Search - Various Artists :: Rat Pack: Live at the Sands

One of my 5 favorite CDs

Neil F. Sambol | Roswell, GA USA | 06/04/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is a slice of history. It is a modified version of the act that Dean, Frank and Sammy came up with to perform at the "Summit" in early 1960.If you're just after straight music, there are plenty of other CDs to choose from.As for me, I'll go with the live recordings because they are just that, *ALIVE*. Frank, Dean and Sammy are still as vibrant on the recording as they were in early September, 1963. If you want to laugh at crazy jokes, hear Sammy's incredible impressions or sing along with the timeless tunes, this is the album.After listening to this CD, I'm hooked on LIVE Rat Pack recordings (I'm in the process of collecting all I can find). I just wish someone would come up with a video of what was happening on stage. I someone makes a DVD, I'll buy it!If this sounds interesting and you like Sammy, I particularly recommend "Sammy Davis Jr. At the Cocoanut Grove" (recorded in 1962, Reprise). Its all Sammy (although I did mistake Sammy's impressions of Frank for Mr. Sinatra the first few times through.):-)If you love a good time, this CD is guranteed to "leave you swinging...""

"The 'Pack' In Their Playground"

franksoprano | 03/10/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Early September 1963...the marquee at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas reads:DEAN MARTIN
Maybe Frank! Maybe Sammy!On this new CD (recorded September 7th) there's no "maybes" about it....Dean, Frank and Sammy give a performance that sums up early 60's cocktail lounge cool...Dino's opening (the same opening he'd been doing for years) includes "Volare" "On An Evening In Roma" and "I Love Vegas (Paris)"..Sinatra's set includes material from the "Sinatra-Basie" and "Concert Sinatra" albums plus a beautiful, tender rendition of "Call Me Irresponsible" (then, as Sinatra points out, only 6 months old); interestingly Sinatra's performances of "Only Have Eyes For You" and "Please Be Kind" on this tape far outswing the renditions on the Basie LP. Sammy does "Lady Is A Tramp," and follows with an impressions-laden "All The Way".The rest of the disc is classic Rat Pack clowning laced with tons of politically incorrect one liners (Imagine ANYONE saying to Frank and Dean in those days "Hey guys, you know some of that stuff is POLITCIALLY INCORRECT!")...Dean: "Did you ever see a Jew-Jitsu?"Dean (to Sammy) "You can sing with me..you can dance with me...you can go to the steam room with me....but just don't TOUCH me!"Keep in mind this was just weeks after Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech.It's also interesting to note that this performance occurs just 2 months before the Kennedy assassination and right in the midst of the lurid Sinatra headlines surrounding Sam Giancana and the Cal Neva lodge (weeks later Sinatra would have his Gaming license lifted)...among the celebrities introduced from the audience: "Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Sands!"The sound quality of the disc is superb, recorded in true stereo, (Sinatra had Reprise tape it for a possible LP called "The Summit"...the album was never released and the tapes buried)."Live At The Sands" captures the Rat Pack's last gasp...Dallas and the subsequent turmoil of the 60's made much of their material irrelevant, but it shows the country's leading adult swingers at the peak of their powers in the town they made their playground.The pseudo-hip liner notes are by Bill Zehme who wrote the 1998 Sinatra book "The Way You Wear Your Hat""

THREE OF A KIND and a full house....

Giovanni | Chicago, IL | 11/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"....and the payoff's huge for every listener. Another example of why every vault in every studio should be opened is this great "summit meeting" of three of the biggest and best entertainers in the world, found recently and released by the good people at Capitol Records. Here we have Frank, Dino and Sammy on familiar turf, Jack Entratter's Sands Hotel. All three are in spectacular form, but special mention must be given to Dean's being particularly in swingin' form and not quite so laid back. He gets a nice launching pad with a medley of "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" and "I Love Paris" (rendered as I Love VEGAS) with special referential lyrics written no doubt by Sammy Cahn for Ol' RED Eyes. Listen to the fun Dean has when he wanders through "June In January" with Antonio Morelli's orchestra (see kudos to them later) Anyone fortunate enough to have the great 2 CD set on the Jazz Hour label (The Villa Venice, Chicago IL concert from '62) will know most of the jokes and punch lines here, but there are a few new ones. The usual set up finds Dean opening for Frank, and Frank comes on and does his thing with the usual flair, with a very swingin' set, interspersed with ballads ("My Heart Stood Still" and the "7-month old song" of the time, Cahn and Van Heusen's "Call Me Irresponsible") Of course, "Luck Be A Lady' closes Frank's segment, and then it's Sammy's turn. To anyone else, it's a most inenviable task to follow someone like Sinatra, but Sammy always did, and did it with verve. He "steals" one of Sinatra's numbers in "The Lady Is A Tramp" and blasts his way through it. During the stretch we're treated to the "salad bar" speech, one of the many monologues the Rat Pack so often did when in concert. The Italians take two songs from "Guys and Dolls" and swing their way through them, backed by the aforementioned Antonio Morelli orchestra, whose work on this date (and any other, for that matter, as they often backed anyone who worked in L.V. at this time, including Sammy on his "THAT'S ALL" 2 CD set recently released) is nothing short of exquisite. This orchestra never hit one bad note. The guys had their comfort zones in the pit, though, if you will. (Dean had his piano player Ken Lane; Frank had Bill Miller; and Sammy had band leader George Rhodes and some of his own orchestra on the scene.) A fantastic CD release to sink your teeth into and go back to an easier time and definitely swing to! Thank you Capitol, and thank you Frank, Dean and Sammy!"