Volume 5: Wild, Cool, and Swingin' (Capitol 35972)
The club is cookin' and the band is hot. 18 of the swingin'est vintage vocals by the kings and queens of cool featuring Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, Bobby Darin, Wayne Newton, Louis Prima and Keely Smith. You have arrived, man. Crazy!
These days, everybody within reach of a mic calls themselves a saloon singer. Tinklers on talk shows give it as their job description. And who can fairly blame them? Today, it has a classy ring to it. But here's a CD worth of stuff from an age when "saloon singer" carried a hint of pejorative, when it meant straight-ahead entertainment in the Sinatra vein rather than false humility.Somewhere along the way - actually, 'round about the same time Ocean's Eleven was released, in 1960 - saloon singers turned en masse into lounge singers. The Vegas lounge became a wildlife preserve for singers and small combos squeezed out of floundering clubs by television's skyrocketing popularity. Lounges were rooms without a cover charge, casino sidenooks where high-rollers could drop off their dames while they gambled. Entertainment was an afterthought; it was baby-sitting for adults, but hey, the money was great, and spmetimes so was the headliner.
"Ain't That A Kick In The Head" - Dean Martin
"Dig That Crazy Chick" - Sam Butera and The Witness
"More" - Bobbby Darin
"Fever" - Peggy Lee
"Jump, Jive, An' Wail" - Louis Prima
"Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" -Sammy Davis, Jr.
"Danke Shoen" - Wayne Newton
"French Poodle" - Sam Butera and The Witness
"What Is This Thing Called Love" - Keely Smith
"Sunday In New York" - Bobby Darin
"The Closer To The Bone" - Louis Prima
"Nobody But Me" - Lou Rawls
"Little Girl" - Vic Damone
"L-O-V-E" - Nat King Cole
"Volare (Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu) - Dean Martin
"That Old Black Magic" - Louis Prima and Keely Smith
"You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" - Julie London
"Hello, Dolly" - Bobby Darin
