First posted on the blog "Crooks And Liars" on December 31, 2009, it took us almost five years to uncover this fantastic find of this recordin' of our most beloved Dino singin' a trio of classic croons for the Hungarian Relief Concert with Sinatra also doin' some solo work. All-in-all there is almost 22 minutes of sensational singin'. Likes, 'cause this is a remarkably rare Dino-discovery we are plannin' to share this on an annual basis.
We loves how this refreshin' recordin' begins with the unnamed announcer graciously givin' our great great man the purest of pure praise, sayin' "This fella is going to be on the, I think, one of the finest leading men we've ever seen around this town, and he is going to come out here now, and lead you all to a lot of happiness. And, likes indeed our Dino lovin'ly lays likes just a ton of huge huge happiness on the crowd as he sings "All Of Me," "Innamorata," and "Is It True What They Say About Dixie."
Our Dino mentions that it was producer Mr. Joe Pasternak who coaxed his appearance, which let's us know that the concert was around the time that our Dino's first major big screen effort, "Ten Thousand Bedrooms" was bein' released as Pasternak was the producer for that effort.
We are likes totally totally thrilled to be able to share this with all youse Dino-holics, just wishes that it hadn't taken so so long to uncover. Also, as you will read below the sharer of this Dino-treasure, Mr. Gordon Skene discovered "the master tapes from the concert) sitting on a shelf in a garage the better part of forty years before I got the call to "take the junk away".
We wanna express our deepest of deep Dino-appreciato to Skene for sharin' this huge huge Dino-discovery with his readership and eventually with all youse pallies. Likes makes us be in wholehearted wonderment of what more Dino-gold is out there waitin' to be mined. To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report. And, likes sometimes pallies the vid we have placed below chooses not to function....if this happens to you, simply click on the tag of this Dino-post to listen at the original site.
We Remain.
Yours In Dino
Dino Martin Peters
Newstalgia New Years Eve Music Special - Dean Martin - Frank Sinatra - Hungarian Relief Concert 1956
I can't think of a better way to end up the year than with a special, rare, never-heard-before performance of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin (not together unfortunately, but Dino's in fine form) from the Hungarian Relief Fundraiser put on in Los Angeles on November 30, 1956.
For some reason, this recording has never been issued anywhere - the master tapes sitting on a shelf in a garage the better part of forty years before I got the call to "take the junk away".
Dean had just broken up his act with Jerry Lewis and Sinatra was going through a career change that took would take a dramatic upturn as well. If memory serves (but don't hold me to it), this predates the Ratpack by about a year.
In any event, this is a rare recording and you get to hear it first.
Thanks to everyone for a great 2009 - especially the crew at C&L. It's all been good fun, dusting off history.
Happy New Year - try and stay sane in the meantime. Wait til 2010!
Dean Martin is the King of Cool but it was rubber-stamped when Playboy called him “the coolest man who ever lived.” His early beginning are stuff that movie script-writers should fall over themselves to put on screen, if they tried they would see why when reaching the top of his game he would step back a little or maybe a little more than just a little. See he would rather have the quiet less traumatic showbiz life, not getting involved in Hollywood Parties, not get into scuffles etc. and never taking himself too seriously, his heart was too big for all that! He was very religious a devout Catholic and devoted family man but one with a huge respect for the millions of his adoring fans. His modesty was tinged with slight low self esteem which did mark him as a complicated celebrity among other stars at the time but also made him incredibly flexible and funny. In fact anyone who had the pleasure to be in Dean Martin’s company would often remark that Dean was the nicest and funniest man they ever met. Martin Scorsese short-sightedly said that to do a film about Dean Martin would be painstakingly difficult as he pulled away in life, but in fact stepping back as such are truly endearing qualities of the man and why his own fellow Rat-Packers loved him even more so for them. Dean Martin was indeed a true Gent, his personality was to do in part with his Italian heritage and the old ways, ways that kept the world ‘lontano’, as the mafiosi would say: “distant, safe, and wisely at bay.” Hollywood should not give up on this great story, maybe try Ron Howard, Eastwood or Spielberg, this biopic just gotta be done and I’d further recommend to make it into a 4 parts Mini-Series, I bet it would be viewed by millions;
are all pretty well documented, but also interestingly was in 1968, Dean signed the biggest contract in show business history. He signed a 3 year contract for $34 million to do three more seasons of his hit series The Dean Martin Show. This would be a very unique contract: since Dean hated rehearsing, he would not have to show up all week to rehearse the show. A stand-in took over Dean’s role at rehearsals, while Dean played golf Monday through Thursday. He’d look over his lines during the week, but mostly he’d golf. Then on Friday, he would show up and tape the show. I would also include in this part that rarest of moments when both Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were both at the Sands in Las Vegas doing their own separate shows at the same time in 1960 and would gate-crash eachother and comic mayhem would ensue, an absolute treat for the audience who were witness to these two entertainers at the height of their careers.
reunion organised by Frank Sinatra, raising more money that year than in history of the show… Dean coming to terms or maybe never really recovering from the death of his Son and his continual friendship with Jerry Lewis after seeing him at a distance attending that funeral. Dean making up with his dearest friend Frank Sinatra after a falling out on a Rat pack revival tour, and settling a family affairs knowing his death was imminent a legacy his children would keep in the minds of all his fans through their own cherished love for their father. Finally his Death on Christmas Day, a day coincidently was the day his dearly beloved mother died also on… Christmas Day 1995 on hearing the news that Dean Martin had died all the Casinos on the Vegas Strip had turned off their lights for one minute to commemorate Dean Martin’s passing.
