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....