Dean Martin - Capitol Collectors Series (1989)

This was one instance where the Capitol Collector's series got it right on target. Released in 1989, this 20-song collection is the best and most reasonably priced collection of Dean Martin's hits that one can buy, covering his chart career from his 1948 single "That Certain Party," co-authored by and featuring Jerry Lewis, to 1960 and his work in connection with the movie Oceans Eleven. In that time, Martin moved from being the singing straight man in an up-and-coming comedy act into the orbit of Frank Sinatra at the heart of the entertainment world and racked up over a dozen major chart hits. He had successful singles after that, principally in association with Reprise Records, but was mostly known as a television personality from the mid-'60s onward. The dozen years here represent Martin at his most musically ambitious and focused, and also a time when he was breaking new ground in music -- "Memories Are Made of This," for example, which he cut with Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders (who wrote the song), was a refreshing folk-inspired pop hit in 1955/1956. This disc has all of the essentials, superb sound, and, as a bonus, the first stereo appearance of his 1960 single "Ain't That a Kick in the Head," as well as thoroughly detailed notes.