Martin sounds like he's having fun - more full of horny vigor (or spiked punch) than pious reflection on the season - capturing the same sexy, silly, lubricious vibe that made him such a loveable cad onscreen.

Hey pallies, likes welcome back to Day twelve of our Dino-winter season here at our humble little Dino-home, ilovedinomartin.  Recently, we found ourselves with a little bit of time to do some Dino-'net searchin' and likes we plugged in the tags Dean Martin and Christmas into the google search engine and we found some swankly sweet Dino-devotion to shares with all youse eager and waitin' Dino-addicts.

Likes the first great Dino-discovery that we made was at the hipster wintry blog, "hip christmas  -
holiday music that rocks, rolls, swings, and twangs," where swank scriber Mr. Randy Anthony holds forth.  In speakin' of his potently powerful passion for winter seasonal songs, Anthony 'fesses up that "I've got a problem. A big problem. A problem draped in tinsel, hung with mistletoe, and wrapped in red and green - and rock and roll. Somewhere between a few dozen Christmas albums and a few hundred, I had to come clean - I've got a Christmas music monkey on my back."

Well, we here at ilovedinomartin have ubber understandin' for addictions as we always always need our next Dino-fix, and we are awesomely appreciative that Randy's addiction to "holiday music that rocks, rolls, swings, and twangs" has brought us a fantastic feature on our most beloved Dino's amazin' al-b-um recordin's for the Dino-season!

Mr. Anthony has created a marvelous montage of  incredible insights on the various incarnations of Dino-wintry croon al-b-ums, makin' this a powerfully pleasurable read.  We thanks Randy for his remarkable reflections and 'specially helpin' those younger in Dino to get the big picture of Dino-seasonal croonin'.  To checks this out in it's original source, likes simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-note.

We remain,

Yours in Dino,

Dino Martin Peters

dean martin lounge music

DEAN MARTIN'S Christmas music is satisfying in ways that his arguably more talented peers (including Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, and Johnny Mathis) did not manage to achieve. Why? Unlike those legendary crooners - who grew generally stuffy on their respective holiday platters - Dino got loose (pun intended). On Making Spirits Bright (1998) (or the subsequent upgrade, Christmas With Dino), Martin sounds like he's having fun - more full of horny vigor (or spiked punch) than pious reflection on the season - capturing the same sexy, silly, lubricious vibe that made him such a loveable cad onscreen.

Making Spirits Bright compiles seasonal recordings from 1953 to 1966, including some rare singles and selections from two Christmas albums for two different labels: A Winter Romance (Capitol, 1959) and The Dean Martin Christmas Album (Reprise, 1966). A Winter Romance (repackaged in 1965 as Holiday Cheer) is far the better of the two, a typically suave, sexy Martin LP - though it's as much a concept album about winter as a traditional Christmas album. Rather than blathering on about Santa and Frosty, most of the songs revolve, literally, around romance in winter - c.f. "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm." Rudolph, however, eventually pokes his red nose in....

A Winter Romance has been reissued on CD twice (more counting imported versions). The first version - a 1994 reissue by Capitol - contains one bonus track, Martin's smokey chestnut "The Christmas Blues" (1953). Thesecond version - part of a restoration of Martin's catalog by Collector's Choice - is superior in most ways, including the comparatively hefty four bonus tracks. But, none of those tracks are Christmas songs - meaning, obviously, that none of them are "The Christmas Blues." Too bad.

The Dean Martin Christmas Album was recorded after Dino switched to Reprise, a label founded by his Rat Pack peers. But, by the mid-60's Martin was moving rapidly towards the middle of the road like most old school vocalists. So, unlike A Winter Romance, Christmas Album is a traditional holiday offering - that is, it's a deadly dull affair with little to recommend it beyond Dino's customary croon. Though never reissued verbatim on CD, most of the contents are found on Making Spirits Bright.

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Which is to say, A Winter Romance is the jewel here - in no small part because it contains Martin's most celebrated holiday song, his ribald rendition of "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" Pay close attention: nowhere in the lyrics of that celebrated Christmas standard is Christmas ever mentioned. Hence, it was a natural for inclusion on A Winter Romance. Without breaking a sweat, Dino lays down the definitive version of "Let It Snow," knowingly leering his way through lines like "I've brought me some corn for popping." Ahem...

Happily, "Let It Snow" is included twice on Making Spirits Bright - in both the irresistible, original 1959 version and a rare, rockin' 1966 reprise. But sadly, Making Spirits Bright has been deleted, though it's widely available on the second-hand market. No matter, because a very similar package, Christmas With Dino, was issued in 2004 (with yet another variation popping up in 2006). Christmas With Dino expands the former album's track count by two tippling songs and has been remastered - so it's arguably the superior purchase. Regardless, Dean Martin's Christmas music is required listening for all hipster geeks - bottoms up! [top of page]

 ALBUMS

• A Winter Romance (1959)
• Holiday Cheer (1965)
• The Dean Martin Christmas Album (1966)
• Making Spirits Bright (1998)
• Christmas With Dino (2004)
• My Kind Of Christmas (2009)

SONGS

• Baby It's Cold Outside (1959)
• The Christmas Blues (1953)
• I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (1959)
• Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (1959)

FURTHER LISTENING