After "Volare" reached No. 12 in August 1958, Martin experienced a six-year period in his recording career without any significant activity. Instead, he focused on film acting. A song strongly associated with Martin, "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?," never charted when released as a single. His highest-charting single during that span was "On an Evening in Roma" which peaked at No. 59. It would take "Everybody Loves Somebody" to turn his chart decline around.
"Everybody Loves Somebody" also introduced Martin to the Easy Listening charts. From 1964 to 1969, he had great success there, as 20 of his singles reached the Top 10. The final year that the singer had any significant chart success was 1969, with "Gentle on My Mind", "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am", and "One Cup of Happiness" doing moderately well. In the United Kingdom "Gentle on My Mind" reached No. 2.
The crooner had two singles chart on Billboard's Country chart—"My First Country Song" (No. 35), featuring Conway Twitty, was the first in 1983. As early as 1959, Martin had expressed his love of country music ("My Rifle, My Pony, and Me"). Within a year of signing with Reprise, Martin had recorded his first country album, Country Style, released in January 1963. He continued to record country music prolifically until he retired, but country radio did not play his singles.[2]
Martin released a total of 32 original studio albums throughout his career. His most critically acclaimed projects were released by Capitol Records in the late 1950s e.g., Sleep Warm (1959) and This Time I'm Swingin'! (1960). Nevertheless, the singer had no significant album chart success until he signed with Reprise Records in the early 1960s.
Other albums that made the Top 20 Pop Albums chart include Dream with Dean (No. 15), The Door Is Still Open to My Heart (No. 9), Dean Martin Hits Again (No. 13), (Remember Me) I'm the One Who Loves You (No. 12), Houston (No. 11), Welcome to My World (No. 20), and Gentle on My Mind (No. 14).
Martin virtually retired from the studio after November 1974, exacerbated by Reprise's decision to withhold the Once in a While project. The label believed Martin paying tribute to his influences would not sell well at the height of disco. The label finally reversed its decision four years later after embellishing the backing tracks with a more modern, disco-flavored rhythm section. Once in a While concluded the artist's association with Reprise.
His longtime producer, Jimmy Bowen, persuaded Martin to record one more album.The Nashville Sessions, released by Warner Brothers, became a moderate success in 1983. The crooner's recording career ended in July 1985, when he recorded the non-charting single, "L.A. Is My Home". Despite the singer's renown for his ease in front of audiences, no live albums were made available until after his passing in 1995.
Demand for Martin's recordings continues to be significantly high in the new millennium.[3] Capitol and Collectors' Choice Music re-released Martin's original studio albums. Bear Family Records, one of the world's leading reissue labels based in Germany, chronicled the singer's complete recording sessions in four lavish box sets. Capitol's 2004 compilation, Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, was certified platinum by the RIAA.[4]
Two years later, Country singer Martina McBride overdubbed her vocals onto Martin's original version of "Baby It's Cold Outside" for Capitol's Forever Cool duets project. This resulted in a Top 40 Country/Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit which was Martin's first single activity since "My First Country Song" 23 years earlier. The album featured overdubbed duets with McBride, Kevin Spacey, Dave Koz, Chris Botti, Shelby Lynne, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and more. A duet of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with Scarlett Johansson was added to Martin's My Kind of Christmas CD.
Cool Then, Cool Now, a two-CD/book released on Hip-O Records in 2011, examined the artist's signature hits along with a significant dose of lesser-known recordings.
Albums
Studio albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications (format: LP)
"I'm Gonna Change Everything," "The Middle of the Night Is My Cryin' Time," and "My Sugar's Gone" were lifted from the Dean "Tex" Martin Rides Again album.
As Billboard changed its policy for Christmas albums in 1963, this album was ineligible for the main pop chart. However, on the seasonal Christmas chart, the album reached No. 1.
Recorded in November 1974, the album was withheld for four years. Although partial rhythm tracks, strings, and chorus vocals were overdubbed in Nashville by producer Jimmy Bowen as a last ditch effort to contemporize the songs, Once in a While made no sales impact, becoming Martin's final product for Reprise.
At Villa Venice, Chicago (Live 1962) (recorded in 1962)
1993
Jazz Hour Compact Classics
Recorded live between November 26 - December 2, 1962, in The Villa Venice Night Club, Chicago, Illinois. Released in 2 volumes.
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Live at the Sands Hotel (recorded in 1964)
March 27, 2001
Bianco Records
Recorded live on February 8, 1964, in Las Vegas. Perhaps the most famous Martin live recording, this has been available for many years on numerous bootlegs, so the original release date/label is questionable.
Recorded live on April 4, 1967, at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas
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Live from Lake Tahoe 1962 (recorded in 1962)
June 7, 2005
Recorded live on July 27, 1962, at the Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe. Only seven songs from the show were originally issued as part of a special "platinum edition" of Dino: The Essential Dean Martin.
The complete concert was released in its entirety on the 2012 box set, Collected Cool.
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"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
Compilation albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
Notes: When the title song became a smash hit, Reprise assembled this LP from B-sides and previously released album cuts recorded between February 1962 and April 1964. It was released on the same day as the Dream with Dean studio album.
Note: Only the title cut and its B-side, "That Old Clock On The Wall," are exclusive to the album. The remaining 10 selections originally appeared on Martin's two country-themed albums from 1963, Dean "Tex" Martin: Country Style and Dean "Tex" Martin Rides Again.
Note: Curated by Bear Family—a German reissue label—is the first volume of a career-encompassing project chronicling Martin's complete discography recorded between 1946 and 1955 on Diamond, Apollo, Embassy, and Capitol.
Return to Me
Release date: May 20, 1998
Label: Bear Family
Formats: CD
Note: The second volume of a career-encompassing project chronicling Martin's complete discography recorded between 1956 and 1961 on Capitol.
Everybody Loves Somebody: The Reprise Years 1962–1966
Release date: January 21, 2002
Label: Bear Family
Formats: CD
Note: The third volume of a career-encompassing project chronicling Martin's complete discography recorded during his early tenure on Reprise.
Lay Some Happiness on Me: The Reprise Years and More 1966–1985
Release date: January 21, 2002
Label: Bear Family
Formats: CD
Note: The fourth and final volume of a career-encompassing project chronicling Martin's complete discography recorded between 1966 and 1985 on Reprise, Warner Bros., and MCA.
Note: The first career-spanning box set released in the USA chronicling Martin's extensive oeuvre. Featuring three CDs [i.e. the third contains the complete July 27, 1962 concert at the Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe] and one DVD of a rare June 9, 1983 concert special recorded at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre for the Showtime network.
Extended plays
List of extended plays, with selected details and chart positions
"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (re-entry)
8
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20
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" (re-entry)
36
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"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
Holiday 100 chart entries
Since many radio stations in the US adopt a format change to Christmas music each December, many holiday hits have an annual spike in popularity during the last few weeks of the year and are retired once the season is over.[18] In December 2011, Billboard began a Holiday Songs chart with 50 positions that monitors the last five weeks of each year to "rank the top holiday hits of all eras using the same methodology as the Hot 100, blending streaming, airplay, and sales data".[19] In 2013, the number of positions on the chart was doubled resulting in the Holiday 100.[20] A half-dozen Martin recordings have made appearances on the Holiday 100 and are noted below according to the holiday season in which they charted there.
^According to the RIAA, "Everybody Loves Somebody" has been certified platinum for sales of 1,000,000. It is the only Martin single to receive any RIAA certification.
^Note: "Things" was originally recorded by Martin on December 13, 1962. Nancy Sinatra overdubbed her vocal to the existing rhythm track five years later on September 20, 1967
References
^(in English) discography at "deanmartinfancenter.com" site [1].
^Times, Lorne VanSinclair for the Orillia Packet &. "Dean Martin". www.backbeatradio.com. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
