Live And Swingin' (The Ultimate Rat Pack Collection/+DVD) - Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin/Sammy Davis Jr.

...I know is the only live recording from 1960's of the Pack together on stage performing. Other than the racial aspects the DVD shows how different the world was then, this was a time that smoking was the fashion and there is a lot of that happening on the stage as the Pack are smoking throughout he show and its frightening to see certain artists literally chain smoking as well. The quality of the DVD is very good overall, but can be a little scratchy ...
...in the mid-sixties it's not worth complaining about as this is a pure joy to watch.

Overall this is gold dust as you don't get anything like this nowadays on stage or even in variety acts. Yes, I know Westlife copied the style for a music video, but then they tend to have copied everything anyway and the fact is that you can't beat the original. This is a high calibre entertainment that does deliver and shows three artists who are ... more

I am a huge fan of The Rat Pack and it is with a great sense of fulfilment that I received this CD as the music is not nostalgic to listen to but the banter between Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and Frank Sinatra is something from another time completely.

The recording was made in November 1962, where the threesome played the Villa Venice in Chicago and although not all the soundtrack is from one particular night as the recording was taken from the whole week of performances, you get the idea that they were enjoying themselves on stage. Backed up by a big band orchestra it gives the sound of the sixties that was truly unique to these three artists. The breakdown on the disc is as follows……

1. Fanfare Introduction

2. Medley - Dean Martin
3. I Left My Heart in San Francisco - Dean Martin
4. I'm Gonna Sit Right down and Write Myself a Letter - Dean Martin
5. Volare - Dean Martin

6. Goody Goody - Frank Sinatra
7. Chicago - Frank Sinatra
8. When Your Lover Has Gone - Frank Sinatra
9. Monologue - Frank Sinatra
10. Please Be Kind - Frank Sinatra
11. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You - Frank Sinatra

12. What Kind of Fool Am I - Sammy Davis Jr
13. Out Of This World - Sammy Davis Jr
14. She's Funny That Way - Sammy Davis Jr
15. Hey There - Sammy Davis Jr

16. Comedy - Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin
17. Medley - Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin
18. Medley- Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin

19. Impressions - All
20. Birth of the Blues - All
21. Danny Thomas Introduction - All
22. Nancy (With the Laughing Face) - All
23. Me and My Shadow - All
24. Sam's Song - All
25. Birth of the Blues - All

It's interesting to listen to as the individual singers have had their own songs placed into their own individual slots and perform their own songs with maybe one or two duets and not coming together as The Rat Pack till the end of the disc, this makes the last third of the disc more enjoyable and add a climax rather than it fizzling out, and the audience reaction is amazing throughout.

For me Dean Martin is the outstanding performer on this disc as in my mind he seemed to hold the group together with his antics on stage while keeping the audience in hysterics with pretending to be drunk whilst delivering a song in perfect pitch. Martin has an ability to ad-lib at a moments notice which gives him the stage persona of a comedian that is extremely good at singing as he manages tie all his songs together with just a simple joke in the gaps between. By the end of his performance he has the audience round his little finger and can say anything he likes, in fact I got the impression that the audience really wanted more based on the round of applause he got.

As the comedy underdog of the Pack, Davis Jr gets a chance to shine here and the time given to him shows what an immensely talented and original artist he was. He sings What Kind of Fool Am I with such passion that it is very moving and shows his talent off to a tee. The only problem is that you have Sinatra making some glib comments throughout that today could easily be called "un-pc" towards Davis Jr and even though the audience do laugh when Sinatra says the comment, you do feel sorry for Davis Jr who attempts to dilute the comment with a rebuke of his own which actually comes off better than Sinatra's. Personally I found comments about Davis Jr's ethnic background and faith quite uncomfortable as it seemed the whole point of the comment was to get a laugh at someone's expense. Seeing him perform makes you realise why Bruce Forsyth continuously drops his name into every interview he does.

It always seemed to me that Sinatra thought himself to be the central point of the Pack, the disc is quite Sinatra centric as he does have more songs than anyone else but when compared to the other two he is a great singer and effectively that's all. The music and the way it is sung by Sinatra is top notch, it's just his attempts to make a gag between songs or towards the other artists tends to fall flat on some occasions with the audience giving a polite chuckle in comparison to the laughs that Martin and Davis Jr get. Sinatra is also at his most serious when performing as well as he walks about the stage with a slight hint of arrogance knowing that the audience are looking at him. Fair enough the star was at his peak at the time, but this can be perceived as a somewhat negative mark against him.

A whole plethora of songs are covered from each of the artists catalogues, it is good to hear Martin sing Volare as well as Davis Jr performing a whole host of impersonations of fellow singers such as Matt Munro, Tony Bennett and so on gives this disc a feel that the talent of these men were a one off achievement that will never be repeated again.

As a bonus you get a DVD as well, the show is hosted by the legendary American chat show host Johnny Carson. This was recorded three years after the Villa Venice show in 1965 at the Dismas House in St Louis. This follows the same format as the audio disc. Three is a great deal of mucking about on stage toward each other and again Sinatra attempting to interrupt the acts on stage. Good to watch as this fills in the gaps as to why the audience were laughing when a gag was performed on stage, bottom line is that you can see what is happening and with Martin being more energetic in the comedy, Davis Jr being portrayed as the underdog and Sinatra hamming it up and over trying on stage you can see why this was a success.

It was primarily recorded for television and therefore is as far as I know is the only live recording from 1960's of the Pack together on stage performing. Other than the racial aspects the DVD shows how different the world was then, this was a time that smoking was the fashion and there is a lot of that happening on the stage as the Pack are smoking throughout he show and its frightening to see certain artists literally chain smoking as well. The quality of the DVD is very good overall, but can be a little scratchy in parts, but then for a show that took place in the mid-sixties it's not worth complaining about as this is a pure joy to watch.

Overall this is gold dust as you don't get anything like this nowadays on stage or even in variety acts. Yes, I know Westlife copied the style for a music video, but then they tend to have copied everything anyway and the fact is that you can't beat the original. This is a high calibre entertainment that does deliver and shows three artists who are no longer with us at the peak of their popularity.

As a final note it's also interesting to note that due to the remake of films like Oceans 11, that The Rat Pack have made a comeback in terms of tribute shows, I was lucky enough to see one recently and personally thought the DVD was bought to life with great attention to details and the style of the time and very faithful to the event which occurred over 45 years ago. 

...less