Dean Martin Discography

Dean Martin Discography

This article contains a listing of Dean Martin's original singles, LPs, and compilations from his career. Martin recorded his first single for the small Diamond Records in July 1946, entitled Which Way Did My Heart Go / All of Me that was released at the end of August in the same year. The majority of the singer's recordings were released on Capitol Records (1948–1961) and later on Reprise Records (1962–1974).

Martin had many hit singles during his lifetime, but only two went to No. 1 on the pop charts – "Memories Are Made of This" in 1955-6 and "Everybody Loves Somebody" 9 years later. A close runner-up was "That's Amore", which stalled at No. 2. Other top tens on the pop charts included "Powder Your Face with Sunshine" (No. 10), "Return to Me" (No. 4), "The Door Is Still Open to My Heart" (No. 6), and "I Will" (No. 10).

After "Volare" reached No. 12 on the pop charts in August 1958, Martin experienced a bleak six-year period in his recording career, exacerbated by changing pop trends and his focus on movie roles. Inexplicably, a song associated today with Martin, "Ain't That a Kick in the Head," never charted when released as a single. His highest-charting single during that span was "On an Evening in Roma" at No. 59 Pop. It would take "Everybody Loves Somebody" to rejuvenate his chart success.

In addition, "Everybody Loves Somebody" introduced Martin to the Easy Listening chart. From 1964 to 1969, he had great success there, as 20 of his singles reached the Top Ten. The final year that the singer had any significant chart success on either chart was 1969, with "Gentle on My Mind", "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am", and "One Cup of Happiness" doing moderately well. One major surprise came in the United Kingdom, as "Gentle on My Mind" reached an astonishing No. 2.

The crooner had only two singles chart on Billboard's Country chart; the first was the appropriately titled "My First Country Song" (No. 35 C&W), featuring Conway Twitty, in 1983. As far back as 1959, Martin had expressed his love of country music ("My Rifle, My Pony, and Me"). Within a year of signing with Reprise, Martin had recorded his first country album (Country Style, released in January 1963). He continued to record country music prolifically until he retired, yet country radio refused to play his singles.

A total of 32 original studio albums were released in Martin's career. His most critically well-regarded projects were released on Capitol Records in the late 1950s: albums such as Sleep Warm (1959) and This Time I'm Swingin'! (1960). Nevertheless, the singer had no significant album chart success until he signed with Reprise Records in the early 1960s.

Without question, the Everybody Loves Somebody 1964 compilation album was Martin's best-selling album, narrowly missing the top spot at No. 2. "The Dean Martin Christmas Album", released in 1966, became a perennial best-seller throughout the late '60s and early '70s, hitting No. 1 on Billboard's Christmas chart.

Other albums that made the Top 20 Pop Albums chart included Dream with Dean (No. 15), The Door Is Still Open to My Heart (No. 9), Dean Martin Hits Again (No. 13), (Remember Me) I'm the One Who Loves You (No. 12), Houston (No. 11), Welcome to My World (No. 20), and Gentle on My Mind (No. 14).

Martin virtually retired from the studio after November 1974 (Reprise withheld the Once in a While project until 1978, overdubbing the backing tracks with a more modern, sometimes disco-flavored sound). However, his longtime producer, Jimmy Bowen, eventually persuaded Martin to record in Nashville for the first time ever in 1983, and the moderately selling The Nashville Sessions, released on Warner Brothers, was a result.

Martin's recording career ended in July 1985, when he recorded the one-off, non-charting single, "L.A. Is My Home". Interestingly, no live albums were made available until after Martin's passing in 1995. Interest in the singer's career and demand for recordings continues to be significantly high, as is evidenced by the 2004 compilation Dino: The Essential Dean Martin (certified platinum by the RIAA).