what Frank is listening to #73 – DEAN MARTIN – The Door is Still Open to my Heart – (Reprise) – 1964
aaah, the only Dean Martin album I don't have … I now have all fifty or so. Can you ever have enough Dean Martin ?
I will progress by assuming everyone knows the Dean Martin basics. There is nothing I can say generally about Dean Martin that people don't know anyway. Read any number of sites on him regarding, his comedy (with Jerry Lewis), film, music, and television careers. If you have the inclination then read the biography by Nick Tosches, "Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams". It is the best biography written on Dean and probably one of the best bios ever written on anyone in showbusiness.
Dean Martin (Dino Crocetti – born Steubenville, Ohio 1917) came from that group of Italian American singers that dominated "pasta" World War 2 radio … sorry "post" World War 2 radio (lame):
- Frank Sinatra ( born Sinatra, Hoboken, New Jersey 1915)
- Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Luigi Vitaliano, July 8, 1932, The Bronx, New York)
- Al Martino (born Alfred Cini, October 7, 1927, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto; August 3, 1926)
- Mario Lanza (January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959 born Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Pierino "Perry" Como (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001 born Canonsburg, Pennsylvania)
- Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio (Chicago, March 30, 1913 – San Diego, February 6, 2007),
- Buddy Greco (born Armando Greco, 14 August 1926, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Vic Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in 1928, in Brooklyn, New York
There were other non-Italian post war singers: Tony Martin, Andy Williams, Mel Torme, Jack Jones, Robert Goulet, Sammy Davis Jr, Johnny Ray, Ed Ames but the only ones who came close to Dean and the Italians in popularity are Mel Torme (born in Chicago 1925 – 1999 of Russian Jewish background) and Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik born in Detroit, Michigan 1927 – 1999 of Croatian background).
If I really wanted to wax lyrical on Dean this blog entry would probably be longer than all the other blog emails I have sent. I grew up with Dean almost as much, but not quite, as I grew up with Elvis. Dean was on the turntable at home, there were Martin-Lewis films on TV every other weekend (Elvis films were on in between), there were the risqué (well over my head) Dean Martin roasts on TV at night, and my mum worked at the Italian Club for many years so it was natural to have Italian's over and Italian spoken around the house all the time … and of course all the Italians love Dean Martin (and Elvis for that matter). So, Dean was the the uncle that I never saw … I believed that as a child. Actually I recall mum saying Jerry Lewis was related to us … she was joking, and he's not (though with a Slavic name of "Levitch" it was posssible in my brain).
Dean's "Favourites" EP was one of the first records I got back in the early to mid-70s when I decided to get "into" music.
So, the connection I have with Dean is as much an emotional one as a musical one. And therein lies the danger … as impartial as I try to be maybe I see more worth in Dean than actually exists.
As a singer Dean didn't stretch himself very much. He was not a stylistic innovator like Frank Sinatra or the consummate craftsman like Bing. He worked within his box, but within those parameters he made some glorious sounds. From what I have read Dean saw films and music as a means to an end, namely, security, wealth, and an escape from poverty. He certainly didn't have the concerns of "art" that Sinatra had but then Sinatra could never replicate Dean's lush, "feeling of I guy I know" tones. Dean also didn't pay to much attention to musical gaffs – there are some here … but as long as they aint major the track is in the can.
Whether Dean's voice reflected his persona or whether his persona took on what people perceived him to be I'm not sure. There has been lot written and a lot of mythologizing done so I don't know what's true or not. He drank a lot vs. the alcohol was a prop, he was a gregarious party animal vs. he liked his solitude … who knows. Certainly he knew his voice, he knew what he was trying to convey and he knew his limitations. Not many vocalists have that insight.
And he never felt the need to write a song.
Dean had a big hit in 1964 with the single "Everybody Loves Somebody" and a album called (surprisingly) "Everybody Loves Somebody" was released to cash in on the hit. The album consisted of the hit and tracks borrowed from other albums and singles. Then Dean cut "The Door is Open to my Heart" which was a hit (only about two months later) so the label had to rush out another album called, err surprisingly, "The Door is Open to my Heart" – so they used what new tracks they had and padded it out with three selections that had appeared previously on the 1963 album "Dean "Tex" Martin Rides Again" ("I'm Gonna Change Everything," "The Middle of the Night Is My Cryin' Time," and "My Sugar's Gone"), which became this LP. And then "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" became a hit.
The albums all work, regardless of the recycled material, because they are all from around the same time frame and sessions, so they have the same feel … we aren't talking concept albums which take years to make here. So on this LP Dean is in good "Dean" voice and the material is pretty standard mid-60s Dean styled music with chanting choruses and lush instrumentation. Dean does what he does to every song but when he has a great tune he soars … here that song is "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" … which became a big hit … and nothing really comes close to that, though all the tracks are listenable because Dean is so listenable but that doesn't mean those tracks are necessarily memorable (derrrrrr … why I don't I state the obvious). The songs are a mix of contemporary songs as well as standards going back to the 40s.
The world was on the "eve of destruction" in the mid 60s … assassinations, the Vietnam war, student unrest and Dean was happily singing without a care in the world …. God bless him.
Best Tracks:
- The Door is Still Open to my Heart (USA: #1 Adult Pop Charts, #6 pop charts) (#42UK)
- We'll Sing in the Sunshine
- The Middle of the Night is my Cryin Time
- In the Misty Moonlight
- You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You (USA: #1 Adult Pop Charts, #25 pop charts)
The album went to #9 pop
I'm keeping this.
Sounds:
The Door is still Open to my Heart
We'll Sing in the Sunshine
The Middle Of The Night Is My Cryin' Time
In the Misty Moonlight
You're Nobody till somebody Loves You
Some live clips of him doing You're Nobody till somebody Loves You
Bio:
Trivia:
oh, have I mentioned Elvis yet? … Dean was a big influence on Elvis – possibly the biggest (along with Roy Hamilton).
(originally posted: 09/08/2009)
