Amore [Digipak] by Dean Martin (CD, 2009, Capitol) NEW

A compilation of Dean Martin's best love songs would be a wonderful thing to give or receive for Valentine's Day (when this compilation was released), or practically any other time of the year. Martin was a very endearing romantic, bringing across the warmth and understanding of love that only an Italian (or Italian-American) could accomplish. Amore compiles 15 of his best-loved ballads from the Capitol years of the '50s and very early '60s. That era was the bridge between his rather stodgy character of the '40s and '50s (when he played the straight man to Jerry Lewis' anarchic persona) and the late '50s (when he became a film star on his own, and the right-hand man of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack). At Capitol, he was usually paired with great arrangers, and while he took a few years to develop a singing character of his own, his LP output from 1958 to 1961 included some real gems (This Time I'm Swingin'!, Sleep Warm) as well as some great singles. Amore does a fair survey of that period, but there are several omissions, some understandable and some confusing. First and foremost, this doesn't include any of his Reprise-era hits: "Everybody Loves Somebody," "Remember Me (I'm the One Who Loves You)," and "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" (all of which were recorded during the mid-'60s and would've been perfect for this thematic disc). Secondly, it omits one of his two biggest Capitol hits, "Memories Are Made of This" (and a more romantic song you could barely hope to find). Admittedly, what's here is great, paced by his definitive "That's Amore," plus excellent versions of standards like "Just in Time," "Dream a Little Dream of Me," and "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You." But that doesn't make the omissions any less perplexing. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide