The Frank Sinatra Spectacular - 1965

The night before this TV special was recorded in St. Louis for a charity benefit in 1965, Joey Bishop slipped a disc in his back. While this was bad for Mr. Bishop, it was a wonderful opportunity for Johnny Carson, the King of late night TV at the time, to work with one of the hottest acts in entertainment history.  Acting as the emcee for, and sometimes performing with, the legendary trio was one of the self-confessed highlights of Mr. Carson’s long and storied career in show business.

The show was recorded and beamed live via closed circuit TV to selected movie theaters across the country on June 20^th, 1965. The broadcast originated at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis.

Whatever else needs to be explained about this video is done in Mr. Carson’s introduction to the show. So, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy it!

Dean Martin - Live 1964

I am taking the day off; I have a sore throat, so it hurts when I type. This is a most unusual clip of Dean Martin from a 1964 TV special which I have never seen. What makes it so unusual is the slow, almost jazz-like, deliveries of the standards which Mr. Martin performs here.

"Everybody Loves Somebody", which had been previously released in this slower version in the late 1940's, was currently topping the charts, even eclipsing the Beatles in that pivotal year. So, I have to wonder why he chose to do the older arrangement. Mr. Martin initially resisted the turning of the tide towards rock n' roll, even telling his 14 year old son, Dean, "I'm gonna' knock your 'pallies' off the charts." On August 15, 1964 he did it; topping the Billboard charts for about 8 weeks with "Everybody Loves Somebody"; right in the middle of Beatlemania.

His soulful renditions of "Volare", and "On an Evening in Roma", are among his most earthy performances of those numbers. Never ceasing to clown around, and clearly a bit inebriated, he manages to slip in a reference to Jerry Lewis, as well as to kid his piano player, Ken Lane, who wrote "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime", before closing with a short, but very bluesy rendition of "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You".

Enjoy the show; they just don't make 'em like this anymore....