Customer Reviews

Collector Series

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I read somewhere that Elvis, in his early days, cited Dean Martin as his major vocal influence. After listening to this CD, it's obvious the King was being sincere.

For those of us who only know Martin from his "Celebrity Roast" television show, Dean-O's old records are a revelation.

Such an incredible voice. He didn't get the songs that writers were throwing Sinatra's way, but he made the most of what he got. As the corny old saying goes, Dean Martin could have sung the telephone book and made it sound good.

"Ain't That A Kick In The Head," "Volare," and "That's Amore" are the best known tunes here--and probably the best songs here as well--but listen to this man sing, even on the lesser stuff. He had pipes that were just a step above so many singers who had more hits.

And I kind of like "That Certain Party," the opening tune Martin does with Jerry Lewis. Martin & Lewis were a show-biz powerhouse for years, and "That Certain Party" captures the comic power they had--and also shows off those Martin pipes again.

This CD is a collection of Dean Martin's best songs from his years at Capitol records from 1948 to 1960; while many Dean Martin favorites were recorded in the first decade of his singing career, few of these songs were top 10 hits, which I find amazing and tragic. Even the wonderful song "You Belong To Me" never surpassed #12 on the charts. This is a great mix of Dean Martin trademarks such as "That's Amore," "Memories Are Made of This" (Dean's first #1 song), "Return to Me," and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" alongside less familiar but no less wonderful tracks such as "If," "I'd Cry Like a Baby," "Standing on the Corner," and "Innamorata." Overall, these songs offer even more proof to my theory that there is no such thing as a bad Dean Martin song.

"That Certain Party" is a 1948 duet with Jerry Lewis, featuring jokes, impersonations, and typical Martin-Lewis comedy alongside the song itself. "Power Your Face With Sunshine" was Dino's first top 10 hit, cresting at the 10th spot in early 1949. "I Will Always Love You" was Dean's first significant love song to hit the charts. "If" is Dino's most beautiful song and my personal favorite, yet it did not even crack the top 10 upon its release in 1950. "Innamorata" is another masterpiece that is too easily overlooked in Dean's vast musical legacy. The classics "That's Amore," "Memories Are Made of This," "Volare," and "Return to Me" need no introduction from me. "Standing on the Corner" and its B-side companion "Watching the World Go By" offer a little different sound, as Dean is backed up by Dick Stabile and his orchestra on these fun, carefree tracks. "On an Evening in Roma" is reportedly released here for the first time in its original true stereo quality. I could go on praising each song, but it doesn't seem necessary. Dean Martin didn't sing songs; he gave vibrant life to them, which explains why these songs remain as amazing today as they were when Dino first released them.

Obviously, this album contains no songs from Dean's later and more commercially successful years at Reprise records, but it offers 20 of his songs from 1948 to 1960, arranged in chronological order, with terrific sound quality and clarity quite rare among recorded songs from this time period. The liner notes are a delightful bonus to the whole package; they summarize Dean's career at Capitol Records, include images of the original single releases, and offer important information on each song (including recording date, release date, chart date, and highest chart position). Whether he's singing a lighthearted tune or serious Italian love song, Dean Martin forever delights my ears with his incredible and unique voice. This is a CD I am sure no Dean Martin fan does not already own.

If you're a big Dino fan and collector as I am This disc should be in your collection. The tracks start out with a 1948 recording of Dean and Jerry singing together on "That Certain Party" Capitol really dug into the archives for this one. From a collectors point of view there are some interesting bonus's included, there is some studio chat included on some tracks where you hear Dino sometimes laughing before the actual recording takes place. And what I was pleased to see was the original 1958 version of "Return To Me" as opposed to the 1961 version that's usually included on some best of discs. Overall this is a must have for Dino fans and collectors.

This assortment of songs from the years Dean Martin spent with Capitol is a great collection of favorites. Every song on here is enjoyable and hard to resist singing along with. The songs are presented on the CD in chronological order of release dates, showing a progression of Dino's personal style. Personally, I think the songs just get better and better as the disc progresses.

Sound quality on the recordings is good. I've heard some other compilation CDs and it sounded like the songs were recorded from old videotapes. This is not one of those.

The liner notes in the CD booklet give a brief bio of Dean Martin and some anecdotal information about some of the songs on the disc. Also included in the track listing in the booklet is the other musicians credited in the recording. One can also see the original covers of the singles and other Dino records laid out in one large picture on the center pages.

In all, this disc represents the essential Dean Martin collection from the late 40s to 1960. A worthwhile investment.

In 1989 I purchased the cassette tape of this album. I lost the tape, and cannot say how excited I was to see this on a CD. Even though I have everyone of these songs on other albums, I am purchasing the CD because it is one of the most delightful combinations of Dean's hits currently available.
One of my most favorite numbers is "You Belong to Me." Though Dino never had the #1 place for this song, I believe he had the best recording and I had an old 78 until it wore out. It was also the 1st time I heard "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?" on a recording. Saw the "RAT PACK" once and heard it on stage. I had always wanted that recording. I advise anyone who loves Dino to get this CD. It is his "youthful days" when his voice was at its peak and he was at the top of his recording career.

This is by far the best and most reasonably priced compilation of our famous male crooner's. It's a shame, but so much emphasis was placed back then on Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, Bing Crosby and Tony Bennett, but when you listen to the extraordinary "ease" and "sincere comfort" and "charm" of Dean Martin's voice, your heart melts. He was that good! Besides his excellent vocal rendition/recording of "Ain't That A Kick in The Head", there appears to be few big production Big Band recordings with Dean Martin. He should have done numerous songs with Nelson Riddle as his music conductor and arranger. With the exception of Harry Connick, Jr., Brian Setzer, Michael Poss, and Michael Feinstein, we have very few true "male crooners" nowadays. It seems that most of the Pop vocalists that I hear on contemporary radio all imitate each with their vocal "scatting", and the inability to stay on the melody line of a love song. What a shame... Thank God for the major record labels in re-releasing and re-mastering the entire recordings of the "Classy Male Crooner's", especially Dean Martin. He was the "King of Charm" with such incredible "sexy twinkling eyes"!

Released in 1989, this 20-track overview of Dean Martin's Capitol Records period has all the essential hits from 1948 to 1960, including lesser-known gems such as "Powder Your Face With Sunshine," "You Belong to Me," "I'd Cry Like a Baby" and "Money Burns a Hole in My Pocket." Excellent liner notes - and a personal message from Dino acknowledging his 50th anniversary in show business - make this collection a keeper.

If you've never heard of Dean Martin, this Cd is the one to get you started. It's a greatest hits collection from the Capitol years (probably about 1948-1960), when Dean was younger and his style was more varied. He signed on with Reprise from about 1960 to 1983 and made a ton of records, but the Reprise songs tend to sound pretty much the same after a while. The Capitol recordings capture Dean's tenderness, warmth and even jazziness. For example, "Love Me My Love", a relatively lesser-known Dean Martin song is wonderfully delicate and beautiful; and Dean bellies his crooner image and really wails it out on "Ain't That a Kick in the Head". "Watching the World Go By" and "Memories are Made of This" are also creative arrangements that exhibit nice harmonies. There are also a few Italian numbers such as "Volare" and "Return to Me".

In my mind, this CD best reveals the full color of Dean Martin.

Let's face it. Dino and Sammy were the backbone of the Summit. Frank was cool, but Dino...!

How could anyone not like Dino?!

As others have cited here, the Jerry Lewis cut is pretty bad (because it has Jerry Lewis... who needs another reason?!). But the rest of this CD sparkles.

How can pretenders like Backstreet Boys and other Johnny-come-WAY-latelys even bother, when faced with the awesome talent of Dean Martin? No phony computer processed vocals here! Even the 12 year old girl who can't spell reviewed the CD here and liked it.

Every minute, every hour, you'll enjoy this Dino collection. I think it's fitting that Lewis is on the first cut, because (as in real life), he'll be long forgotten by the time you get to the last cut.

The first choice of any DEAN MARTIN fan who want to buy only one is THE VERY BEST OF DEAN MARTIN THE CAPITOL AND REPRISE YEARS.This COLLECTORS SERIES from CAPITOL is also very good ,with a few songs not present in the other collection.Did DEAN did his best work with CAPITOL?Many fans don't agree with that statement,and i happen to be in that group, because i dig the country stuff he recorded at REPRISE.This is however a DEAN MARTIN that everyone can enjoy;it is what we can call easy listening at it's best.We could have done without THAT CERTAIN PARTY a duet with JERRY LEWIS,but it doesn't really matter.