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Dean MartinDean Martin's Christmas music is satisfying in ways that his arguably more talented peers (including Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, and Johnny Mathis) did not manage to achieve. Why? Unlike those legendary crooners - who grew generally stuffy on their respective holiday platters - Dino got loose (pun intended). On two fine compilations, Making Spirits Bright (1998) and its subsequent upgrade, Christmas With Dino (2004), Martin sounds like he's having fun - more full of horny vigor (or spiked punch) than pious reflection on the season. Consequently, he captures the same sexy, silly, lubricious vibe that made him such a loveable cad onscreen.

Making Spirits Bright and Christmas With Dino compile seasonal recordings from 1953 to 1966, including rare singles and selections from two Christmas albums for two different labels: A Winter Romance (Capitol, 1959) and The Dean Martin Christmas Album (Reprise, 1966). A Winter Romance (repackaged in 1965 as Holiday Cheer) is far the better of the two - a typically suave, sexy Martin LP - though it's as much a concept album about winter as a traditional Christmas album. Rather than blathering on about Santa and Frosty, most of the songs revolve, literally, around romance in winter. Pay close attention to the lyrics of standout tracks like "Let It Snow," "Baby It's Cold Outside," and "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm." All have become celebrated Christmas standards, but Christmas is never mentioned. There is, on the other hand, plenty of sex.

Eventually, Rudolph pokes his red nose in, and Dean defers to a requisite cover of Bing Crosby's famous "White Christmas." But, A Winter Romance holds together remarkably well as a concept - something rare in those days when Christmas albums were typically slapdash collections of otherwise unrelated songs.

Dean MartinA Winter Romance has been reissued on CD twice (more counting imported versions). The first version - a 1994 reissue by Capitol - contains one bonus track, a smokey chestnut called "The Christmas Blues," written by Sammy Cahn and David Holt and debuted by Martin as a single in 1953 (though Jo Stafford recorded it the same year).

The second version was part of a restoration of Martin's catalog by Collector's Choice and is superior in most ways, including a comparatively hefty four bonus tracks. But, none of those tracks are Christmas songs - meaning, obviously, that none of them are "The Christmas Blues." Too bad. Later, Capitol reissued the original album on vinyl and for download and streaming.

The Dean Martin Christmas Album was recorded in 1966 after Dino switched to Reprise, a label founded by his Rat Pack peers. But, by that point, Martin was moving rapidly to the middle of the road like most old-school vocalists. So, unlike A Winter Romance, Christmas Album is a standard, traditional holiday offering - that is, a fairly dull affair with little to recommend it beyond Dino's customary, consummate croon.

If you're budget is tight, most of the contents of Dino's Christmas Album are found on the aforementioned compilations, Making Spirits Bright and Christmas With Dino. But, the whole album was eventually reissued verbatim, first for download and streaming in 2013, then on compact disc in 2017, and finally on vinyl in 2020.

Dean MartinAll of which is to say, A Winter Romance is the jewel here - in no small part because it contains Martin's most celebrated holiday recording, his 1959 rendition of "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" Without breaking a sweat, Dino lays down the definitive version of the standard, knowingly leering his way through lines like "I've brought me some corn for popping." Ahem...

Happily, "Let It Snow" is included twice on both Making Spirits Bright and Christmas With Dino - in the ribald 1959 original version and in a rockin' 1966 reprise from The Dean Martin Christmas Album. Sadly, Making Spirits Bright has been deleted, though it's not hard to find on the second-hand market. No matter, since Christmas With Dino arguably replaced it in 2004 (with yet another variation popping up in 2006), expanding the former album's track count by two tippling songs. Throw in some remastering, and it's inarguably the superior purchase.

A later compilation, My Kind Of Christmas (2009), uses the same approach, but with fewer tracks. And then, Dino's Christmas (2024) drops the track count all the way down to 10 - which seems downright niggardly - while recycling the cover shot from Christmas With Dino. The main attraction, I am guessing, is that Dino's Christmas was pressed on vinyl as well as compact disc. By 2024, vinyl was back in fashion while the CD was all but obsolete....

In any configuration, however, Dean Martin's Christmas music is required listening for holiday hipsters. Bottoms up! [top of page]

Albums Albums

SongsEssential Songs

  • Baby It's Cold Outside (1959)
  • The Christmas Blues (1953)
  • I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (1959)
  • Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (1959)

Further ListeningFurther Listening

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