On This Day In Dino-history: June 7, 1917 DINO COMES TO EARTH

Hey pallies, likes today is the 94 anniversary of the date of our Dino's comin' to earth, and as we were ponderin' how ilovedinomartin oughta be honorin' our great man on his great day of birthin', our Dino brought to mind a great piece of Dino-prose written by Mr. Nick Tosches, "God Created Dean Martin In His Own Image Then Stood Back."

It's from Tosches' tome, "Nick Tosches' Reader" and is a stellar piece of Dino-patter written on the release of one of our great man's later al-b-ums, "Once In A While."
This was our Dino's last disc for the pallies at Reprise. Recorded in November 1974,
it likes took almost 4 long years before it was released on October 20, 1978.

Scribed by Tosches twelve years before his award winnin' Dino-bio, "DINO: Living High In The Dirty Business Of Living" reached print, "God Created Dean Martin In His Own Image Then Stood Back," is an oh so brief, but oh so powerful homagin' of the man who came to be known far and wide as "The King Of Cool."

Tosches likes knows how to speak the total total Dino-truth, and likes his devotion to our great man is likes oh so deep, oh so pure, and oh so true! And, thus it is with these refreshin' words, might I say pallies, of Dino-poetry, that we honor our beloved Dino on his day of birthin'.

Thanks to Mr. Nick Tosches for puttin' the accent on our Dino in this outstandin' way and makin' for the most fittin' of fittin' tributes to the man known as Dino!

To view this in it's original format, as usual, just clicks on the tag of this Dino-message. Dino-awed, DMP



God Created Dean Martin
In His Own Image,
Then Stood Back

from the "Nick Tosches' Reader" chapter 27

Since 1972 life has been amiss, and there has been emptiness. Bare, unbudding; the saplings of stark need knew no spring. Candles were lit, letters were writ; prayers said, tears shed. But grayness begat naught but bleak grayness, and the new Dean Martin album never came.

Some of us, such as Elvis, who had declared Dino his idol, could not bear the agony of forbearance. Others, such as myself, endured by listening to the original mono version of "That's Amore" and reminding ourselves that it had taken Michelangelo eight years to fresco the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel --- and Michelangelo didn't even drink!

Now we faithful can rejoice. Let there be the pouring of liquors and the raising of skirts. The man has returned, and life as we knew it may resume.

It is no secret that Dean Martin has influenced more singers than any man alive. He taught Elvis the dramaturgy of sincerity, Jerry Lee the powers of diplopic decrescendo. Jim Morrison the nuances of erotic detachment, and Randy Newman how to comb his hair. Once In A While, Dino's first album in more than six years, proves that il padrone (as Jim Morrison called him) is still the master.

The love song has been the center of Dino's art from the beginning (He first hit the charts in 1950, vowing "I Will Always Love You.") Here the gurglings and gropings of love are celebrated in all their glory. "Without a Word of Warning" and "The Day You Came Along" tell of answered dreams of the moist kind. "It's Magic" and "Only Forever," two beauties from the '40's, bow the knee of fealty to She-Whose-Face-Launches-Ships-and-Smiles-Salaciously-After-the-Fourth-Drink, "If I Had You" and
"Once in a While" wallow sweetly in the lappings of unrequited love. "I Cried for You" is a savoring of vengeance. In "Love Thy Neighbor" Dino advices us to bless the skin of errant wives in no certain terms.

Two of the album's most impressive performances are found in "Twilight on the Trail" and a version of the World War I killer "That Old Gang Of Mine." The first, remindful of Dino's "Houston," is a homage to irresponsibility and the joys of immediate gratification. "That Old Gang of Mine" shows that while Dino is always singing about broads, his old buddies are still where his heart is.

What a guy.

Felice ritorno, Dino! Let's make it a regular thing again, okay?