Son croons about Rat Pack dad Dean Martin tribute show set to swing into Vaughan

Hey pallies, are cool is it to see that our Dino's boypallie Ricci is back on the road sharin' his Dinotrib with more and more Dinoholics...this time Ricci is takin' the show to Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. Enjoys this article written by Katia Caporiccio for Vaughn Today. Does loves this pick of Ricci with his Dinodady-o....showin' what loves our great man had for his youngest boypallie... As usual, just clicks on the tagg of this Dinogram to read this in it's original format. Dinosharin', DMP


Son croons about Rat Pack dad
Dean Martin tribute show set to swing into Vaughan
By Katia Caporiccio





LEGEND Dean Martin hugs 6-year-old son Ricci in this 1959 photo. (Courtesy Ricci Martin)After a long day of golfing, all he wanted was a slice of soft, buttered bread.

“He would fold it in half, take a bite and say, ‘Now that’s livin’, pally’,” says Ricci Martin about his late dad. “I’ll never forget that.”

Ricci, Dean Martin’s son, is set to perform his father’s classic hits in An Evening of Dean Martin, Music and More, his Son Remembers at Vaughan’s Bellvue Manor on March 26.

“Vaughan has a large, apparently, Italian community and that is, of course, dad’s following so it was a very fitting venue.” Ricci said. “They are just mad for dad.”

After accepting the lifetime achievement award on behalf of his father at this year’s Grammy Awards, it was a no-brainer to put something together that celebrates his dad’s life, Ricci said. Musical performances, humour, videos and family photos are all part of the show.




“Because of the Rat Pack and Las Vegas and Ocean’s Eleven, Ricci said, “everyone has this impression that . . . you’d walk into our house and see Frank Sinatra swinging from the chandelier, and dad and Sammy (Davis Jr.) at the bar drinking and smoking with blonds everywhere.

“It wasn’t the case. Dad was a real homebody.”

Golf was Dean’s favourite activity, he said. When he wasn’t away doing shows or films, he was on the links with his pals.

“He’d be home at 5 every day,” Ricci said. “We’d have dinner as a family at 6 every night.”

Growing up in Beverly Hills, Ricci and his siblings didn’t quite get that their dad was a big deal.

“We saw that there was this hoopla around him,” Ricci said. “But not until he started doing the TV show did we get a real concept of how big of a star he was.”

Ricci’s best memories of his father are the “corny” ones, he said.

“Just sitting on the couch watching TV and playing in the backyard,” he said. “The cologne he wore, . . . Woodhue by Faberge. That fragrance with the little bit of smoke you’d smell on him (was) so unique to dad. Like a father-son thing I ended up using it, so the scent really keeps him around.”

Ricci, who now lives near Park City, Utah, says his dad was a simple man.

“Here was a guy who could have been the biggest pain in the ass in the world if he wanted to because he was such a huge star,” he said. “He wasn’t.

“He treated everyone with the same respect. You could be the shoeshine guy at NBC or the head at NBC, it made no difference.”

An Evening of Dean Martin hits the Bellvue Manor March 26 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 and can be ordered at 416-214-4288. A gourmet dinner and open bar are included in the ticket price.

In print: March 20, 2009, page 8.