Rat Pack: Live at the Sands
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Free Music Notes for Rat Pack: Live at the Sands
Free Music Review: Is That Your Moustache Or You Been Drinking Hot Chocolate
Hit: 5 Stars
And the one-liners keep on coming. This is a fabulous CD. Man, where you hiding this stuff?. These guys were incredible. You can hear and feel the fun these guys are having just being together. The audience just happens to be in their room. The band swings, and the Pack is on top of their game. There is Sixties innocence in this room, (JFK would be assassinated some 3 months after this performance) there is a Sixties lounge groove happening here, the likes of which we will never see or hear again. The music is great, the band really did swing. Frank and Dean not only give stellar solo performances, but when they are together they were pure magic. Now Sammy, well Sammy is, Sammy is UNREAL. Frank was the VOICE. Dean was the SWINGER. Sammy was the HEP CAT. I have been a fan of Dean and Frank for years. My CD collection contains all of the Frank remasters from Capitol and Reprise as well as all of Dean's Capitol recordings released on CD and all of the newly released Reprise titles. But Sammy really blew me away. After listening to this CD several dozen times, I just recently acquired several Sammy titles, i.e. Live at the Cocoanut Grove and That's All, both live performances. He was truly exceptional. Each of these performers were megastars in their own right, and to have them all together on one stage can only be an undertaking that mere mortals like us are fortunate to have the opportunity to experience. So buy this disc and treat yourself to this ride back in time when Vegas was Vegas and these guys ruled the Strip.Free Music Review: Excellent!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
There are lots of ways to perceive this recording. One of those possible views is "Excellent." And it truly is.
If one is a fan of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, it belongs it your collection. Beyond that, this recording must be taken in context of the period. One famous casino mogul opined: " Every swinger, every hipster, every doo-wa-diddy guy on the planet crowded into this small town, taking up all the rooms, trying to get a seat at the Rat Pack. The atmosphere in the room.... was electric. The announcer came on stage and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Sands Copa Room." And without another word out came Frank Sinatra... Dean Martin.. Sammy Davis, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop... With no introduction. There is no parallel to it today." It was the "Woodstock of the Cocktail Generation." They were probably drunk. Irreverent. Slinging taunts and insults at each other. Dean Martin, at the top of his voice. Sinatra's voice, sexy, cocky, with swagger. They were clearly the Kings. They did what they wanted, whenever they wanted, with whomever they wanted, and answered to no one. They were screwing around on stage, drinking, singing, cutting up, and making a ton of money doing it. That's what they did. It was shtick, and it was cool. I've listened to this recording dozens of times and continue to be fascinated with it.
Free Music Review: As close as we can get to the Pack's heyday
Hit: 5 Stars
Many fans have Sinatra albums, or albums by Dean or Sammy. But oh how those albums convey the heart of the singer, the live performance conveys the soul. What a sight it must have been to see them perform live at the Sands in their heyday - commanding the room, sharing their songs and lives in an unique give and take. Luckily, for those of us who never made it to Vegas (or were not born when they Rat Pack ruled), there is this album. It brings you in and plunks you down in the audience. You feel Dean Martin's celebration of life and living it right in his medley of "drinking" songs as he wraps himself around you and brings you into his confidence. And Frank just arrives and commands the room for his set, yielding it to Dean and then Frank in give and take banter and shared songs. Sometimes the quality is not the greatest, and sometimes the references are dated (or unremembered), but they represent performers at the top of their careers. One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that the Rat Pack were far from PC, and some of the banter may seem shocking insensitive today, but was just part of their world then. Still, if you are a fan of the Rat Packers, or of lounge music in general, this album belongs in your collection. It is just a great and unique album to enjoy.
Free Music Review: Hey! Sinatra Fans! Dean Martin is a great singer!
Hit: 5 Stars
If you arre like me, you are thinking about buying this CD because you are a Sinatra fan. That's why I bought it. And it is, indeed, a must for the collection of any Sinatra fan.But, much to my surprise, this CD also made me a Dean Martin fan. I have always appreciated Dean, but I never even thought about buying one of his recordings until I heard this CD. Martin has an incredible voice and, when he feels like it, wonderful phrasing and control.
I don't want to overlook Sammy Davis Jr. He has always had a special place in my heart and my one complaint about this particular show is that he doesn't get enough stage time.
But, then again, nobody gets enough stage time. These guys were so good, no single show could be long enough to be satisfying. For example, after listening to Dean and Frank sing two duets from "Guys and Dolls", I bet you will want to hear them do the whole show.
Which leads me, of course, to the box set "Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre (Finian's Rainbow, Kiss Me Kate, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls)" wherein the Rat Pack and friends do, in fact, perform almost all of "Guys and Dolls". But that is another story. Until you can save up the forty-five bucks to buy that box set, buy this CD.
Free Music Review: One of my 5 favorite CDs
Hit: 5 Stars
This CD is a slice of history. It is a modified version of the act that Dean, Frank and Sammy came up with to perform at the "Summit" in early 1960.If you're just after straight music, there are plenty of other CDs to choose from.
As for me, I'll go with the live recordings because they are just that, *ALIVE*. Frank, Dean and Sammy are still as vibrant on the recording as they were in early September, 1963. If you want to laugh at crazy jokes, hear Sammy's incredible impressions or sing along with the timeless tunes, this is the album.
After listening to this CD, I'm hooked on LIVE Rat Pack recordings (I'm in the process of collecting all I can find). I just wish someone would come up with a video of what was happening on stage. I someone makes a DVD, I'll buy it!
If this sounds interesting and you like Sammy, I particularly recommend "Sammy Davis Jr. At the Cocoanut Grove" (recorded in 1962, Reprise). Its all Sammy (although I did mistake Sammy's impressions of Frank for Mr. Sinatra the first few times through.)
:-)
If you love a good time, this CD is guranteed to "leave you swinging..."