them what can you say

Let's make up sweetheart we can't stay apart
Don't let foolish pride keep you from my side
How can love like ours be ended it's the talk of the town

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Did you know Dean Martin was going to be in Star Wars?

Hey pallies, likes here's 'nother fun post dudes!  Likes we just loves it (or at least most of the time) when our Dino gets parodied  on the ol' 'net.  It simply shows that our Dino is as cool, hip and randy as  ever!  Today we takes you to the relatively new to blog sphere blog, "FAKING STAR WARS."
As the blog's tag suggests the mission of this site  "is dedicated to creating Star Wars rumors that are 100% fake."

We are pleased to note that our most beloved Dino is the focus of a recent FSW's post, "Lost Interview With Dean Martin Reveals He Turned Down Star Wars Role!!"  Beginnin' with a cropped pix of  Princess Leia holdin' the arm of our Dino, this most coolly  creative scribin's has a reporter patterin' with our Dino 'bout the possibility of his starrin' in the epic "Star Wars."  Likes pallies this is fun fun stuff and 'nother wonderful way of spreadin' Dino-magic with the sci fi crowd.

We sez our thanks to Star Wars "faker" "Montgomery Garrett Antilles" for this inspired 'n insightful way of connectin' the King of Cool with the king of sci fi flicks!  We digs it dudes and hopes many many more will come to dig our Dino through this perfect prose parody!  To checks it out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.  Dino-funnin', DMP

Lost Interview With Dean Martin Reveals He Turned Down Star Wars Role!!


Did you know Dean Martin was going to be in Star Wars? Yeah, we thought you wouldn’t. Thankfully though, Jacen's Dean Martin fanboy cousin found this little gem hidden in a private auction selling Dino’s stuff for charity. Hit the jump to read more!

Jacen's cousin promptly turned this reel-to-reel over to our writer/visual simulator Comrade J Red and he was able to restore it to a listenable quality. We were able to transcribe it to this written format before the reel went up in flames which kept us from ripping it to an mp3.

Anyway, here's Dean Martin's list interview...
Reporter: “So Dean, awhile ago you mentioned something about going back to film back in the 80’s, but you never did. What happened?”
Martin: “Ah, yes. Well as you know, I have my own gigs, and shows, but of course movies were too much work for me. Everyone knows me for the westerns, a few war movies, and anything classy, but I hadn’t done yet was science fiction." 
Reporter: “And that’s when you found Star Wars, correct?" 
Martin: “Not at all! I had never watched the movie when it came out. It wasn’t until a friend of mine mentioned that I should do something different for a change of pace, and he said he had contacts from Lucasfilm. So he made a few inquiries for me, then announced that George was interested in having me in his next film. I said ok, let’s see what we can do. 
A month or so later I was given the script. It didn’t make any sense! I was supposed to be playing the governor of Cloud City or something, but there wasn’t much class about him. So I asked if I could sing a song. George said ‘No.’ I said ‘Fine.’  The next thing I wanted was to understand what on earth I was saying. So George and I talked a lot about this world my character lived in, and quite honestly it was making less and less sense, but I was still game for it.
So now we’re a few weeks away from filming my scenes, and I ask George for a favor. He says “Of course Dean, what is it?”“Can I get the Rat Pack in here?” 
He thought I was kidding! I told him I was serious! None of my pals had been in anything like this, so I thought it would be great. Don’t you think Frank would have made an excellent singing robot? I do. Sammy Davis Jr. as a flirtatious body guard? It would be great.” 
Reporter: “So what happened?”
Martin: “Well… they ran things differently from what I’m used to, and creative differences, I decided it would be better if someone else had the role. So I left peacefully, and no one ever mentioned I was going to be in the film.”
Reporter: “Have you watched the film yet?”
Martin: “I have. It was excellent, though not my style. I’m glad I was able to enjoy it like so many others.”
Reporter: “That’s great. Do you wish they had done anything differently?”
Martin: “No, no, not really. Well, Billy Dee Williams is a great singer, and I think it would have been great if he had sung “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime” to the princess, but that’s just me! [laughs]”
And there you have it everyone, a rare bit of history very few have known until now! Somewhere in a parallel universe, Dean Martin played Lando Calrissian, singing the classics to Princess Leia…

Friday, June 26, 2015

".....and it featured Dean, doing his best hobo imitation for about 2:43."

Hey pallies, likes today's Dino-gram just goes to show that one never ever knows where our Dino will turn up next.  While doin' our Dino-homework the other day usin' google blog search in the name of our most beloved Dino, we happened upon the automobile focused pad "AUTOLINE with John  McElroy. Glancin' 'round the site we discovered that it is the online presence for a PBS Series of the same tag.

Well, one of the fun features of "AUTOLINE" is a series of posts tagged "Auto Tune" scribed by Autoline's  Executive Producer, Mr. Chip Drake.  As Drake explains, "Auto Tune is our way to spotlight a unique transportation song to celebrate these “ridden” gems along with the artists or composers who crafted them. Some you may know, many we’re sure you don’t."  Need less to say we were totally totally thrilled to find durin' the week of our Dino's birthday bash, Drake chose to accent none other then our Dino and his groovy groove of a auto-croon, "Bumming Around."

You can read all the cool details below, and we are includin' a youtube vid clip of the tune as well for your listenin' 'n viewin' Dino-pleasure.  We thanks Mr. Chip Drake for sharin' some Dino-magic with his readership, 'specially in the week leadin' up to "The Day That Coolness Came To Earth.."  Likes, to  checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.  Dino-delightedly, DMP

Auto Tune: “Bumming Around” by Dean Martin

June 3rd, 2015 at 3:00pm
Driving, riding, roads and of course cars themselves have all been immortalized by writers, composers and musicians around the world. Auto Tune is our way to spotlight a unique transportation song to celebrate these “ridden” gems along with the artists or composers who crafted them. Some you may know, many we’re sure you don’t.
Dean-Martin-Im-the-one-who-loves-youIn the mid to late ‘60s it was hard to find anyone cooler than Dean Martin. Not only did he have a top-rated variety show, but he was the anti-James Bond playing the tongue-in-cheek secret agent Matt Helm as well as a recording powerhouse for his buddy Frank Sinatra’s label Reprise. It’s the latter that leads us to this week’s Auto Tune.
Because he was so popular, Dean was putting albums out two, sometimes three, per year. Buoyed by young producer Jimmy Bowen who always managed to find the right mix of songs for Dean’s Reprise releases, the team gave us “Remember Me” (I’m The One Who Loves You) in 1965. The last track on the album is a little chestnut written by Peter Graves (no, not Peter Graves the actor) and produced by Bob Gaudio (yes that Bob Gaudio from the Four Seasons).
The song was called “Bumming Around” and it featured Dean, doing his best hobo imitation for about 2:43. He had his “old slouch hat” and his ”roll on his shoulder” as he toured around town without a care in the world. The song doesn’t translate well to 2015 but just to hear Dean pretend to play a down on his luck laborer just hanging out in all the right spots shows how different today’s music is from just 50 years ago. But in spite of the generational differences this a great Auto Tune from one of the coolest cats to nudge up to a microphone ever.
- Chip Drake, Executive Producer, Autoline

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Blessings to my ears on this, his birthday!

 Hey pallies, likes when we opened our email yesterday we discovered this swankest of swank surprise from our most devoted-to-Dino pallie Miss AOW.   Miss AOW's epistle  to us tagged "My Contribution Dino's Birthday Month" contains remarkable reflections of the purest of pure sort of Dino-devotion found in part of her  "diary entry for June 6, 1968, (her) high school graduation day."

Miss AOW kindly told us that her tender and touchin' thoughts were  "exclusively written for I Love Dino Martin," and we are awesomely appreciative and profoundly pleased by her gracious generosity  of Dino-spirit to honor our Dino and our humble little Dino-blog in this way.

Thanks Miss AOW for sharin' these marvelous memories of your early days as a deep devotee of our most beloved Dino!  And, pallies, be sure to drop by Miss AOW personal presence on the web by clickin' on her name at the beginnin' of her Dino-reflections   Dino-always, ever, and only DMP

(by Always On Watch)


I've been decluttering our home, where Mr. AOW and I have been living for 43 years.  

In the process of cleaning out some file cabinets — Lo and behold! — what did I find?  Some of my old diaries from my high school days.  At that point in my life, I had been a Dino fan since the summer of 1965, a few weeks before the Dean Martin Show debuted on NBC.

A portion of my diary entry for June 6, 1968, my high school graduation day, honors our beloved Dino.  Here is, lightly edited, the portion honoring our Dino, along with the corresponding Dino tunes:

After the graduation ceremony, several or us went to dinner at Bob's Beef House.  And, just as we were entering at 9:45 P.M., I heard Dino's "Wallpaper Roses."  





During the course of the rest of the evening, I heard "Little Old Wine Drinker Me." TWICE!  




Blessings to my ears on this, his birthday!

I arrived home at midnight.  And what was on TV?  Who Was That Lady?, starring Tony Curtis and, of course, the FABULOUS Dean Martin.


original film poster


The perfect end to my high school graduation day!  Off to college in September.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Deano is my demesne.


Hey pallies, likes we were so so smitten to recently share Dartmouth blogger Mr. Joe Malchow's deep delight in our most beloved Dino in our post  ....here is the song that turned me over to Dean Martin that we felt directed to put the tags Joe Malchow and Dean Martin in the ol' google blog search drive to see if any other Dino-patter by Malchow woulda turns up.  Well, likes you guessed it dudes, we did find 'nother great bit of Dino-devotion from Dartblog, the source of our original postin'.

This second post is simply stated as "Rio Bravo" posted on January 14, 2008, just 'bout two months after the first Dino-sharin'  Seems that 'nother Dartmouth student had chosen to share some vid clips of our Dino in his most classy of classy roles as the Dude in "Rio Bravo" and in good fun Mr. Malchow pontificates that perhaps the blogger "aims to go into competition with Dartblog."  Likes what we found was so so cool is that Joe's punch line shows additional awesome adulation of our Dino.

Scribes Malchow..."Watch out, Empsall (the other student blogger) —Deano is my demesne."  Well we gotta 'fess up that our vocab doesn't regularly include the word "demesne," so we had to google the definition to find out just how cool Joe's appreciato of our Dino is.  "Demesne" is from the days of  the feudal system of land ownership and may refer to realm and domain.  So in this prose Mr. Joe Malchow is referrin' to our most beloved Dino as his domain.....and likes how fabulous is that pallies?!?!?!?!

We here at ilovedinomartin are thrilled to see both of these well bred young men sharin' there diggin' of our Dino with their readership.  So, thanks to Mr. Joe Malchow for more revelatory remarks a la Dino!  To checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.




Rio Bravo

BY THE BYE: Did you know that Rio Bravo was John Wayne’s expression of his support for the blacklisting of Communists in Hollywood?

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Folks from all over the world share love for Dean Martin

Hey pallies, likes we are delighted as any Dino-holic can be to bring youse 'nother update from Dino-fest 2015 in Stubenville, Ohio.  'gain from the folks at NBC affiliate WTOV Channel 9 comes vid shot live at this years huge homage of our most beloved Dino.   Reporter Miss Kendall Forward talks with three of our great great man's greatest of fans and you can just feel the Dino-love pourin' out of each of 'em as they share there deepest of deep devotion to our King of Cool.

Likes it is totally totally thrillin' to experience each and every one of these extraordinary expressions of awesome adulation of our Dino on this 98th anniversary of his descent to earth.  Enjoys the video pallies and the scribed manuscript below that reiterates the Dino-devotion spoken of in the vid.

We thanks the pallies at WOTV channel 9 for givin' pallies likes us from all over the Dino-universe to catch just a wee glimpse of this yearly Dino-love from our Dino's hometown.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report. Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP



Folks from all over the world share love for Dean Martin

Updated: Monday, June 22 2015, 01:29 PM EDT

Today some of Dean Martin's biggest fans are in Steubenville. Old young, locals and people from across the world all came to share their love of the singing legacy.

 The day started off with the meatball eating contest and the winner Camillo Anthony took the title for the second year in a row after eating 8 meatballs in only 60 seconds. Of his win he says" Hey, I’m the meatball king; it was no competition.

" STEUBENVILLE,OH -- The crowds filled Spot Bar downtown  to continue  the night of Dean Martin,  singing and karaoke... The chart topper's top fans sing their love for Dean Martin as Steubenville celebrates the hometown legend.  Fans like Ron Vallera of Columbus, who even has a license plate on his car dedicated to Dean Martin.

 "My license plate is Rat Pac it used to be Dino Frank and then I let it go and somebody took it they took it off me," he said. "My basement is completely nothing but Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin  the whole thing.”

Vallera says his love for Dean Martin spans well-beyond his Rat Pack paraphernalia.

The Steubenville native has lived in Columbus for decades, but he's back in his hometown for the festival he says he'll never miss.

And another big time fan came to this year's event -- all the way from Rio de Janiero! “I don't have words to say how love him. I am emotional because I love him” says Lucia Cunha. She’s seen every film, and knows every song. Her love for dean martin extends to the great state of Ohio. I love Ohio because Ohio has Dean Martin! Steubenville!”

As the night continued and the growing crowd started swinging, Edna Michetti fondly recalled not just "Dean Martin" the Rat Pack star, but the Dean Martin who lived in Steubenville years ago.

She says of Martin, “ Gosh he was the most handsome person. I had to be about maybe 12 and he would come in and I’d look up at him and say, 'boy you're gorgeous. I can say he was wonderful.'"



Monday, June 22, 2015

".....here is the song that.......turned me over to a Dean Martin lover."


Hey pallies, likes one of the fascinatin' thin's 'bout usin' the google blog engine for searchin' for Dino-devotion is that sometimes, somehow what one might consider buried Dino-treasure gets uncovered to our total total Dino-delight!

Case in point, of course, would be today's Dino-offerin' from the cool cool collegiate blog, "DARTBLOG,"  Likes you guessed it pallies, it's a blog scribed by students and alumni of  Ivy League Darmouth College.

Likes we are perfectly perfectly pumped to see our most beloved Dino catchin' the attention of an Ivy Leaguer dude!  The post simply tagged "Dean Martin - Houston," was published on November 8, 2007 and scribed by Mr. Joe Malchow while he was a student at the college.  Malchow, in 2004, "founded Dartblog just a few months after arriving at Dartmouth; over a period of four years the website became an agenda-setting publication at the College and among watchers of higher education at large."  "In 2012 he was named to the Forbes "30 Under 30" list."

In his brief remarks, Mr. Malchow shares how simply listenin' to the Dino-croon of "Houston" on the radio "turned me over to a Dean Martin lover."  Likes, how absolutely awesome is that dudes?!?!?!?!   We are thoroughly thrilled to find   'nother of today's up and comin' youth gettin' sold out to our most beloved Dino and sharin' his Dino-testimony with the world!

Likes, of course, we are so so sorry to be so so late in sharin' this, but we hang with the ol' adage, better late then never.  We salute Mr. Joe Malchow for boldly professin' his Dino-devotion in this way.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.  Dino-delightedly, DMP  btw pallies, by the time we found Malchow's post there were no vids attached, so we simply have added ones that seemed appropriate.




Dean Martin — “Houston”


BY JOE MALCHOW ON NOVEMBER 8, 2007

For no good reason at all, here is the song that, randomly pouring out of the Sirius standards and swing channel four years ago, turned me over to a Dean Martin lover. It’s “Houston,” a Lee Hazlewood tune about a fellow who finds himself in a strange city with “no one who calls him friend” and “holes in both of his shoes.” (Do not fret for the man: he has a girl waitin’ home for him—or, at least she said she’d be.)



 Hazlewood was more of a producer than a songwriter, but one other famous work of his is “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” which achieved tremendous success after he instructed Nancy Sinatra to sing it “like a 16-year old girl who f***s truck drivers.” But “Houston” is a pretty song, with no such wretchedness.

As a bonus, in the extended entry enjoy an earlier television performance Deano gave of “Houston.”




Sunday, June 21, 2015

Danny G's Special Father's Day Sunday Serenade with Dino: "Detroit City"



Welcome back, Ol' pallies o' mine!
 Happy Daddy-O Day to ALL the swingin' Dino-lovin' dad's out there!
What a COOL COOL thin' it is, pals... to be able to celebrate all the COOL COOL fathers & father figures in our lives...right in the midst of "The day that coolness came to Earth" month!

Now pals...youse know by now... that I pick a Special Serenade every year for today's tune.
 Some jam that brings me back to my youngest days of Dino-dom.
A familiar song that reminds me of my Dad.
 Well, as I always do...I reach for a specific kind of Dino al b um. A real blue-collar sound.
My Pop was BIG into those Dino "trucker" jams...the "C.B. radio" type tunes.
Yup...those were his faves.
Haha!! Cracks me up thinkin' 'bout him singin' along to these songs! He thought they were SO SO cool & I thought HE was SO SO cool for knowin' the words! Hahaha!!!
What a GREAT guy Dad was! Great memories, pallies.
"Detroit City" takes me ALL the way back to the early 70's! Man! Where'd that decade go?! Haha!!

OK pals...let's get the music flowin'! Oh & by the way...Happy first day of Summer!!! Yea!!!
 Now folks...there ain't NO one COOLER than our Dino to keep that "big rig" cruisin' along that ol' white line! Haha!! That's my attempt at trucker talk! Haha!!
 Anyway...here's to ALL the father figures!
 Not always an easy job.
Keep that special guy in mind today, pallies.
Thanks for everythin', Dad & thanks, Dean... for keepin' his memory alive!
Salute!



                 
                               
                 


I want to go home
I want to go home
Oh, how I want to go home
Last night I went to sleep in Detroit city
And I dreamed about those cotton fields at home
I dreamed about my mother, dear old papa, sister and brother
I dreamed about that girl who's been waiting for so long
I want to go home
I want to go home
Oh, how I want to go home
At home folks think I'm big in Detroit city
From the letters that I write they think I'm fine
But by day I make the cars and by night I make the bars
If only they could read between the lines
You know I rode a freight train north to Detroit city
After all these years I find that I've just been wasting my time
So I just think I'll take my foolish pride put on a southbound train and ride
And go on back to the loved ones the ones that I've left waiting so far behind
I want to go home
I want to go home
Oh, how I want to go home
I want to go home
I want to go home
Oh, how I want to go home
I want to go home
Oh, how I want to go home
I want to go home

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Our Private Tour Visits Dean Martin


Dean Martin


Hey pallies, likes don't know 'bout youse Dino-holics, but we keeps dreamin' of the day when we can make pilgrimage not only to the pad of Dino's birth....Steubenville, Ohio, but also to our Dino's playground in 'Vegas baby 'Vegas, and to the land where our most beloved Dino spent most of his time, lived his life, and shared his legacy....Hollywood.

Well. today's Dino-gram shares a great private tour service that woulda be most helpful once one landed in Hollywood.  We found out all 'bout it when our usual 20 pages of google Dino-blog searchin' turned us in the direction of the business blog, "Luxury Tours of Los Angeles."  We found a pix of a devotee of our Dino standin' in front of our Dino's crypt at Westwood Village Memorial Park.

And, likes the description tells how this here service woulda also take pallies likes us to other of places related to the Dino-journey..." Houses, restaurants, bars (in Dean’s case), hangouts, film and recording studios, radio and television stations…"  While we thinks that went we finally make the pilgrimage to the land of Dino, we woulda wants to personally make our own Dino-iteration to each spot of Dino-interest, we can see how someone with 'nough bread woulda finds this service very helful indeed.

We're glad in this month of special Dino-commemoration of "The Day That Coolness Came To Earth" to have happened 'pon this site and be able to share it will all youse Dino-philes.  To checks it out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.  Dino-followin', DMP

 Luxury Tours of Los Angeles - 3:00 8 June 2015

YOU’RE NOBODY ‘TIL SOMEBODY LOVES YOU

Our private Los Angeles tour guest visit the crypt of Dean Martin

 Our Private Tour Visits Dean Martin

As the master crooner, comedy idol and movie star might say when our guests specifically request a visit to his crypt, “Well ain’t that a kick in the head.”  We do this all the time when our private Los Angeles tour guests express a particular interest in a celebrity, living or dead, we take them to as many locations as we can where they connect with their favorite star.  Houses, restaurants, bars (in Dean’s case), hangouts, film and recording studios, radio and television stations…wherever we can go that allows our visitors a chance to recognize and remember their favorites.  And, as you see, we visit cemeteries.  Dean Martin spends his days in the same tiny cemetery as Marilyn Monroe and many other familiar names from his era: Donna Reed, Dean Martin, Natalie Wood, Roy Orbison, Carroll O’Connor, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Don Knotts, Peter Falk, Eddie Albert, Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, George C. Scott, Burt Lancaster, Eve Arden, Carl Wilson, Eva Gabor, Farrah Fawcett and Truman Capote.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Scotty's Sharin': Dean Martin During a Recording Session at Capitol Records, 1958

Hey pallies, likes once 'gain this day we return to our perfect pallie Scotty's perfect pad, "BlueisKewl" for the last of his Dino-honorin' posts accentin' our most beloved Dino on the anniversary of "The Day That Coolness Came To Earth."  Scotty's third offerin' is a stunnin'ly swank 'n slick  snapshot of our Dino in the recordin' studios of Capitol Records in 1958.

Ever present cigarette in hand, tie loosened, sittin' on a stool with legs crossed , our Dino is the perfect picture of cool.  It's a classy candid of the classiest 'n cool man to ever walk the face of the earth.

We so so appreciate our deeply devoted to Dino pallie Scotty-o for proudly proclaimin' his adulation of our main man encouragin' his remarkable readership  to grow deeper and deeper in Dino.  To checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-message.  Always, Dino Always, DMP


Photo by Ken Veeder.

Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, comedian, and film producer.

One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed the "King of Cool" for his seemingly effortless charisma and self-assuredness. He and Jerry Lewis were partners in the immensely popular comedy team "Martin and Lewis". He was a member of the "Rat Pack" and a star in concert stage/nightclubs, recordings, motion pictures, and television. He was the host of the television variety program The Dean Martin Show (1965–1974) and The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (1974–1985).

Martin's relaxed, warbling crooning voice earned him dozens of hit singles including his signature songs "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare", and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?".

Thursday, June 18, 2015

The city is preparing to pay homage to its leading legacy – Dean Martin.




Hey pallies, likes Father's Day weekend approacheth and that means it's time for Dino-fest in our Dino's home pad of Steubenville, Ohio.  This year marks the 18th annual celebration of their hometown boy makes great!  Below is a vid and some patter from the pallies at Stu-ville's NBC affiliate WTOV 9 'bout the city's preps "to pay homage to its leading legacy - Dean Martin."

As you watch the vid, you will see and hear how our most beloved Dino's town of  birth is makin' huge huge preparations to host over 2000 guests from all 'round the globe.  Director of the Stu-ville Visitor Center, Mr. Jerry Barilla notes that pallies will be comin' in from "Texas, California, England, Canada, and Florida" 'mong others.   To checks out all the action this weekend, clicks HERE for all the Dino-details of Dino-fest 2015.

Likes oh how we envy all those pallies who this year will make personal pilgrimage to Stu-ville to make their huge homage to our most most beloved Dino in reverant remembrance of the "The Day That Coolness Came To earth."  We thanks the pallies at WTOV 9 For spreadin' the word of this yearly opportunity for our Dino's hometown to offer their deepest of deep devotion to our King of Cool.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.  Dino-homagin', DMP




STEUBENVILLE, OH --  The festivities have already started in downtown Steubenville with plates stacked high with baklava and lamb meat at the Greek fest.  The city is preparing to pay homage to its leading legacy – Dean Martin. Trudy McCart says of the festival; “they have as good impersonators in Steubenville as they do in Vegas” Just one of many highlights  at this year’s Dean Martin Festival.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Want to know the best Dean Martin movies?

Hey pallies, likes we just never know what delightful Dino-treats will turn up durin' our month long celebration of "The Day That Coolness Came To Earth."  Today we are hugely honored and  tremendously  thrilled to return to one of the most insightful and informational pieces of Dino-devotion we have ever been purely privileged to post here at ilovedinomartin. Regular readers of ilovedinomartin will remember ourDino-diggin' pallie Mr. Bruce Cogerson, who did that extraordinarily expansive essay on our most beloved Dino's 51---count 'em---51 big screen epics over at his beau-ti-ful blog "Cogerson Movie Score."  Likes for that original post simply goes  HERE.

Quite recently our pallie Bruce pattered us at one of our posts sharin' this great good news...
"Hey all......due to a disagreement with my old website provider...I had to move my Dean Martin page to a new home. The good news is now the table that ranks all of his movies is now very very interactive...plus I put a "shout out" to your wonderful Martin page. http://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/dean-martin-movies/
Just in case you were wondering where the old page went."

We were totally totally thrilled to receive this news and share it with all youse Dino-philes.  As Bruce stated, his Dino-research is better then ever with the awesome addition of bein' interactive.  And, likes we are most most humbled by Mr. Cogerson's swankest of swank "shout out" to our little Dino-blog.  Bruce's kindest of kind words state..."The I Love Dino Martin blog is a must follow for any Dean Martin fan out there."

btw, Bruce's new pad is tagged  "Ultimate Movie Rankings - Where Movies Come to Get Ranked," and likes you can access it by clickin' on the tag of this here Dino-report.  We are still not able to do justice to Bruce's extremely energetic efforts in the cause of Dino, but we have done our best to post his wonderful work below.  It is a must to goes directly to his blog to gets the full effect!\

We salute our deeply devoted to Dino pallie Mr. Bruce Cogerson and are most pleased to accent his remarkable research once gain.  Words can not express our awesome appreciation for pallies like Bruce who have done so much in addin' to our knowledge and appreciation of our most most beloved Dino!  Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP




 Dean Martin Movies


Dean Martin had one of the best singing voices of all-time....but it should be noted that he had one impressive movie career.....starring in 51 movies from 1949 to 1984.
Dean Martin had one of the best singing voices of all-time….but it should be noted that he had one impressive movie career…..starring in 51 movies from 1949 to 1984.
Want to know the best Dean Martin movies?  How about the worst Dean Martin movies?  Curious about Dean Martin’s box office grosses or which Dean Martin movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Dean Martin movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Recently my favorite movie blogger, Steve Lensman, published a Dean Martin movie posterpage that looked at some of his movies.  After viewing those posters, it occurred to me that Martin might make a good subject for a Ultimate Movie Rankings page as well.  So I cracked open my box office gross books and went to work.  It did not take me long to realize that I had seriously under estimated his popularity at the box office….as I came across box office hit after box office hit. 
For his career, Martin had 26 movies that earned over 100 million in adjusted for inflation dollars.  26 might not seem like that many, but when you realize that current superstar,Tom Hanks, only has 22 movies to reach that mark…I think you start to see that Dean Martin was a beast at the box office.  Another discovery I made was one heck of a Dean Martin tribute blog.  The I Love Dino Martin blog is a must follow for any Dean Martin fan out there.
His IMDb page shows 66 acting credits from 1946-1985. This page will rank 51 Dean Martin movies from Best to Worst in seven different sortable columns of information. Television shows, cameos and movies not released in North America were not included in the rankings.
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made 17 movies together from 1949 to 1956
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made 17 movies together from 1949 to 1956

Dean Martin Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Dean Martin movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort Dean Martin movies by actual domestic box office grosses
  • Sort Dean Martin movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
  • Sort Dean Martin movies by yearly box office rank
  • Sort Dean Martin movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Dean Martin movie received.
  • Sort Dean Martin movies by Cogerson Movie Score.  Cogerson Movie Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
  • Use the search and sort buttons to make this table very interactive.  For example type in “Jerry Lewis” in the search box…and up pop the 16 Martin/Lewis movies….their cameo is not in rankings.

Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Dean Martin Table

  1. Twenty-six Dean Martin movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark.  That is a percentage of 50.98% of his movies listed. Airport (1970) was easily his biggest box office ht when looking at adjusted domestic box office gross.
  2. An average Dean Martin movie grosses $95.80 million in adjusted box office gross.
  3. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  23 of Dean Martin’s movies are rated as good movies…or 45.09% of his movies. Rio Bravo (1959) is his highest rated movie while Cannonball Run II (1984) was his lowest rated movie.
  4. Eight Dean Martin movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 15.68% of his movies.
  5. One Dean Martin movie (Airport) won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 1.96% of his movies.
  6. An average Cogerson Movie Score is 39.86.  25 Dean Martin movies scored higher than that average….or 58.73% of his movies.  Airport (1970) got the the highest Cogerson Movie Score while Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed? (1963) got the lowest Cogerson Movie Score.
Dean Martin, Walter Brennan & John Wayne in 1959's Rio Bravo
Dean Martin, Walter Brennan & John Wayne in 1959’s Rio Bravo

Possibly Interesting Facts About Dean Martin

1.  Dean Martin (1917-1995) was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Ohio.
2.  After dropping out of high school in the 10th grade, Dean Martin tried numerous jobs….like delivering bootleg liqour, being a speakeasy croupier, a blackjack dealer, a boxer and working in a mill.
3.  In the early 1940s, singing became Dean Martin’s bread and butter.  Band leader, Sammy Watkins, suggested that he change his name from Dino Crocetti to Dean Martin. His singing got him noticed by movie studios but he never got a contract offer.
4.  The big break of his career was when he met comic, Jerry Lewis, in 1946. Their partnership went from night clubs to radio appearances to an Ed Sullivan television appearance to movies in about 2 and half years.  They would make a total of 17 movies (that includes one cameo) together from 1949 to 1956.  Although Martin got tired of the movies with Lewis, the public never did as everyone of their movies was a box office hit.
5.  After the filming of Hollywood or Bust, the comedy team of Martin and Lewis broke up.  The general consensus was Dean Martin would not be able to succeed without Jerry Lewis…..that consensus proved to be completely wrong.  Martin continued to star in hit movie after hit movie for the next 14 years.  This would include many movies with Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine and 4 Matt Helms movies.
6.  It is estimated that 50 million Dean Martin records have been sold worldwide…..with my mom being a huge contributor to that total.
7.  Dean Martin was married three times in his life.  His first marriage to Elizabeth McDonald lasted from 1941 to 1949 and produced 4 children. His second marriage to Jeanne Martin lasted from 1949 to 1973 and produced 3 children. His last marriage to Catherine Hawn lasted from 1973 to 1976 and produced 1 child.
8.  Dean Martin has not one, not two but three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame…..they are for his music career, his movie career and his television career.
9.  Dean Martin was one of Frank Sinatra’s closest friends.  They were in the Rat Pack together, sang in night clubs and starred in 8 movies together.
10.  Dean Martin hosted….Dean Martin’s Celebrity Roasts from 1973-1984…..it is considered one of the greatest television shows of all-time.  I highly recommend watching these shows as it takes you back to another time and place and many shows have legendary people like John Wayne, Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan and Frank Sinatra getting roasted and roasting others.
Check out Dean Martin’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.