Dean Martin - The Door Is Still Open To My Heart (2014) [Hi-Res]

The chart-topping success of Dean Martin's spring 1964 single "Everybody Loves Somebody" rejuvenated his recording career, and it created considerable demand for his records where there hadn't been much before. As a result, Reprise Records had to scramble, quickly issuing an Everybody Loves Somebody LP that consisted of the hit and tracks borrowed from other albums and singles. Martin then followed with a Top Ten hit, "The Door Is Still Open to My Heart," in the same watered-down rock & roll style, and Reprise had the happy dilemma of having to put together another tie-in album only two months later. This time, the label had a handful of newly recorded tracks to use, but the album still had to be padded with three selections that had appeared previously on the 1963 album Dean "Tex" Martin Rides Again ("I'm Gonna Change Everything," "The Middle of the Night Is My Cryin' Time," and "My Sugar's Gone"), along with both sides of the single. Since the new songs were minor efforts, the resulting lineup fit for the most part into the "hit plus filler" formula of albums assembled mainly for people who didn't like to buy 45s. The exception was a revival of the 1946 Russ Morgan song "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You," again done with those piano triplets that had been employed on "Everybody Loves Somebody" and "The Door Is Still Open to My Heart." Released as a single from the album, it became a Top 40 pop hit and Martin's third consecutive easy listening chart-topper. That was enough to earn the album an average ranking among Martin's long-players. ~ William Ruhlmann