The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands

Reissue producers: Gregg Geller, Charles Pigone.

Includes liner notes by Bill Zehme.

Digitally remastered by Lee Herschberg.

For those whose favorite part of the legendary Sinatra/Count Basie LIVE AT THE SANDS album was Frank's lengthy comedic monologue, THE RAT PACK: LIVE AT THE SANDS will arrive like manna from hipster's heaven. The disc features an entire performance by the storied "rat pack" of the Chairman and his musical pals Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., but most of the show is given over to shtick and banter. Fittingly, Sinatra gets the most straight-ahead musical time with a brace of sterling ballads whose appearance should delight hardcore fans. Fortunately, the humorous barbs passed around the stage for the bulk of the performance are extremely sharp and funny (if politically incorrect in the extreme). Taken as a comedy album with some stirring musical moments, this disc is a gem for those who revere the Rat Pack, as they are captured at the peak of their powers and popularity, exhuding hipness from every pore. LIVE AT THE SANDS is a bona fide cultural artifact documenting one generation's apex of cool.