Posted on 02/05/2009 7:24:31 PM PST by GOP_Lady
If this classy and great entertainer doesn't put a smile on your face ...
Smile along with him!
Good analysis. If you want to hear a guy who sings like young Frank — check out Steve Lippia. He is in his 40s and sounds like Frank in his big band prime era.
From what I have read, which is not a lot, Sinatra was not a very nice person while Dean was. Poor Dean was just destroyed when Dino died flying for the Air Force national guard. He was never the same.
Dean had some career. Movies, TV, nightclubs, singing and he was always well liked while Sinatra was not well liked by a lot of people. Jerry Lewis was also not that well lliked by many.
Wow, thanks so much for that. Made an otherwise dreary day full of sunshine!
Love that Dean!
mrs
Listen to Frank sing “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry.” You can probably find it on youtube. Frank locked up the best writers and arrangers while Dean got junk to sing.
Skip any Frank stuff after the 1950s.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sinatra+tears+out+to+dry&aq=f&oq=
The song where he mentions “I know how the lady in the harbor feels” meaning the Statute of Liberty.
Beautiful song and Frank’s voice is just incredible. A 40- something guy singing now named Steve Lippia does it almost as well as Frank. He sounds like Frank in his prime during the 1940s big band era. Great voice. Steve also sounds great as did Frank on “Night & Day.”
http://www.stevelippia.com/music-video/album/steve-lippia
Dean was a much nicer person who, from what I can tell, really loved his kids. Sinatra did have a lot of talent and worked at being a great singer. Dino made everything look effortless. I think if Dean worked at it he could have been a good actor.
Sinatra was really a generation before me, so the hat and scoobedy doo seemed very dated. They also talked about Sinatra being tough, but to me, he always seemed like the singer in the Godfather. He had friends that were tough, and hid behind them. "Don't cause me problems or someone else will beat you up." I'll check out some of the old Sinatra stuff, but I've already made one trek through Frankville, looking for what made him such a big hit, and couldn't figure it out then.
Dean was always my favorite Rat Packer by a mile.
Dean was always cool but he never took it too seriously so he was also very likeable. Connery was a bit arrogant.
I somewhat regret Dean taking the self parody a bit too far with the fake drunk routine. He was always cool.
Mine, too. :-)
Thanks for the tip on Steve Lippia. I just saw a clip of him on Youtube. That is just freaky. He sounds JUST like Sinatra.
To my ears he sounds like Frank in his Swingin’ Capitol Record days, not so much like the young crooner in the Dorsey band. Of course, that was just one clip! If he can do a true young Frank as well, that would just be mind blowing.
Isn’t he wild?!? He sounds just like Frank. The story is from a story I once read: Steve was from CT. He moved to Lake Worth, FL (near West Palm) and worked in the paving business. He recorded a demo over some kareoke tapes.
His dad found an old bandleader or orchestra guy for Frankie. The old goomba friend of Frank is driving in his Caddy and had never listened to the tape. He plays the tape and says “frank sounds really great but what lousy orchestra.” He realizes it is Steve Lippia.
Steve gets a band together to play a club in hollywood FL (just north of Miami). Three of Frankie’s old cronies show up for sort of an audition. The one guy said he closed his eyes and thought it was Frank. Well maybe a PR written story but still a good story.
Steve is great. Yeah the voice maybe a little older frankie than bobby soxer era but Steve does the 40’s big band arrangements. I am not sophisticated eneough to discern Frank in the 1940s versus say late 50s but it is a prime Frank voice not the hipstyer 70s or old Frank stuff.
I am going to buy Steve’s CD. He is trying to avoid being a Frank impersonator. The guy has some great pipes. Better than Harry Connick.
To me, Dean Martin is indeed classy, but not just because of his talent, but because of the way he handled his personal family life.
His marriage to his second wife Jeanne was pretty much over about ten years after they got married (in 1949). But rather than traumatize their children with a divorce, they agreed to stay together (under the same roof) for the sake of the children at least untill the children had grown up, were old enough to move out or have moved out.
So they continued to live together in the same house (though in separate bedrooms) and remained married to each other for another 14 years (I dont recall the exact year they finally officially separated, but they didnt get a divorce untill 1973)
I recommend two book about Dean by his own children:
That's Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin by Ricci Martin
Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes by Deana Martin
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