Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the investment for Martin fans, October 14, 2002
While I wouldn't suggest this as the first Dean Martin album in your collection, it'll certainly interest if a hits collection has whetted your appetite for more. The CD of course features a pair of CDs that pushed Martin back in the Top 20 for the first time in years. Both of these albums contain radically different versions of Martin's signature hit "Everybody Loves Somebody" that shot him to #1 at the height of Beatlemania. The first album "Dream with Dean" might be the crooner's best album. Backed by a small tasteful quartet this is the polar opposite of the music that is normally associated with Dino. (I.E big white goofy choruses, swelling strings etc). The album is all the better for that difference as Martin's truly beautiful voice (better to me than Sinatra's) is accentuated in all its subtle glory. The result is a stunningly intimate recording. On the opening cut "I'm Confessing" (one of his best) you can hear Martin breath as he uses his voice like a painter uses a brush to paint an emotional picture. His vocal really is confessional. The next few numbers give listeners a similar experience. However, the record's flaws soon show their face. The arrangements though tasteful vary little from song to song and listeners are left begging for a little drama. Dean refrains from some of the more dramatic flourishes and slurs he was famous for but the album could have used an occasional flash of the old Martin charm just to mix things up. This really becomes a problem on the second half of the album when the material gets weaker with the dated "Smile" and the unbearably cutesy "Give Me a Little Kiss Will Ya Huh?". Still hearing Martin in this context is well worth the effort and the album is in general a success. While Martin had a reputation for being indifferent to just about everything, this is a real serious attempt at some kind of art. The second album is more problematic and indicative of some of the problems inherent in Martin's career. It is kind of a slapdash affair with about half the stuff worth listening to and about half throw away garbage. "Your Other Love" is a dated period piece and probably the worst song ever written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. "Shutters and Boards" and Bobby Darin's "Things" are way too derivative. And can anybody doubt that "Siesta Fiesta" was just recorded to fill album space? On the other hand, the remade "Everybody Loves Somebody" is a marked improvement over Dean's previous recording by using the classic Martin formula updated with a rock like rhythm section. And it gives listeners a taste of humor and big drama just when we're overdosing on intimacy. "Baby O" is a good lesser Johnny Mercer number in the "Volare" mode and "My Heart Cries for You" is simply beautiful. There are some flaws in the repackaging as well. While the sound is great there are no new liner notes except for the back cover. The inside flap contains pictures of the original back album jackets but no extra pictures. And there are no full size reproductions of the album covers. This is a loss because "Dream with Dean" sported a beautiful 60s type cover. Still despite the flaws it's great to have this music available to show fans that Martin could be an artist in addition to being a celebrity.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TWO GEMS FROM THE REPRISE YEARS!!, February 15, 2002
FINALLY, after all these years, the legendary Dean Martin's Reprise material is released on CD form. Collector's Choice Music is to be applauded for the outstanding work they are doing, getting ALL of Dean's albums on CDs, via "2fers" just like this one, featuring two albums on one great disc. While problems arose early on with this particular disc (initial pressings were in MONO) seems that's all been worked out and the music is grand. DREAM WITH DEAN is what many consider a "Dino Unplugged" session, if you will, away from all the glitz and glamour and hype and swing, just Dino and the boys in the small group, and you (and perhaps your sweetheart?) The music flows like a smooth warm brandy into a snifter here with the clever "I'LL BUY THAT DREAM" and the plaintive "SMILE", The sly undertones of "HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE" are also of note; as is Dean's reading of the time tested evergreen "MY MELANCHOLY BABY". Clearly an after hours mood album that even Frank "Mr. Concept Album" Sinatra must have been thrilled to hear, especially from his "paisano" Dean Martin! The next sides are back with the big band sound, most of which mark the first pairing of Dean with Ernie Freeman's orchestrating talents (the man who would be responsible for that "Hit Sound" we heard in the mid-60's that earned Dino his "Beatle Buster Martin" title) We all know the story behind Everybody Loves Somebody; it was recorded by Dean only as a passing suggestion by pianist Ken Lane (who also co-wrote the song) when sessions were short one song. It had been recorded many times before, but only Dean would claim the best of it when he iced it in the studios of Reprise. Don Costa's "Freeman-like" chart of the underappreciated country ballad "SHUTTERS AND BOARDS" is an excellent vehicle for Dean and it shows here. Get this CD, and all the others from the good people at Collectors Choice Music are making available!
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT COMBINATION OF TWO HIT ALBUMS, April 4, 2002
Both originally released in June 1964, these two albums, released by Collectors'Choice, provide a combination of totally alternate concepts in their musical viewpoint, yet share a common feature in the fact that one song is included twice for very commercial reasons. DREAM WITH DEAN is a quiet and very relaxed meander through a dozen standards, simply accompanied by four musicians Barney Kessel(guitar), Ken Lane(piano), Red Mitchell(bass) and Irv Cotter(drums). Dean is completely relaxed, and there is no doubt this minimal backing provides the perfect setting for his understated style which represents the ideal package for late night listening. The inclusion of songs like I'M CONFESSIN', I'LL BUY THAT DREAM and BABY WON'T YOU PLEASE COME HOME? give his tranquil vocal style the chance to weave its style clearly and romantically. Another included song is EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY, which Dean had featured in his early career, and this new recording gave Dean's record producer, Jimmy Bowen, the idea that in a different musical setting, this song would find wider appeal. So with a soaring contemporary arrangement and chorus, the song was re-launched and became a massive hit single and the title of second best selling album included here, which provided the template for much of his following career and many Reprise albums. Its contents spotlight this new commercial aspect with all the songs light
and poppy, like YOUR OTHER LOVE and BABY-O which were carefully geared towards the hit parade and many radio plays. THINGS and MY HEART CRIES FOR YOU lean towards the country side of this renewal of the Dean Martin career.The contrast between these two albums make for very enjoyable listening and the whole package is highly recommended.
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by Dean Martin 
