Raft Podcast March 2006 Oh Yes Believe it and Weep!
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Raft Podcast January 2006 Interviews with Coxon, concretes, great comps, music and chat!
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Dean Martin - Christmas with Dino
Dean Martin - Christmas with Dino Capitol Out 1st November
Sweet Jesus. Is it upon us already? Well, turkeys are getting nervous, and I’ve just received contact from several financial institutions offering the extra spending power that comes in useful “at this time of year”, so I suppose it must be.
But don’t despair. There’s a way to get through this and maintain your sanity. This 17 track collection from the 20th century’s coolest cat, the hipper than hip Dean Martin (1917-95), will soothe your seasonal tension away and keep your Christmas spirit topped up - without driving you to drink. Though he came to conquer movies, the stage, television and music almost simultaneously in the late 50s, Dino started out as a crooner early the previous decade, modelling himself after his idol Bing Crosby. While working in Atlantic City in 1946, he met and teamed up with comic Jerry Lewis and the pair soon became the highest paid nightclub act in the country. They made 16 films together and Dino’s recording career began as a by-product of those films.
Though he cuts records prolifically and enjoyed major chart success (his 1964 hit Everybody Loves Somebody made him the first artist to knock the Beatles from the top of the charts), Dino didn’t have as deep a Yuletide repertoire as fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra or Nat ‘King’ Cole. Perhaps his style was considered too detached and adult for some of the most revered carols and hymns. Or perhaps he was just considered too cool for Christmas.
As these performances show, however, he brought as much warmth, wit and charm to his Christmas songs as his pop recordings. It’s the definitive Dean Martin Yuletide compilation - able to draw on his recordings for both Capitol and Reprise from the late 40s to the mid 60s.
The Capitol cuts produced by Lee Gillette, such as I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm and Winter Romance are perfect late 50s confections, showcasing Dino’s baritone croon in all it’s glory. By the mid 60s at Reprise, Dino and producers Jimmy Bowen and Bill Justis had their easy listening / country sound down cold, and renditions of the familiar Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland and the less common Marshmallow World swing with pin-point string arrangements, punchy rhythms and even a few tossed off one-liners.
And if anyone wondered whether, amid the TV shows, movie projects and high living, Dino took these projects seriously, just listen to his take on Silent Night. It was allegedly his favourite carol and this version is as reverent and touching as any ever produced. There’s a definite lullaby quality there, too, in case you need something to help get you off at night during this busy and stressful period. Dino’s casual but precise phrasing helps these seasonal perennials, celebrations of sleigh bells,virgin births and red-nosed reindeers, go down easier than ever. And when he sings “I’ve brought me some corn for poppin’” in one of two timeless versions of Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, you know you’re in the right place.
Protection - we do a lot of it these days. Sun cream for our skin, sunglasses for our eyes, condoms for you know where - but do you remember to protect your hearing?
Click to find all the information you need to look after your hearing now so you can enjoy music for years to come
The Raft has discovered The CarbonNeutral Company
They help business, government and individuals to tackle their contribution to climate change. In addition to forestry projects, their work includes carbon emissions reduction, renewable energy and biomass schemes, as well as carbon management and risk consulting
“Bohemian Rhapsody” 30th Anniversary
