When it came to smooth vocal music, there was one standard bearer for many decades – Frank Sinatra. Dean Martin was up there too, though. He could croon with the best of them. He also had something Frank didn’t – comedic timing. Frank would probably have punched anyone who said that out loud, though. It’s a good thing those two were such good buddies, wasn’t it?
For those that don’t know, Martin was a member of the legendary Rat Pack back in the 1950’s, along with Frank. He also teamed up with comedic master Jerry Lewis, who was no slouch in the music department either – watch his drum battles with people like Buddy Rich sometimes. But it was his voice that carried him to his fame, and you can hear it in this version of “Volare”.
Martin wasn’t the original songwriter - that was done in Italian by Domico Modugno and its native title was “Nel blu dipinto di blu”, and Martin’s people renamed it “Volare”. The original did quite well for itself, even winning a Grammy in 1959. Martin made it more accessible to Americans and other countries by having part of it be sung in English. That makes a lovely Italian song even better.
The video and song makes anyone with Italian heritage swell up with pride. Like many songs from that era, this is a love ballad. It talks of leaving everything else behind and just spending time with each other. It’s a wonderful, heartfelt love song and it deserved its time at the top o the charts. Martin’s voice does it justice and creates a timeless piece of music. No wonder it has over four million views since its upload.
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