Search - Al Martino :: Best of

CD Version Of A Capitol Vinyl LP

N. Sallustro | 08/27/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This old-school crooner with an almost operatic tenor voice, born Alfred Cini in Philadelphia in 1927, was a boyhood friend of the great Mario Lanza and, after becoming a 1952 winner on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts in 1952, that same year had a # 1 Pop hit with the soaring Here In My Heart for Capitol's BBS subsidiary (in 1961 a re-recording of the hit would reach # 86 Billboard Pop Hot 100). Other early hits included Take My Heart (# 12 in 1952), Rachel (# 30 in 1952), and When You're Mine (# 27 in 1953), all on the main Capitol label.



Further hit singles would then be hard to come by until 1959's I Can't Get You Out Of My Heart, which made it to a modest # 44 Hot 100 in June 1959. But from there to 1977 he would chalk up 34 Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 hits and 41 Adult Contemporary (AC) hits, also selling millions of albums.



This particular CD, first released in 1988, was one of those original albums, and it does indeed give you some of his all-time best. But not 10. Not even 9. More like 8.



Leading off is Spanish Eyes, originally written and recorded by Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra as Moon Over Naples (# 5 AC/# 59 Hot 100 in the summer of 1965. Later that year Al's rendition began its rise to # 1 AC (where it stayed for 4 weeks)/# 15 Hot 100 b/w Melody Of Love. Track 2, Painted, Tainted Rose, was a 1963 hit, going to # 3 AC/# 15 Hot 100 in September b/w That's The Way It's Got To Be. So far so good.



But the 3rd track, another cover of a Bert Kaempfert hit, was never a hit for Al nor even, as far as I can determine, the B-side to one. But the next one, I Love You More And More Every Day, was a big one, hitting # 3 AC/# 9 Hot 100 in early 1964 b/w I'm Living My Heaven With You. One of my favourite Al Martino hits comes in a track 5, as Mary In The Morning went all the way to # 1 AC and # 27 Hot 100 in early summer 1967, b/w I Love You And You Love Me.



Tracks 6, a cover of the Leon Payne C&W # 1 hit in 1950, I Love You Because, was another AC # 1 and also a # 3 Hot 100 in the spring of 1963 b/w Merry-Go-Round, while his version of the Paul Mauriat 1967 smash, Love Is Blue, topped out at # 3 AC/# 57 Hot 100 in early 1968. Another of my favourites, Living A Lie, was a # 8 AC/# 22 Hot 100 in late 1963, but the next track, Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte was the uncharted flipside of My Heart Would Know (# 11 AC/# 52 Hot 100 in early 1965 - and not included here). Patti Page had the hit version. Last up is his cover of the 1950 Mills Brothers hit, Daddy's Little Girl, which reached # 2 AC/# 42 Hot 100 in March 1967 b/w Devotion.



His backing orchestras were Peter DeAngelis on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10, Belford Hendricks on track 6, and Pete King on track 7. I can't be certain about track 3, or even when it was recorded by Al.



He was also one of the few pure crooners to have cross-over R&B and Country hits when Darling, I Love You reached # 27 R&B in 1959 [and # 63 Hot 100] and, in 1970, a cover of the Merle Haggard hit, I Started Loving You Again, peaked at # 69 Country [as well as # 19 AC and # # 86 Hot 100].



Although I love this man's voice, I assign just 3 stars to this release simply because there are no liner notes whatsoever and just the 10 selections. For some reason Collectables also released this compilation with the exact same cover. A far better bet for your money is the Razor & Tie release. With the title I Love You Because, it contains almost all his major hits with the notable exception of Mary In The Morning.



Al also played Johnny Fontane in the 1972 film The Godfather."

Most Beautiful Voice!

N. Sallustro | Dublin, OH | 07/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"AL Martino has the most beautiful voice and this is his most beautiful cd! I have most of his cd's, but I mostly listen to this one. It contains his best songs. If you love standards, this is the cd to own!"

Wonderful tunes.....

S. V. Griep | USA | 12/26/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A CD of lively tunes sung by a man with a smooth and pleasing voice. Give it a listen and you will fully understand. Well assembled group of songs."