Live & Swingin': The Ultimate Rat Pack Collection
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Free Music Notes for Live & Swingin': The Ultimate Rat Pack Collection
Free Music Review: Finest Audio & Video Recording of the Rat Pack in Concert
Hit: 5 Stars
This DVD(1) and CD(1) set is an outstanding value for the money. The DVD is the most precious because it captures a televised charity benefit where the main 3 Rat Pack members (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr.) do an updated version of their old Vegas Sands Hotel act. Titled the "Frank Sinatra Spectacular."
The show is in black and white, but since it was recorded by a major television network for the purposes of making a documentary on Sinatra, the camerawork and sound are quite good. Again, it is easily the highest quality video and sound recording of essentially the same act they did for years in Vegas and at the Villa Venice in Chicago for Sam Giancana.
(Incidentally--The charity that this show was meant to raise cash for was a halfway house for ex-cons in St. Louis called Dismas House.)
There are a few twists that make this show unique from the shows the Rat Pack did at the Sands in Las Vegas. A very young Johnny Carson (just a few years into his gig replacing Jack Paar as host of the Tonight Show) is filling in on short notice for Joey Bishop as Master of Ceremonies. A bit nervous but good natured about the gang's shennanigans, he fills in ably.
Peter Lawford, by this time falling out of favor with Sinatra, is not even mentioned, much less seen --in the show.
A rather young Quincy Jones (referred to as "Q") conducts the orchestra.
Sammy Davis clearly steals the show. Typically, in the Vegas and Chicago nightclub acts, Frank and Dean playfully interrupt Sammy throughout his act whether he is singing, dancing or attempting to do impressions. Here, they actually allow him to do his full act with virtually no interuption. What a treat. Sammy demonstrates a number of popular dance steps, does some marvelous, passionate singing numbers, and also sings Be-Bom accapella solely with a bongo accompianing him. He also gets through most of his celebrity impersonations (he impersonates various stars like Nat King Cole, Marlon Brando, Billy Eckstein etc. singing parts of "One for My Baby") without interuption until the very end. What a remarable talent Davis was.
Although the DVD contains just the show and no "extras," it is obviously well-produced and well-mastered for sound.
The CD that accompanies the DVD is a different show. I believe it is a show from one of the nights at the Villa Venice in Chicago. The show is remarkably similar to the show from "The Summit In Concert" (it may even be the same) CD. For the money, this set provides you with not only the sounds of the legendary Rat Pack in Concert, but also the sights. The DVD is a rare treat indeed not found elsewhere.
Free Music Review: Swinging With the Best
Hit: 5 Stars
This cd set is exactly what it says it is- the ULTIMATE collection of Rat Pack music and comedy. The cd contains live performances from their November 25- December 2, 1962 visit to Chicago. There are songs by the individual singers, and songs and comedy with the famous trio. With that said, the real treasure is the DVD. This is the first and only FULL live taped performance of the Rat Pack at their best in St. Louis Missouri, June 20, 1965. When you insert the dvd, you come to a menu that gives you the choice of viewing the whole show from begininng to end, or individual songs and comedy acts. If you choose to view particular performances, you will be taken to a menu page where you choose which singer you want to view. Then you are taken to a list of the songs that are performed by that singer, and while you are choosing, you are personally crooned by the singer you chose.
Seen in glorious black and white, the whole performance times in at a little over two hours. I think one of the absolute best parts of the DVD are the impressions Sammy does during his rendition of "One For My Baby". During this song, you will hear the impressions of Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Louis Armstrong, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, and more. These aren't just cheap shot impressions, he sounds exactly like who he's imitating. You will also see the famous NAACP award act, various imitations of stars by all of the singers, including Dean Martin doing a great Clark Gable impression.
Although Joey Bishop was absent due to sickness, Johnny Carson was not a bad replacement. You don't see a whole lot of him, but the dialogue he does contribute is hilarious and blends in with the rest of the pack.
Most of the time, the camera is right on the performers so you feel like they are performing for you. Just watching gives you goosebumps because of how much you feel like you are there.
If you enjoy Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, or even if you have no idea who they are, this really is a must buy. It is well worth the money, especially since you are getting a full-length cd and a two hour live performance! For those like me who weren't around when the Rat Pack was live and swinging, this gives a great opportunity to enjoy and respect them for the awesome team they were. There was nobody better than Frank, Dean, and Sammy, and there has not been any person or group that has come close to them since.
Free Music Review: "Just tryin' to have a little fun, folks..."
Hit: 5 Stars
If you are a fan of The Rat Pack or merely curious about the allure of this supremely talented group of Entertainers, LIVE & SWINGIN' is a must-have CD/DVD set. Comprised of a CD featuring sparkling performances at the Villa Venice circa late 1962 and a DVD of a "Frank Sinatra Spectacular" benefit performance for Dismas Halfway House of St. Louis, Missouri in 1965, LIVE & SWINGIN' is as close to an in-person experience of The Rat Pack as we will now ever get.
The ease with which Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra engage us with their multitalented singing, dancing, and clowning is legendary, and the DVD in particular makes it easy to see why. These guys loved what they did, they loved their audiences, they loved poking fun at themselves, and they loved each other.
An impossibly young Johnny Carson as MC (who apologizes for standing in for Joey Bishop, the fourth member of The Rat Pack, by explaining that Joey had injured his back "bowing himself out of Frank's presence") introduces Dean, who saunters onstage, drink in hand, and immediately croons us joyfully. Dean is followed by Sammy, who describes himself as "Colored, Jewish, and half-Puerto Rican---Man, when I move into a neighborhood, I wipe it out!" Sammy's happy hoofing is succeeded by Frank's tempered phrasing, which degenerates into uproarious laughter as Dean and Sammy seize the stage, and the three go wild with half-scripted, half-ad-libbed shtick in which Sammy never gets to finish a sentence. If you can't laugh at this, you must be dead. D-E-D.
The dry rot of our current culture would never allow our modern-day "stars" to spout the soooo-un-PC banter about booze, broads and Coloreds that the three trade uninhibitedly and unselfconsciously between themselves; never mind the ubiquitous cigarettes. And never mind again the fact that our current crop of narcissistic cookie-cutter celebrities wouldn't and couldn't ever share the stage and create the magic that was The Rat Pack.
To hell with BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. If you want to experience a true love story between men, give LIVE & SWINGIN' a double spin. And if you want to be happy, I suggest you do it every day.
Free Music Review: It's finally arrived!
Hit: 5 Stars
As a relative youngster, I've only experienced the Rat Pack's live performances on CD. Every time I listen to those shows, I wish I could've been there. Watching their live performance on DVD gave me the chance to feel like an actual audience member. I've been searching for filmed Rat Pack Shows for a while now, and I freaked when I heard about this CD/DVD combo. My hands were practically shaking when I put this in the DVD player!As usual, Dean Martin warms up the crowd with his drunken schtick and "modified" lyrics. True to form, he doesn't take himself too seriously, which is reflected in his silly faces and interaction with the musicians. In my opinion, Dean is the most entertaining of the three, even if he doesn't make it through an entire song without cracking up. Dean definitely breaks down the barrier between stage and audience. Dino has always been my favorite. His handsome face and twinkling eyes make my loins quiver, but that's another story.
Sammy enters with a bang and gives an amazing but more serious performance. The message is clear that this is a pretty formal affair, compared to the more playful Vegas gigs. I would have to agree with the other reviewers that Sammy steals the show, musically speaking. Toward the end of his performance, he lightens the mood with his fabulous imitations of this fellow crooners. If you like Sammy, this DVD is for you.
I don't know what to say about Frank Sinatra other than he gave a sparkling performance as usual. I loved how Dean started to shout and sing along off stage while Frank was singing `Please Be Kind.' It was great to see Sinatra crack up during one of his numbers. After Sinatra finished, the moment we were all waiting for had arrived-the loveable Rat Pack comedic banter, with a young Johnny Carson in on all the fun. In conclusion, I would say that the show was wonderful, but a little more formal than I would've have liked. Even still, the CD/DVD combo is definitely worth experiencing. Buy It!!!
Free Music Review: Watching, listening to the best individual entertainers of the 20th Century
Hit: 5 Stars
During the 30 year period after Wold War II, entertainment in America featured the talents of many very unique individuals, each exceptional with their own special abilities. They were all classic characters in their own ways, never to be duplicated. Frank Sinatra began his singing/acting career in the late 30's and would evolve into the undisputed master of music interpretation. In show business then, he was proclaimed the Chairman of the Board.
Others male singers such as Sammy Davis and Dean Martin were performing at the same time and each had their own distinct ability to interpret the popular music of the day.
They sang, danced, joked, and enjoyed their work with great feeling, maturity, skill, feeling for the lyrics and the ever-present attitude of emotional sincerity. These were three brilliant and talented performers.They loved and admired each other without the remotest sense of jealousy or competitiveness.
Nowhere in the marvelous three decades of their being in the forefront of the entertainment scene in America was there a more extra special occasion then they brilliantly and outrageously performed together as the Rat Pack in Las Vegas. Each was at the peak of their ability. The songs were the finest, the self-depricating and audacious humor was alive at every moment. They were at their casual best, having FUN singing, dancing, joking and interacting together and we are now the beneficiaries.
A most classic musical, entertainment experience captured to be enjoyed by us all, forever.