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Al Martino has had a strong effect on me since childhood when my Dad introduced me to contemporary music. There is no one I would rather listen to for hours on end, that rich baritone voice can sooth and excite your senses. When you are in the mood for romance, no one fills the bill more than Al Martino and this CD is a very good sampling of his best love songs as well as other favorites. I also recommend his "Greatest Hits" to get more wonderful songs as well as duplicates from this cd. My Dad died when I was 12 yrs.old and I feel closest to him when I put Al on the stereo. I only wish more of his albums were still in print and on cd's, most notably :"The Exciting Voice of Al Martino" and "Painted,Tainted Rose".

Al Martino is moving, brilliant and always more than satisfying. His voice is a work of art. Listening to Al is a beautiful experience.

Al Martino's music played an important role in my childhood and listening to it on CD is absolutely wonderful! His rich, warm voice is a truly a gift. "Daddy's Little Girl" is my favorite, for VERY sentimental reasons, and a must for every new daddy or daughter with a special relationship with her father!

This album realy bought memory flooding into my mind as I lisened to the demo of songs. For I recalled them from the time I first heard them on the radio.How refreashing to here such a wonderful voice again. Sure beats all that modren trash they call music today.

This old-school crooner with an almost operatic tenor voice, born Alfred Cini in Philadelphia in 1927, was a boyhood friend of the great Mario Lanza and, after becoming a 1952 winner on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts in 1952, that same year had a # 1 Pop hit with the soaring Here In My Heart for Capitol's BBS subsidiary (in 1961 a re-recording would reach # 86 Billboard Pop Hot 100). Other early hits included Take My Heart (# 12 in 1952), Rachel (# 30 in 1952), and When You're Mine (# 27 in 1953), all on the main Capitol label.

Further hit singles would then be hard to come by until 1959's I Can't Get You Out Of My Heart, which made it to a modest # 44 Hot 100 in June 1959. But from there to 1977 he would chalk up 34 Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 hits and 41 Adult Contemporary (AC) hits, also selling millions of albums. This particular CD, first released in 1988 by Collectables and with the same cover as the original Capitol vinyl LP, and it does indeed give you some of his all-time best. But not 10. Not even 9. More like 8.

Leading off is Spanish Eyes, originally written and recorded by Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra as Moon Over Naples in the summer of 1965. Later that year Al's rendition began its rise to # 1 AC (where it stayed for 4 weeks)/# 15 Hot 100 b/w Melody Of Love. Track 2, Painted, Tainted Rose, was a 1963 hit, going to # 3 AC/# 15 Hot 100 in September b/w That's The Way It's Got To Be. So far so good.

But the 3rd track, another cover of a Bert Kaempfert hit, was never one for Al nor even the B-side to one. Rather, recorded in 1965, it first appeared in the Capitol LP ST 2312 "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" which reached # 42 on the LP charts that summer. On the other hand, I Love You More And More Every Day, was a big one, hitting # 3 AC/# 9 Hot 100 in early 1964 b/w I'm Living My Heaven With You, followed by one of my favourites, Mary In The Morning, which went all the way to # 1 AC and # 27 Hot 100 in early summer 1967, b/w I Love You And You Love Me.

Track 6, a cover of the Leon Payne C&W # 1 hit in 1950, I Love You Because, was another AC # 1 and also a # 3 Hot 100 in the spring of 1963 b/w Merry-Go-Round, while his version of the Paul Mauriat 1967 smash, Love Is Blue, topped out at # 3 AC/# 57 Hot 100 in early 1968. Living A Lie was a # 8 AC/# 22 Hot 100 in late 1963, but the next track, Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte was the uncharted flipside of My Heart Would Know (# 11 AC/# 52 Hot 100 in early 1965 - and not included here). Patti Page had the hit version. Last up is his cover of the 1950 Mills Brothers hit, Daddy's Little Girl, which reached # 2 AC/# 42 Hot 100 in March 1967 b/w Devotion.

His backing orchestras were Peter DeAngelis on tracks 1, 2 to 5, 8 to 10, Belford Hendricks on track 6, and Pete King on track 7.

Al was also one of the few pure crooners to have cross-over R&B and Country hits when Darling, I Love You reached # 27 R&B in 1959 [and # 63 Hot 100] and, in 1970, a cover of the Merle Haggard hit, I Started Loving You Again, peaked at # 69 Country [as well as # 19 AC and # # 86 Hot 100]. His moste noted film role was that of Johnny Fontane in the 1972 film The Godfather.

Although I love this man's voice, I assign just 3 stars simply because there are no liner notes whatsoever and just the 10 selections, only 8 of which fall into the category of his "best" - at least to most collectors I know. A far better option is the Razor & Tie release, with the title I Love You Because, as it contains almost all his major hits with the notable exception of Mary In The Morning.

Our daughter was married on Decenber 19th, 2009. We chose the song "Daddy's Little Girl" for the father / daughter dance as we sang it to her for many years when we put her to bed. We chose the Al Martino version as the most appropriate for the wedding. We could not find it in any stores in the Toronto area so I went to Amazon. The quality, service and price were excellent. In addition, the CD has a lot of excellent old songs on it and my wife and I are enjoying the music.

A CD of lively tunes sung by a man with a smooth and pleasing voice. Give it a listen and you will fully understand. Well assembled group of songs.

AL Martino has the most beautiful voice and this is his most beautiful cd! I have most of his cd's, but I mostly listen to this one. It contains his best songs. If you love standards, this is the cd to own!

Beautiful songs of the past. Al Martino is one who can melt an iceberg! My favorite was "Daddy's Little Girl" at the end ... sweet for girls of all ages ... but all of the songs were great. They just don't sing them like him anymore! So if it's gonna be a cold winter where you are, buy this CD, relax, and dream of the days when wine and roses and smooth, dreamy, romantic men who made you blush with their romantic ways were once in style. And if you're a guy, play this one over dinner (which you've cooked!) with your special someone. She'll love you. That's a promise.