Dino: Italian Love Songs (LP)

The only surprising thing about an album of Italian songs by Dean Martin, the most overtly Italian of Italian-American pop singers, was that it wasn't recorded until near the end of Martin's recording contract with Capitol.

Maybe it was the success of similar albums by Connie Francis that convinced the label or the artist that such a collection could have commercial appeal, but given that some of Martin's biggest hits, including "That's Amore" and "Volare," had been Italian-flavored, it's hard to see why they would have needed urging. In any case, Martin was typically convincing on this album in both English and Italian, whether re-cutting his hit "Return to Me" or trying an alternate English lyric for "O Sole Mio" ("There's No Tomorrow").

Listeners should be forewarned that this is not a collection of Martin's Italian hits, but rather a newly recorded album (circa 1961). Nevertheless, it is a good match of singer to songs, and it became Martin's first charting album on Capitol.