Name	Eddy Arnold |
Background	solo_singer |
Birth name	Richard Edward Arnold |
Alias	The Tennessee Plowboy |
Born	May 15, 1918 |
Died	May 08, 2008 |
Origin	Henderson, Tennessee, USA |
Instrument	guitar, banjo
Genre	country music, gospel music, pop music |
Occupation	singer, songwriter, TV host, actor
Years active	1937 –1999 |
Label	RCA Records (1944–1970s; 1976–2008) MGM Records (1970s–1976)|
Associated acts	|
Url
Current members	|
Past members	|
Notable instruments	|

Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918–May 8, 2008), known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He created the Nashville sound in the late 1950s, and had 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more than 85 million records. Eddy Arnold transcended different musical tastes in country. He served as a role model for future musicians with both his music and his scrupulously moral personal life. A member of the Grand Ole Opry (from 1943) and the Country Music Hall of Fame (since 1966), Arnold ranked 22nd on Country Music Television's 2003 list of "The 40 Greatest Men of Country Music."

Biography

Early years

Arnold was born on May 15, 1918 on a farm near Henderson, Tennessee. His father, a sharecropper, played the fiddle, while his mother played guitar. As a boy Arnold helped on the farm, which later gained him his nickname—the Tennessee Plowboy. Arnold attended Pinson High School in Pinson, Tennessee, where he played guitar at school functions and events. He dropped out before graduation to help with the farm work, but continued performing, often arriving on a mule with his guitar hung on his back. Arnold also worked part time as an assistant at a mortuary.

In 1934, at age 16, Arnold made his debut on WTJS-AM in Jackson, Tennessee and landed a job there in 1937. He performed at local night clubs and had a permanent spot on the station. In 1938, he was hired at WMPS-AM in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was one of its most popular performers. He soon left for KWK-AM in St. Louis, Missouri, followed by a brief stint at WHAS-AM in Louisville, Kentucky.

He appeared on WSM-AM on the Grand Ole Opry in 1943 as a solo artist., but the followup, "Each Minute Seems a Million Years", reached No. 5 on the country charts in 1945.

In 1946, Arnold scored his first major hit with "That's How Much I Love You". In 1948, he had five hits on the charts simultaneously. That year he had nine songs reach the top 10; five of these reached No. 1 and held the top spot for 40 of the year's 52 weeks. Under Parker's management, Arnold continued to dominate, with 13 of the top 20 country music songs of 1947–1948. Recorded radio shows widened Arnold’s popularity, as did the CBS Radio series Hometown Reunion with the Duke of Paducah. Arnold left the Opry in 1948, and his Hometown Reunion briefly aired in head-to-head competition with the Opry on Saturday nights. In 1949 and 1950, he appeared in the Columbia films Feudin’ Rhythm and Hoedown.

Arnold moved to television in the early 1950s, hosting The Eddy Arnold Show. The summer program aired successively on all three television networks, replacing the Perry Como and Dinah Shore shows. He also appeared as a guest and a guest host on the ABC-TV show Ozark Jubilee from 1955–60. Arnold starred in the syndicated Eddy Arnold Time from 1955 to 1957. From 1960 to 1961, he hosted NBC-TV's Today on the Farm.

Second career: the Nashville sound

During the 1950s, the most popular music was rock and roll, which caused a drop in Arnold's record sales, though he and RCA singer Jim Reeves reached a wider audience with pop-sounding string-laced arrangements. In 1955, Arnold upset many in the country music establishment by recording with the Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra in New York. The pop-oriented arrangements of "The Cattle Call" and "The Richest Man (in the World)", however, helped to expand his appeal beyond its country base. This sound, created by Reeves and Arnold, became known as the Nashville sound.

Arnold embarked on a second career that brought his music to a more diverse audience. In 1965, he had one of his biggest hits with "Make the World Go Away". With the Anita Kerr Singers as backup and accompanied by pianist Floyd Cramer, Arnold's rendition became an international hit. The following year Arnold was voted the first-ever awarded Country Music Association's Entertainer Of The Year. Two years later, Arnold released an autobiography named It's A Long Way From Chester County.

Having been with RCA Records since his debut in 1944, Arnold left the label in the mid-1970s for MGM Records, where he recorded four albums, which included several top 40 hits. He returned to RCA Records in 1976. By 1992, he had sold nearly 85 million records, and had a total of 145 weeks of No. 1 songs, more than any other singer. That same year, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences inducted the recording of "Make The World Go Away" into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In 2005, Arnold received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, and later that year, released an album with RCA Records called After All These Years.

Eddy Arnold died of natural causes at 5:00 a.m. CT on May 8, 2008 in a nursing home in Nashville, exactly one week before his 90th birthday. His wife of 66 years, Sally Gayhart Arnold, had preceded him in death by two months. They were survived by two children, two grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

On May 31, 2008, RCA Records released as a single "To Life", a song from the album After All These Years. It debuted at No. 49 on the Hot Country Songs charts, Arnold's first entry in 25 years and the recording by the oldest person to chart in Billboard. It set the record for the longest span between a first chart single and a last: 62 years and 11 months ("Each Minute Seems Like a Million Years" debuted on June 30, 1945), and extended Arnold's career chart history to seven decades.

Eddy Arnold gained many fans throughout his career. They included people as diverse as Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Jim Reeves.

Discography

References

External links

Eddy Arnold tribute website

The Times of London obituary

Eddy Arnold at the Country Music Hall of Fame

Find a Grave Memorial

Category:1918 births Category:2008 deaths Category:American country singers Category:American radio personalities Category:American television personalities Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:RCA Victor artists Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:People from Chester County, Tennessee

Name	Lynn Anderson
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Lynn Rene Anderson
Born	September 26, 1947
Origin	Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Country Pop
Occupation	Singer, Equestrian
Years active	1966–present
Label	Chart Columbia Permian MCA Mercury
Associated acts	Liz Anderson, Glenn Sutton, Mentor Williams, Jerry Lane, Ed Bruce, Gary Morris
Url	The Lynn Anderson Show

Lynn Rene Anderson (born September 26, 1947 in Grand Forks, North Dakota) is an American country music singer and equestrian, best known for her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most popular and successful female country singers of the 1970s. She has scored eleven #1, eighteen Top 10, and over fifty Top 40 hits. She was the first female country artist to win an American Music Award in 1974, as well as the first to headline and sellout Madison Square Garden that same year. Anderson was named Billboard's "Artist of the Decade" (1970-1980).

Anderson debuted in 1966, at the age of 19, and had her first major hit with "Ride, Ride, Ride". After a series of Top 10 hit singles on the country charts during the later half of the 1960s, Anderson went on to sign with Columbia Records in 1970. Under Columbia, she had her most successful string of hits. Her signature song, "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden", was and remains one of the most successful country crossover hits of all time. The song even made it to #3 on the Billboard Pop Chart and was later ranked #83 on CMT's "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music History".

Early life

Anderson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota and raised in Fair Oaks, California. She is the daughter of country music songwriters Casey and Liz Anderson.

Anderson became interested in singing at the young age of six , but she had her first success in the horse show arena in and around California, where she would eventually win a total of 700 trophies, including the "California Horse Show Queen" title in 1966. Into her teens, she performed regularly on the local television program Country Caravan. The single peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Chart and also peaked at #3 on the Billboard Pop Chart, and would go on to become her signature song. and in Germany it peaked at #1 and stayed there for four weeks. The album, Rose Garden was released in 1971, and was also successful, receiving a "Gold" certification by the RIAA, eventually becoming certified "Platinum." Anderson won the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" Award and the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" Award in 1970 and 1971. In addition, she won a Grammy Award.

Anderson would never land another single on the Billboard Top 40 Pop Chart, although she had her biggest success on the country charts during this period.

Anderson's success slowed down toward the end of the '70s.

In 2000, Tennessee governor Don Sundquist made June 15 "Lynn Anderson Day" throughout the state. Anderson produced a TNN special, "American Country Cowboys," which helped handicapped groups also during this time. In 2005, she performed on the Grand Ole Opry with Country singer, Martina McBride, performing a duet version of "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden".

In June 2007, she performed as part of the CMA's 2007 Music Festival in Nashville. She performed an outdoor concert at the Riverfront Park area, which also included concerts by Aaron Tippin and Jason Michael Carroll. At the festival, Anderson duetted with songwriter and fiance Mentor Williams on his composition recorded by Dobie Gray and later Uncle Kracker, "Drift Away".

In April 2009, she was part of the concert line-up at the annual Stagecoach Festival in Palm Springs, which also included concerts by Charlie Daniels, Kevin Costner, and Reba McEntire. Lynn Anderson remains a popular concert attraction, regularly headlining major casinos and performing arts centers. Throughout 2010, she performed a series of concerts backed by the Metropole Symphony Orchestra.

Equestrian career

Outside of her music career, Anderson has also maintained an equestrian horse racing career since the 1960s. As a horsewoman, she has won 16 national championships, eight world championships and several celebrity championships.

Her most recent championships include the National Chevy Truck Cutting Horse Champion in 1999, the American U.S. Open Invitational Champion in 2000,and the National Cutting Horse Association Champion in 1999.

On May 3, 2006, Anderson was arrested on a second Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol charge following a minor traffic accident near Espanola, New Mexico. According to police, Anderson failed a sobriety test and refused to take a breathalyzer test after her car hit the back of another car. No one was injured in the collision. Anderson was later released on bond.

Awards & honors

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Award Program ! Award |- | 1967 | rowspan="2"| Academy of Country Music Award | rowspan="2"| Top Female Vocalist |- | 1970 |- | rowspan="2"| 1971 | Grammy Award | Best Female Country Vocal Performance; "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden" |- | Country Music Association Award | Female Vocalist of the Year |- | 1974 | American Music Award | Favorite Female Country Artist |- | rowspan="2"| 1980 | Record World | rowspan="2"| Artist of the Decade; 1970 – 1980 |- | Billboard |- | 1999 | American Country Music Association Hall of Fame | Inductee |- | 2002 | CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music | Ranking – #29 |- | rowspan="4"| 2007 | rowspan="4"| Academy of Western Artists | Best Western Song |- | Best Western Album; Cowgirl |- | Best Western Swing Album; Cowgirl |- | Best Female Vocalist |}

Discography

References

Source

Bufwack, Mary A. (1998). "Lynn Anderson". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury (editor); New York: Oxford University Press, page 14.

External links

Lynn Anderson official website: The Lynn Anderson Show

Category:1947 births Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American country singers Category:American female singers Category:American television actors Category:American jockeys Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Musicians from California Category:People from Sacramento County, California Category:People from New Mexico Category:People from Grand Forks, North Dakota Category:American musicians of Norwegian descent Category:American sportspeople of Norwegian descent

Name	Hank Garland
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Walter Louis Garland
Alias	Hank Garland
Born	November 11, 1930 Cowpens, South Carolina
Died	December 27, 2004 Orange Park, Florida
Instrument	guitar
Occupation	musician
Years active	1946–1961
Associated acts	Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, others

Walter Louis Garland (November 11, 1930 – December 27, 2004), better known as Hank Garland, was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and many others.

Biography

Born in Cowpens, South Carolina, Garland began playing the guitar at the age of 6. He appeared on local radio shows at 12 and was discovered at 14 at a South Carolina record store. He moved to Nashville at age 16, staying in Ma Upchurch's boarding house, where he roomed with upright bassist Bob Moore and fiddler Dale Potter.

At age 19, Garland recorded his million-selling hit "Sugarfoot Rag", although some attribute the song to Bernie B. Smith, Jr., published two years earlier by M.M. Cole/BMI as "Bernie's Reel". An instrumental version was the opening and closing theme for ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee from 1955–1960. Garland appeared on the Jubilee with Grady Martin's band, and on Eddy Arnold's network and syndicated television shows.

He is best known for his work on Elvis Presley's recordings from 1957 to 1961 which produced such rock hits as "Little Sister", "I Need Your Love Tonight" and "A Big Hunk O' Love". However, Garland also worked with many country music as well as rock 'n roll stars of the late 1950s and early 1960s including Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Mel Tillis, Marty Robbins, the Everly Brothers, Boots Randolph, Roy Orbison and Conway Twitty. He also played with jazz artists such as George Shearing and Charlie Parker in New York and went on to record Jazz Winds From a New Direction, showcasing his evolving talent.

At the request of Gibson Guitar company president, Ted McCarty, Garland and fellow guitarist Billy Byrd strongly influenced the design of the Byrdland guitar (seen in the photograph).

In September 1961, he was playing for the soundtrack of Presley's movie, Follow That Dream when a car accident left Garland in a coma that lasted for a week. With the help of his wife, he re-learned how to walk, talk, and play the guitar though he never recovered sufficiently to return to the studios. It was believed electroconvulsive therapy, prescribed by his doctors, may have caused more damage to his brain, but little evidence exists to support this theory. Garland's brother, Billy, claimed the crash was actually an attempted murder by someone in the Nashville music scene, but there is no evidence of that. Garland was widely respected by his peers and Nashville producers such as Chet Atkins, Don Law and Owen Bradley.

Garland died on December 27, 2004 of a staph infection in Orange Park, Florida. He is survived by two daughters, Cheryl and Debra.

His life and times was the subject of the mostly fictional independent film Crazy.

Discography

After the Riot at Newport (with The Nashville All-Stars) (1960)

Velvet Guitar (1960)

Jazz Winds From a New Direction (1961)

The Unforgettable Guitar of Hank Garland (1962)

Holiday for the Harp (with the Daphne Hellman Quartet)

See also

The Nashville A-Team

Notes

References

Duchossior, Andre. Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years. Hal Leonard Corp. 1998 ISBN 0-7935-9210-0

Kienzle, Rich (1998). "Hank Garland". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 194–5.

Word, Ron "Obit-Garland" (December 28, 2004), The Associated Press

A-Team Musicians

Official Web site

External links

Hank Garland biography and interview

Category:1930 births Category:2004 deaths Category:American country guitarists Category:American jazz guitarists Category:American rock guitarists Category:American session musicians Category:People from Spartanburg County, South Carolina Category:Musicians from South Carolina Category:Deaths from staph infection Category:Infectious disease deaths in Florida

Name	Dean Martin
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Dino Paul Crocetti
Alias	Dean Martin The King of Cool Dino Dino Martini
Born	June 07, 1917 Steubenville, Ohio, United States
Died	December 25, 1995 Beverly Hills, California, United States
Genre	Big band, pop, country
Years active	1939-1995 (His Death)
Occupation	Actor, comedian, singer, producer
Label	Capitol, Reprise

Dean Martin (June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, film actor and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Mambo Italiano", "Sway", "Volare" and smash hit "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?". Nicknamed the "King of Cool", he was one of the members of the "Rat Pack" and a major star in four areas of show business: concert stage/night clubs, recordings, motion pictures, and television.

Early life

Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio, to Italian parents, Gaetano and Angela Crocetti (née Barra). His father was from Abruzzo, Italy, and his mother was an Italian of part Neapolitan and part Sicilian ancestry. Martin was the younger of two sons. His brother was named Bill. Martin spoke only Italian until he started school. He attended Grant Elementary School in Steubenville, and took up the drums as a hobby as a teenager. He was the target of much ridicule for his broken English and ultimately dropped out of Steubenville High School in the 10th grade because he thought that he was smarter than his teachers. He delivered bootleg liquor, served as a speakeasy croupier, was a blackjack dealer, worked in a steel mill and boxed as welterweight. He grew up a neighbor to Jimmy the Greek.

At the age of 15, he was a boxer who billed himself as "Kid Crochet". His prizefighting years earned him a broken nose (later straightened), a scarred lip, and many sets of broken knuckles (a result of not being able to afford the tape used to wrap boxers' hands). Of his twelve bouts, he would later say "I won all but eleven." For a time, he roomed with Sonny King, who, like Martin, was just starting in show business and had little money. It is said that Martin and King held bare-knuckle matches in their apartment, fighting until one of them was knocked out; people paid to watch.

Eventually, Martin gave up boxing. He worked as a roulette stickman and croupier in an illegal casino behind a tobacco shop where he had started as a stock boy. At the same time, he sang with local bands. Calling himself "Dino Martini" (after the then-famous Metropolitan Opera tenor, Nino Martini), he got his first break working for the Ernie McKay Orchestra. He sang in a crooning style influenced by Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), among others. In the early 1940s, he started singing for bandleader Sammy Watkins, who suggested he change his name to Dean Martin.

In October 1941, Martin married Elizabeth Anne McDonald. During their marriage (ended by divorce in 1949), they had four children. Martin worked for various bands throughout the early 1940s, mostly on looks and personality until he developed his own singing style. Martin famously flopped at the Riobamba, a high class nightclub in New York, when he succeeded Frank Sinatra in 1943, but it was the setting for their meeting.

Martin repeatedly sold 10 percent shares of his earnings for up front cash. He apparently did this so often that he found he had sold over 100 percent of his income. Such was his charm that most of his lenders forgave his debts and remained friends.

Drafted into the United States Army in 1944 during World War II, Martin served a year stationed in Akron, Ohio. He was then reclassified as 4-F (possibly because of a double hernia; Jerry Lewis referred to the surgery Martin needed for this in his autobiography) and was discharged.

By 1946, Martin was doing relatively well, but was still little more than an East Coast nightclub singer with a common style, similar to that of Bing Crosby. He drew audiences to the clubs he played, but he inspired none of the fanatic popularity enjoyed by Sinatra.

Mafia connections

A biography on Martin entitled Dean Martin: King of the Road by Michael Freedland alleged he had links to the Mafia early in his career. According to this book, Martin was given help with his singing career by the Chicago Outfit who owned saloons in the city, and later performed in shows hosted by these bosses when he was a star. The mob bosses were Tony ("Joe Batters") Accardo and Sam Giancana. Freedland suggests Martin felt little sympathy for the Mafia and did them small favors only if it was not inconvenient for him. While in Las Vegas Martin was friendly with many mobsters, though not in business with them. Many Vegas entertainers knew the wiseguys and were cordial with them personally, without criminal involvement. Another book, The Animal in Hollywood by John L. Smith, depicted Martin's longtime friendship with Mafia mobsters "Handsome Johnny" Roselli and Anthony ("The Animal") Fiato. Smith suggests that Fiato did Martin many favors, such as getting back money from two swindlers who had cheated Martin's ex-wife Betty out of thousands of dollars of her alimony.

Teaming with Jerry Lewis

Martin attracted the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures, but a Hollywood contract was not forthcoming. He seemed destined to remain on the nightclub circuit until he met a comic named Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York, where both men were performing. Martin and Lewis formed a fast friendship which led to their participation in each other's acts and the ultimate formation of a music-comedy team. More than a few people dubbed them "The Organ Grinder and the Monkey".

Martin and Lewis's official debut together occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24, 1946, and they were not well received. The owner, Skinny D'Amato, warned them that if they did not come up with a better act for their second show later that night, they would be fired. Huddling together in the alley behind the club, Lewis and Martin agreed to "go for broke", to throw out the pre-scripted gags and to improvise. Martin sang and Lewis came out dressed as a busboy, dropping plates and making a shambles of both Martin's performance and the club's sense of decorum until Lewis was chased from the room as Martin pelted him with breadrolls. They did slapstick, reeled off old vaudeville jokes, and did whatever else popped into their heads at the moment. This time, the audience doubled over in laughter. This success led to a series of well-paying engagements on the Eastern seaboard, culminating in a triumphant run at New York's Copacabana. Patrons were convulsed by the act, which consisted primarily of Lewis interrupting and heckling Martin while he was trying to sing, and ultimately the two of them chasing each other around the stage and having as much fun as possible. The secret, both said, is that they essentially ignored the audience and played to one another.

The team made its TV debut on the very first broadcast of CBS-TV network's Toast of the Town Program (later called the Ed Sullivan Show) with Ed Sullivan and Rogers & Hammerstein appearing on this same inaugural telecast of June 20, 1948 (photo archive and IMDB documentation confirmed). A radio series commenced in 1949, the same year Martin and Lewis were signed by Paramount producer Hal B. Wallis as comedy relief for the movie My Friend Irma.

Martin liked California which, because of its earth tremors, had few tall buildings. Suffering as he did from claustrophobia, Martin almost never used elevators, and climbing stairs in Manhattan's skyscrapers was not his idea of fun.

Their agent, Abby Greshler, negotiated for them one of Hollywood's best deals: although they received only a modest $75,000 between them for their films with Wallis, Martin and Lewis were free to do one outside film a year, which they would co-produce through their own York Productions. They also had complete control of their club, record, radio and television appearances, and it was through these endeavors that they earned millions of dollars.

Martin and Lewis were the hottest act in America during the early 1950s, but the pace and the pressure took its toll. Most critics underestimated Martin's contribution to the team, as he had the thankless job of the straight man, and his singing had yet to develop into the unique style of his later years. Critics praised Lewis, and while they admitted that Martin was the best partner he could have, most claimed Lewis was the real talent and could succeed with anyone. However, Lewis always praised his partner, and while he appreciated the attention he was getting, he has always said the act would never have worked without Martin. In Dean & Me, he calls Martin one of the great comic geniuses of all time. But the harsh comments from the critics, as well as frustration with the formulaic similarity of Martin & Lewis movies, which producer Hal Wallis stubbornly refused to change, led to Martin's dissatisfaction. He put less enthusiasm into the work, leading to escalating arguments with Lewis. They finally could not work together, especially after Martin told his partner he was "nothing to me but a dollar sign". The act broke up in 1956, 10 years to the day from the first official teaming.

Splitting up their partnership was not easy. It took months for lawyers to work out the details of terminating many of their club bookings, their television contracts, and the dissolution of York Productions. There was intense public pressure for them to stay together.

Lewis had no trouble maintaining his film popularity alone, but Martin, unfairly regarded by much of the public and the motion picture industry as something of a spare tire, found the going hard. His first solo film, Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), was a box office failure. He was still popular as a singer, but with rock and roll surging to the fore, the era of the pop crooner was waning. It looked like Martin's fate was to be limited to nightclubs and to be remembered as Lewis's former partner.

The CBS film, Martin and Lewis, a made-for-TV movie about the famous comedy duo, starred Jeremy Northam as Martin, and Sean Hayes as Lewis. It depicted the years from 1946-1956.

Solo career

Never totally comfortable in films, Martin wanted to be known as a real actor. Though offered a fraction of his former salary to co-star in a war drama, The Young Lions (1957), he was ecstatic to receive the part because it would be a dramatic showcase with the two most intriguing young actors of the period and he could learn from Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Tony Randall already had the part, but talent agency MCA realized that with this movie, Martin would become a triple threat: they could make money from his work in night clubs, movies, and records. Martin replaced Randall and the film turned out to be the beginning of Martin's spectacular comeback. Success would continue as Martin starred alongside Frank Sinatra for the first time in a highly acclaimed Vincente Minnelli drama, Some Came Running (1958). By the mid '60s, Martin was a top movie, recording, and nightclub star, while Lewis' film career declined. Martin was acclaimed for his performance as Dude in Rio Bravo (1959), directed by Howard Hawks and also starring John Wayne and singer Ricky Nelson. He teamed up again with Wayne in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), somewhat unconvincingly cast as brothers.

In 1960, Martin was cast in the motion picture version of the Judy Holliday hit stage play Bells Are Ringing. Martin played a satiric variation of his own womanizing persona as Vegas singer "Dino" in Billy Wilder's comedy Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) with Kim Novak, and he was not above poking fun at his image in films such as the Matt Helm spy spoofs of the 1960s, in which he was a co-producer.

As a singer, Martin copied the styles of Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), Bing Crosby, and Perry Como until he developed his own and could hold his own in duets with Sinatra and Crosby. Like Sinatra, he could not read music, but he recorded more than 100 albums and 600 songs. His signature tune, "Everybody Loves Somebody", knocked The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" out of the number-one spot in the United States in 1964. This was followed by the similarly-styled "The Door is Still Open to My Heart", which reached number six later that year. Elvis Presley was said to have been influenced by Martin, and patterned "Love Me Tender" after his style. Martin, like Elvis, was influenced by country music. By 1965, some of Martin's albums, such as Dean "Tex" Martin, The Hit Sound Of Dean Martin, Welcome To My World and Gentle On My Mind were composed of country and western songs made famous by artists like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens. Martin hosted country performers on his TV show and was named "Man Of the Year" by the Country Music Association in 1966. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", a song Martin performed in Ocean's Eleven that never became a hit at the time, has enjoyed a spectacular revival in the media and pop culture (which can be traced to its usage in 1993's A Bronx Tale and 1997's Fools Rush In).

For three decades, Martin was among the most popular acts in Las Vegas. Martin sang and was one of the smoothest comics in the business, benefiting from the decade of raucous comedy with Lewis. Martin's daughter, Gail, also sang in Vegas and on his TV show, co-hosting his summer replacement series on NBC. Though often thought of as a ladies' man, Martin spent a lot of time with his family; as second wife Jeanne put it, prior to the couple's divorce, "He was home every night for dinner."

The Rat Pack

As Martin's solo career grew, he and Frank Sinatra became close friends. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Martin and Sinatra, along with friends Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis, Jr. formed the legendary Rat Pack, so called by the public after an earlier group of social friends, the Holmby Hills Rat Pack centered on Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, of which Sinatra had been a member.

The Martin-Sinatra-Davis-Lawford-Bishop group referred to themselves as "The Summit" or "The Clan" and never as "The Rat Pack", although this has remained their identity in the popular imagination. The men made films together, formed an important part of the Hollywood social scene in those years, and were politically influential (through Lawford's marriage to Patricia Kennedy, sister of President John F. Kennedy).

The Rat Pack were legendary for their Las Vegas performances. For example, the marquee at the Sands Hotel might read DEAN MARTIN---MAYBE FRANK---MAYBE SAMMY. Las Vegas rooms were at a premium when the Rat Pack would appear, with many visitors sleeping in hotel lobbies or cars to get a chance to see the three men together. Their act (always in tuxedo) consisted of each singing individual numbers, duets and trios, along with much seemingly improvised slapstick and chatter. In the socially-charged 1960s, their jokes revolved around adult themes, such as Sinatra's infamous womanizing and Martin's legendary drinking, as well as many at the expense of Davis's race and religion. Davis famously practiced Judaism and used Yiddish phrases onstage, eliciting much merriment from both his stage-mates and his audiences. It was all good-natured male bonding, never vicious, rarely foul-mouthed, and the three had great respect for each other. The Rat Pack was largely responsible for the integration of Las Vegas. Sinatra and Martin steadfastly refused to appear anywhere that barred Davis, forcing the casinos to open their doors to African-American entertainers and patrons, and to drop restrictive covenants against Jews.

Posthumously, the Rat Pack has experienced a popular revival, inspiring the George Clooney/Brad Pitt "Ocean's" trilogy. An HBO film, The Rat Pack, starred Joe Mantegna as Martin, Ray Liotta as Sinatra and Don Cheadle as Davis. It depicted their contribution to JFK's election in 1960.

The 1960s to 1980s

In 1965, Martin launched his weekly NBC comedy-variety series, The Dean Martin Show, which exploited his public image as a lazy, carefree boozer. There he perfected his famous laid-back persona of the half-drunk crooner suavely hitting on beautiful women with hilarious remarks that would get anyone else slapped, and making snappy if slurred remarks about fellow celebrities during his famous roasts. During an interview he stated, and this may have been tongue-in-cheek, that he had someone record them on cassette tape so he could listen to them; this is evidenced by his comments to this effect on the British TV documentary 'Wine, Women and Song' which was aired in 1983.

The TV show was a success. Martin prided himself on memorizing whole scripts – not merely his own lines. He disliked rehearsing because he firmly believed his best performances were his first. The show's loose format prompted quick-witted improvisation from Martin and the cast. On occasion, he made remarks in Italian, some mild obscenities that brought angry mail from offended, Italian-speaking viewers. This prompted a battle between Martin and NBC censors, who insisted on more scrutiny of the show's content. The show was often in the Top Ten. Martin, deeply appreciative of the efforts of the show's producer, his friend Greg Garrison, later made a handshake deal giving Garrison, a pioneer TV producer in the 1950s, 50% ownership of the show. However, the validity of that ownership is currently the subject of a lawsuit brought by NBC Universal.

Despite Martin's reputation as a heavy drinker — a reputation perpetuated via his vanity license plates reading 'DRUNKY' — he was remarkably self-disciplined. He was often the first to call it a night, and when not on tour or on a film location liked to go home to see his wife and children. Phyllis Diller recently confirmed that Martin was indeed drinking alcohol onstage and not apple juice. She also commented that he while not being drunk was not really sober either but had very strict rules when it came to performances. He borrowed the lovable-drunk shtick from Joe E. Lewis, but his convincing portrayals of heavy boozers in Some Came Running and Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo led to unsubstantiated claims of alcoholism. More often than not, Martin's idea of a good time was playing golf or watching TV, particularly westerns – not staying with Rat Pack friends Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. into the early hours of the morning.

Martin starred in and co-produced a series of four Matt Helm superspy comedy adventures. A fifth, The Ravagers, was planned starring Sharon Tate and Martin in a dual role, one as a serial killer, but due to the murder of Tate and the decline of the spy genre the film was never made.

By the early 1970s, The Dean Martin Show was still earning solid ratings, and although he was no longer a Top 40 hitmaker, his record albums continued to sell steadily. His name on a marquee could guarantee casinos and nightclubs a standing-room-only crowd. He found a way to make his passion for golf profitable by offering his own signature line of golf balls. Shrewd investments had greatly increased Martin's personal wealth; at the time of his death, Martin was reportedly the single largest minority shareholder of RCA stock. Martin even managed to cure himself of his claustrophobia by reportedly locking himself in the elevator of a tall building and riding up and down for hours until he was no longer panic-stricken.

Martin retreated from show business. The final (1973–74) season of his variety show would be retooled into one of celebrity roasts, requiring less of Martin's involvement. After the show's cancellation, NBC continued to air the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast format in a series of TV specials through 1984. In those 11 years, Martin and his panel of pals successfully ridiculed and made fun of these legendary stars in this order: Ronald Reagan, Hugh Hefner, Ed McMahon, William Conrad, Kirk Douglas, Bette Davis, Barry Goldwater, Johnny Carson, Wilt Chamberlain, Hubert Humphrey, Carroll O'Connor, Monty Hall, Jack Klugman & Tony Randall, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Leo Durocher, Truman Capote, Don Rickles, Ralph Nader, Jack Benny, Redd Foxx, Bobby Riggs, George Washington, Dan Rowan & Dick Martin, Hank Aaron, Joe Namath, Bob Hope, Telly Savalas, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis Jr, Michael Landon, Evel Knievel, Valerie Harper, Muhammad Ali, Dean Martin, Dennis Weaver, Joe Garagiola, Danny Thomas, Angie Dickinson, Gabe Kaplan, Ted Knight, Peter Marshall, Dan Haggerty, Frank Sinatra, Jack Klugman, Jimmy Stewart, George Burns, Betty White, Suzanne Somers, Joan Collins, and Mr T. For nearly a decade, Martin had recorded as many as four albums a year for Reprise Records. That stopped in November 1974, when Martin recorded his final Reprise album - Once In A While, released in 1978. His last recording sessions were for Warner Brothers Records. An album titled The Nashville Sessions was released in 1983, from which he had a hit with "(I Think That I Just Wrote) My First Country Song", which was recorded with Conway Twitty and made a respectable showing on the country charts. A followup single "L.A. Is My Home" / "Drinking Champagne" came in 1985. The 1975 film Mr. Ricco marked Martin's final starring role, and Martin limited his live performances to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Martin seemed to suffer a mid-life crisis. In 1972, he filed for divorce from his second wife, Jeanne. A week later, his business partnership with the Riviera was dissolved amid reports of the casino's refusal to agree to Martin's request to perform only once a night. He was quickly snapped up by the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and signed a three-picture deal with MGM Studios. Less than a month after his second marriage had been legally dissolved, Martin married 26-year-old Catherine Hawn on April 25, 1973. Hawn had been the receptionist at the chic Gene Shacrove hair salon in Beverly Hills. They divorced November 10, 1976. He was also briefly engaged to Gail Renshaw, Miss World-U.S.A. 1969.

Eventually, Martin reconciled with Jeanne, though they never remarried. He also made a public reconciliation with Jerry Lewis on Lewis' Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in 1976. Frank Sinatra shocked Lewis and the world by bringing Martin out on stage. As Martin and Lewis embraced, the audience erupted in cheers and the phone banks lit up, resulting in one of the telethon's most profitable years. Lewis reported the event was one of the three most memorable of his life. Lewis brought down the house when he quipped, "So, you working?" Martin, playing drunk, replied that he was "at the Meggum" – this reference to the MGM Grand Hotel convulsed Lewis . This, along with the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin a few years later, helped to bring the two men together. They maintained a quiet friendship but only performed together again once, in 1989, on Martin's 72nd birthday.

Later years

On December 1, 1983 while gambling at the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City, Martin and Sinatra intimidated the dealer and several employees into breaking New Jersey laws by making the dealer deal the cards by hand instead of by a shoe, as is required by law. Although Sinatra and Martin were implicated as the cause of the violation, neither was fined by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The Golden Nugget, on the other hand, received a $25,000 fine (which Sinatra paid, stating that it was his responsibility as he and Martin were the cause of the fine) and four employees including the dealer, a supervisor and pit boss were suspended from their jobs without pay.

Martin returned to films briefly with appearances in the two star-laden yet critically panned Cannonball Run movies,. He also had a minor hit single with "Since I Met You Baby" and made his first music video, which appeared on MTV. The video was created by Martin's youngest son, Ricci.

On December 8, 1989, Martin attended Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th Anniversary Special.

Decline and death

On March 21, 1987, Martin's son Dean Paul (formerly Dino of the '60s "teeny-bopper" rock group Dino, Desi & Billy) was killed when his F-4 Phantom II jet fighter crashed while flying with the California Air National Guard. A much-touted tour with Davis and Sinatra in 1988 sputtered. On one occasion, he infuriated Sinatra when he turned to him and muttered "Frank, what the hell are we doing up here?" Martin, who always responded best to a club audience, felt lost in the huge stadiums they were performing in (at Sinatra's insistence), and he was not the least bit interested in drinking until dawn after their performances. His final Vegas shows were at the Bally's Hotel in 1990. It was there he had his final reunion with Jerry Lewis on his 72nd birthday. Martin's last two TV appearances both involved tributes to his former Rat Pack members. In 1990, he joined many stars of the entertainment industry in Sammy Davis, Jr's 60th anniversary celebration, which aired only a few weeks before Davis died from throat cancer. In December 1990, he congratulated Frank Sinatra on his 75th birthday special. By Early 1995, Martin had officially retired from performing.

Martin, a life-long smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center on 16 September 1993. He died of acute respiratory failure resulting from emphysema at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas morning 1995, at the age of 78. The lights of the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor.

Tributes

In 1996, Ohio Rte. 7, through Steubenville, was re-dedicated as "Dean Martin Boulevard." Road signs bearing an Al Hirschfeld caricature of Martin's likeness officially designate the stretch, along with a state historical marker, in the Gazebo Park at Route 7 and North Fourth Street.

An annual "Dean Martin Festival" celebration is held in Steubenville. Impersonators, friends and family of Martin, and various entertainers, many of Italian ancestry, appear.

In 2005, Las Vegas renamed Industrial Road as Dean Martin Drive. A similarly named street was dedicated in 2008 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Martin's family was presented a gold record in 2004 for Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, his fastest-selling album ever, which also hit the iTunes Top 10. For the week ending December 23, 2006, the Dean Martin and Martina McBride duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" reached #7 on the R&R; AC chart. It also went to #36 on the R&R; Country chart - the last time Martin had a song this high in the charts was in 1965, with the song "I Will", which reached #10 on the Pop chart.

An album of duets, Forever Cool, was released by Capitol/EMI in 2007. It features Martin's voice with Kevin Spacey, Shelby Lynne, Joss Stone, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Robbie Williams, McBride and others.

His footprints were immortalized at Grauman's Chinese Theater in 1964. Martin has not one but three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: One at 6519 Hollywood Blvd. (for movies), one at 1817 Vine (for recordings) and one at 6651 Hollywood Boulevard (for television).

In February 2009, Martin was honored with a posthumous Grammy award for Lifetime Achievement. Four of his surviving children, Gail, Deana, Ricci and Gina, were on hand to accept on his behalf. In 2009, Martin was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Martin was married three times. Martin's first wife, Betty McDonald, tried by all accounts to be a good wife and mother to their four children, but her efforts were ultimately undone by her alcoholism. It remains a matter of speculation whether her alcoholism led to the failure of the marriage, or whether Martin's infidelities led to Betty's alcoholism. Subsequent to their divorce, Martin gained custody of their children; Betty lived out her life in quiet obscurity in San Francisco. Their children were Stephen Craig (born June 29, 1942), Claudia Dean (March 16, 1944 - 2001 from breast cancer), Barbara Gail (born April 11, 1945) and Deana (Dina) (born August 19, 1948).

Martin's second wife was Jeanne Biegger. A stunning blonde, Jeanne could sometimes be spotted in Martin's audience while he was still married to Betty. Their marriage lasted twenty-four years (1949–1973) and produced three children. Their children were Dean Paul (November 17, 1951 - March 21, 1987; plane crash), Ricci James (born September 20, 1953) and Gina Caroline (born December 20, 1956).

Martin's third marriage, to Catherine Hawn, lasted three years. One of Martin's managers had spotted her at the reception desk of a hair salon on Rodeo Drive, then arranged a meeting. Martin adopted Hawn's daughter, Sasha, but their marriage also failed. Martin initiated divorce proceedings. Martin's uncle was Leonard Barr, who appeared in several of his shows.

Popular culture

A number of Dean Martin songs have constantly been featured across popular culture for decades. Hit songs such as That's Amore, Ain't That A Kick in the Head,Sway and Martin's signature song Everybody Loves Somebody, (and many more), have been used in films (such as Goodfellas, Casino, A Bronx Tale and Return to Me), television series (such as Friends, House MD, and American Dad!) and even video games (such as , The Godfather II, and Mafia II).

*Martin was portrayed by Joe Mantegna in an HBO movie about Sinatra and Martin titled The Rat Pack. Mantegna was nominated for both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the role.

In the movie Return to Me, two of his recordings are featured: Return to Me and Good Morning, Life.

In the movie A Bronx Tale, Martin's song, Ain't That A Kick In The Head?, was featured during the scene when C was playing dice.

British actor Jeremy Northam portrayed the entertainer in a made-for-TV movie called, Martin and Lewis, alongside Will & Grace's Sean Hayes as Jerry Lewis.

Danny Gans portrayed Martin in the miniseries, Sinatra

A compilation album called, Amore! debuted at Number One on Billboard magazine's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart in its February 21, 2009 issue.

In the pilot episode of White Collar Peter refers to Neal as "Dino" referencing the newly-found Sy Devore suits that Neal now wears - made famous by the 'Rat Pack.'

Martin is the subject of a slot machine, "Dean Martin's Wild Party", a video slot machine found in some casinos. The game features songs sung by Martin during the bonus game and the count-up of a player's winnings.

A Budweiser TV commercial that premiered during Super Bowl XLI featured Martin's "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?".

The 2010 Video Game, Fallout: New Vegas, features Martin's "Ain't that a Kick in the Head?" throughout the game. It can be listened to on the "New Vegas" radio channel and heard on the loud speakers when you enter the Vegas Strip. The first quest of the game is also named after the same song.

Discography

Filmography

Features: {|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |1946 |Film Vodvil: Art Mooney and Orchestra | |Short |- |1949 |My Friend Irma |Steve Laird | |- |rowspan=3|1950 |My Friend Irma Goes West |Steve Laird | |- |At War with the Army |1st Sgt. Vic Puccinelli | |- |Screen Snapshots: Thirtieth Anniversary Special | |Short |- |1951 |That's My Boy |Bill Baker | |- |rowspan=4|1952 |Sailor Beware |Al Crowthers | |- |Jumping Jacks |Corp. Chick Allen | |- |Road to Bali |Man in Lala's dream |Cameo (uncredited) |- |The Stooge |Bill Miller | |- |rowspan=3|1953 |Scared Stiff |Larry Todd | |- |The Caddy |Joe Anthony | |- |Money from Home |Herman 'Honey Talk' Nelson | |- |rowspan=2|1954 |Living It Up |Dr. Steve Harris | |- |3 Ring Circus |Peter 'Pete' Nelson | |- |rowspan=2|1955 |You're Never Too Young |Bob Miles | |- |Artists and Models |Rick Todd | |- |rowspan=3|1956 |Screen Snapshots: Hollywood, City of Stars | |Short |- |Pardners |Slim Mosely Jr. / Slim Mosely Sr. | |- |Hollywood or Bust |Steve Wiley | |- |1957 |Ten Thousand Bedrooms |Ray Hunter | |- |rowspan=2|1958 |The Young Lions |Michael Whiteacre | |- |Some Came Running |Bama Dillert (professional gambler) | |- |rowspan=2|1959 |Rio Bravo |Dude ('Borachón') | |- |Career |Maurice 'Maury' Novak | |- |rowspan=4|1960 |Who Was That Lady? |Michael Haney |Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- |Bells Are Ringing |Jeffrey Moss | |- |Ocean's Eleven |Sam Harmon | |- |Pepe | |Cameo |- |rowspan=2|1961 |All in a Night's Work |Tony Ryder | |- |Ada |Bo Gillis | |- |rowspan=4|1962 |Something's Got to Give |Nicholas 'Nick' Arden |(unfinished) |- |Sergeants 3 |Sgt. Chip Deal | |- |The Road to Hong Kong |The 'Grape' on plutonium |Cameo (uncredited) |- |Who's Got the Action? |Steve Flood | |- |rowspan=5|1963 |38-24-36 |Self | |- |Come Blow Your Horn |The Bum |(uncredited) |- |Toys in the Attic |Julian Berniers | |- |4 for Texas |Joe Jarrett | |- |Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? |Jason Steel | |- |rowspan=3|1964 |What a Way to Go! |Leonard 'Lennie' Crawley | |- |Robin and the 7 Hoods |Little John | |- |Kiss Me, Stupid |Dino | |- |rowspan=2|1965 |The Sons of Katie Elder |Tom Elder | |- |Marriage on the Rocks |Ernie Brewer | |- |rowspan=3|1966 |The Silencers |Matt Helm | |- |Texas Across the River |Sam Hollis | |- |Murderers' Row |Matt Helm | |- |rowspan=2|1967 |Rough Night in Jericho |Alex Flood | |- |The Ambushers |Matt Helm | |- |rowspan=4|1968 |How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life |David Sloane | |- |Bandolero! |Dee Bishop | |- |Rowan & Martin at the Movies | |Short |- |5 Card Stud |Van Morgan | |- |1969 |The Wrecking Crew |Matt Helm | |- |1970 |Airport |Capt. Vernon Demerest | |- |1971 |Something Big |Joe Baker | |- |1973 |Showdown |Billy Massey | |- |1975 |Mr. Ricco |Joe Ricco | |- |1981 |The Cannonball Run |Jamie Blake | |- |rowspan=2|1984 |Cannonball Run II |Jamie Blake | |- |Terror in the Aisles | |archival footage |}

References

Further reading

Arthur Marx. Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself): The story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, New York, NY: Hawthorn Books, 1974, ISBN 978-0801524301

Lewis, Jerry and James Kaplan. Dean & Me (A Love Story). Doubleday, New York, 2005. ISBN 0-7679-2086-4

Tosches, Nick. Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams. Delta Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1992 (1st edition). ISBN 0-385-33429-X

Smith, John L. The Animal in Hollywood: Anthony Fiato's Life in the Mafia. Barricade Books, New York, 1998. ISBN 1-56980-126-6

External links

Dean Martin at The Biography Channel

Cleveland.com: Homegrown Heroes: Dean Martin Timeline

Dean Works the room at the Sands

Jerry Lewis interview for the Archive of American Television

Dean Martin biography/discography on The Interlude Era site

Radio interview with Deana Martin WSLR

Dean Martin Roasts Johnny Carson

Dean Martin Roast Frank Sinatra

Dean Martin Roasts Don Rickles

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