Dean Martin: Live From Las Vegas

If you love live Dino, there's no better single disc to own, although those who just want the hits may want to stick to his studio collections.

To celebrate Las Vegas' 100th anniversary, EMI has decided to issue several live shows of the city's greatest entertainers on CD. So far, the series has touched upon Frank Sinatra (doing an Eighties show), Bobby Darin, Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Wayne Newton, and Nancy Wilson, not to mention two excellent compilations of live performances from various artists who worked the Strip both during and after its Sixties heyday.

What's different -- and special -- about this latest release is the inclusion of an entire 1967 show by Dean Martin, a man who put on some of the most casual performances of any pop singer in history. It's not that Dino's sloppy; anyone privileged to see him on stage in his salad days can tell you that Martin gave his all. But his live mixture of hits and standards was always laced with stories, observations, jokes, medleys, verbal potshots, and whatever else might cross his mind at any given time. (This is especially true of the late show at the Sands, which this CD features.)

The titles say it all: track two is labeled "Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes / Pennies From Heaven (Bourbon) / Hello, Dolly (Vegas)!," while track nine's medley boggles the mind: "Try A Little Tenderness / Love Walked In / Cecilia / Me And My Gal / Swing Low, Sweet Chariot / My Heart Sings / There's No Tomorrow (O Solo Mio) / It Was A Very Good Year." The hits are here, from "Everybody Loves Somebody" to "That's Amore," but Dino's live sets were an entity unto themselves.