Dean Martin Live

Spanning two discs and 40 songs, The Capitol Years is the most thorough retrospective of Dean Martin's Capitol recordings. From "Memories Are Made of This" to "Return to Me" and "Volare," all of his major hits for the label are included, as are several album tracks, lesser-known singles, and a handful of rarities. The collection may have a few too many songs for some casual fans, but it's the only album that presents all the important Capitol tracks with care, thought, and first-class sound.

Pretty Baby is an album recorded by Dean Martin for Capitol Records during two sessions on January 28 and 30, 1957. The backing orchestration was conducted by Gus Levene. The completed album was released on June 17, 1957.

Enjoying great success in music, film, television, and the stage, Dean Martin was less an entertainer than an icon, the eternal essence of cool. A member of the legendary Rat Pack, he lived and died the high life of booze, broads and bright lights, always projecting a sense of utter detachment and serenity; along with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. and the other chosen few who breathed the same rarefied air, Martin highball and cigarette always firmly in hand embodied the glorious excess of a world long gone, a world without rules or consequences. Throughout it all, he remained just outside the radar of understanding, the most distant star in the firmament; as his biographer Nick Tosches once noted, Martin was what the Italians called a menefreghista "one who simply does not give a f***."

The essence of Dean Martin is in the recordings he made at his peak which are gathered together here. Comedian, movie star, legend… Dean Martin was all of those, but it was as a singer he wanted to be remembered. And here are 100 reasons why…

Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American actor, singer and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool" for his seemingly effortless charisma and self-assurance.

The ultimate Rat Pack cocktail! Take one part Frank, one part Sammy and one part Dino, add the best of their legendary 1962 run at the Villa Venice, THEN add a DVD presenting the only known filmed performance of the Rat Pack, recorded in 1965 at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis and *never before released*.
Live and Swingin' is undoubtedly for those who already own some of the guys' worthier recordings. Oh, but the guys? Frank, Dean, and Sammy (or, as Jackie Mason had it on The Simpsons, "the Candy Man!") For most anyone who cares, though, this is a must-buy item: a slightly edited version of the 1962 Villa Venice tapes along with a DVD that preserves a rarely seen, full-length serious/funny/anarchic Rat Pack performance from '65. (For sentimentalists' sake, it was taped on Tina Sinatra's 17th birthday; she makes a brief appearance onstage with the fellas.) All kidding aside, the trio makes with the serious singing ' though perhaps those who came to hear Sammy get through an entire mini-set without interruption will want to go elsewhere, as his partners' shtick barely allows him to finish a line, much less a song. Sinatra aficionados will find the DVD indispensable, as he paws his way through a mellow version of "My Kind of Town" (benefit location "St. Louis"!) and "Fly Me to the Moon." –Rickey Wright