How lucky can one guy be?  Although Dean Martin's exhaustive catalogue has been definitively anthologized on four massive box sets released by Germany's Bear Family label between 1997 and 2001, unheard material from the King of Cool continues to be discovered.  Reporting in February 2011 about the then-recent Cool Then, Cool Now 2-CD/book box set, this writer opined: "A true career retrospective box with material from each label and era would be essential for those Martin fans looking for more than single-disc compilations but less than 30 discs from Bear Family! How a three- or four-CD treatment in that vein has eluded Martin this long is a mystery."  Now, such a box set is here.

On June 12, 2012, Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) will release Collected Cool, a 3-CD/1-DVD collection that is being touted as the "first and only career-defining box set" for the late and much-loved crooner.  It includes selections from his tenures on the Capitol and Reprise labels plus two previously unreleased concerts, one in CD format and one on DVD.  The concert CD preserves a 1962 Lake Tahoe show at Cal-Neva Lodge in full; only selected tracks have been made available in the past.  The DVD jumps forward to 1983 and a London performance at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.  This program was aired on cable in 1983 and hasn't been seen since.

Disc One covers the Capitol Records period between 1949 and 1961 and includes a spoken word introduction taped in 1949.  During his fruitful period at Capitol, Martin made a splash with such Italian- flavored songs as "That's Amore" (a No. 2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100), "Return to Me" (No. 4) and "Volare" (No.  12).   This disc's nineteen tracks also include lesser-known songs like Martin's homage to his friend Bing Crosby, 1953's "If I Could Sing Like Bing," and "My Own, My Only, My All," one of his very first singles for Capitol.  Martin's film career was in full swing during the Capitol years, and he teams with Jerry Lewis on "Pardners" from their 1956 film of the same name.  The theme to 1959's Rio Bravo (which starred Martin opposite John Wayne and Rick Nelson) has also been included.  Frank Sinatra conducted Pete King's arrangements for Martin's 1959 album Sleep Warm, and its title track has made the cut.

Hit the jump to explore Discs 2 through 4 of this career-spanning box.  You'll also find a complete track listing with discography!  We've also got news on the upcoming Uncut release of The Dean Martin Show!

Sinatra, of course, figured prominently in the next stage of Martin's career.  In early 1962, Dino followed his pally to Frank's newly-formed Reprise label.  The Reprise period coincided with Martin's presence as host of a television variety show, and his visibility in the public eye remained great.  At Reprise, he truly proved his staying power when 1964's "Everybody Loves Somebody" hit No. 1 and knocked The Beatles from that hallowed spot!  (It's heard here in a "stripped down" version which presumably emphasizes Martin's voice rather than the then-current backing of Ernie Freeman's arrangement, produced by Jimmy Bowen.  It seems that this version will supersede the original on this set.)  Also included are his No. 1 Adult Contemporary hits "In The Misty Moonlight," "In The Chapel In The Moonlight," "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You" and "The Door Is Still Open To My Heart," which reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Guys and Dolls" is a swinging duet with Frank Sinatra, and Martin demonstrates his versatility with 1983's "My First Country Song" which found him emerging from a studio retirement to duet with Conway Twitty.  They were rewarded with a No. 50 C&W placing.  It really wasn't Dino's first country song, however, as he'd recorded a number of songs with country-style backing for Reprise in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  The disc concludes with 1985's "L.A. Is My Home," recorded for the MCA label.  Oddly, this disc is considerably shorter than Disc 1, with only 15 tracks covering over 20 years of recording.

Disc 3 takes listeners to Lake Tahoe, California's Cal-Neva Lodge on July 27, 1962.  Over 51 minutes, the live disc features a number of tracks of Martin's comedic banter as well as songs both familiar ("Volare," "On an Evening in Roma") and new to Martin (Leslie Bricusse's "My Kind of Girl," better associated with Matt Monro).  The spirit is freewheeling, with Martin delivering Cole Porter's "I Love Paris" as the site-specific "I Love Tahoe" for the occasion.

The fourth disc of Collected Cool premieres on DVD an hour-long concert from London's Apollo Victoria theatre in 1983. This performance originally aired only on Showtime and has not been commercially released until now.  Martin revisits old classics like "Everybody Loves Somebody," "That's Amore," "Little Ole Wine Drinker Me" and "Welcome To My World," sings parodies of "Pennies From Heaven," "Please Be Kind" and "It's Magic," and even dips into the Jim Croce songbook for a favorite of Frank Sinatra's, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown."

Collected Cool arrives from UMe on June 12.  While a hardcore Martin collector will likely already own the Bear Family boxes, the two unreleased discs might make this set a fine companion.  (Alas, the first two discs could have contained much more material than 34 tracks; 30 alone fit on Capitol's recent single-disc The Essential Dean Martin.  That said, these are more generous than the 28 tracks over 2 discs on Cool Then, Cool Now.)  It can be pre-ordered at the link below!

Fans of Martin (and who isn't?) might also want to check out the May 22 release of The Dean Martin Variety Show - Uncut, finally bringing complete episodes of Martin's long-running (1965-1974) NBC variety show to DVD.  Two previous 6-DVD boxed collections of The Dean Martin Show were released last year, featuring abr idged versions of 38 episodes.  Uncut instead presents six episodes in full, featuring the congenial host mingling with comedians Sid Caesar and Jackie Mason, country music superstar Buck Owens, and Broadway stars Zero Mostel and Tommy Tune, among others.  This landmark set, hopefully the first of many to come, arrives in stores on May 22 from Time-Life and can be pre-ordered here.

Dean Martin, Collected Cool (UMe, 2012)

CD 1:

1. Dean's Spoken Word Introductions (previously unreleased)
2. My Own, My Only, My All (Capitol single 54-691, 1949)
3. Powder Your Face With Sunshine (Smile! Smile! Smile!) (Capitol single 15-351, 1949)
4. I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine (Capitol single 981, 1950)
5. That's Amore (Capitol single 2589, 1953)
6. If I Could Sing Like Bing (Capitol single 2555, 1953)
7.  Sway (Capitol 2818, 1954)
8. Long, Long Ago (Capitol 2985, 1954)
9. Memories Are Made of This (Capitol 3295, 1955)
10. Pardners (with Jerry Lewis) (Capitol EAP 1-752, 1957)
11. Volare (Capitol 4028, 1958)
12. Rio Bravo (Capitol single 4174, 1958)
13. On an Evening in Roma (Capitol single 4222, 1959)
14. Sleep Warm (from Sleep Warm, Capitol LP 1150, 1958)
15. Ain't That a Kick in the Head (Capitol single 4420, 1960)
16. Just in Time (from This Time I'm Swingin', Capitol LP 1442, 1960/Capitol 4391, 1960)
17. Arrivederci Roma (from Dino: Italian Love Songs, Capitol LP 1659, 1961)
18. Return to Me (Capitol 3894, 1958)
19. A Hundred Years From Today (from Cha-Cha de Amor, Capitol LP 1702, 1961)

CD 2:

1. Tik-a-Tee, Tik-a-Tay (Reprise single R-20-058, 1962)
2. Senza Fine (Reprise single R-20-140, 1962)
3. Who's Got the Action (Reprise single 1438, 1962)
4. Guys and Dolls (with Frank Sinatra) (from Guys and Dolls, Reprise LP F-2016, 1963)
5. Everybody Loves Somebody (original version from Everybody Loves Somebody, Reprise LP 6130, 1964/Reprise single 0281, 1964)
6. The Door Is Still Open to My Heart (from The Door is Still Open to My Heart, Reprise LP 6140, 1964)
7. You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You (from The Door is Still Open to My Heart, Reprise LP 6140, 1964)
8. In the Misty Moonlight (from The Door is Still Open to My Heart, Reprise LP RS-6140, 1964/Reprise single 0640, 1967)
9. Send Me the Pillow You Dream On (from Dean Martin Hits Again, Reprise LP RS-6146, 1965/Reprise single 0344, 1965)
10. In the Chapel in the Moonlight (from Dean Martin Hits Again, Reprise LP RS-6146, 1965/Reprise single 0601, 1967)
11. Welcome to My World (from Remember Me (I'm the One Who Still Loves You), Reprise LP 6170, 1965)
12. I Will (from Houston, Reprise LP RS-6181, 1965/Reprise single 0393, 1965)
13. Somewhere There's a Someone (from Somewhere There's a Someone, Reprise LP RS-6201, 1966/Reprise single 0443, 1966)
14. My First Country Song (featuring Conway Twitty) (Warner Bros. single 7-29584, 1983)
15. L.A. Is My Home (MCA single 52262, 1985)

CD 3: Live from Lake Tahoe, July 27, 1962

1. Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes/Almost Like Being in Love/I Love Tahoe (Paris)
2. Show Banter #1
3. My Kind of Girl
4. Show Banter #2
5. Show Banter #3
6. June in January
7. Show Banter #4
8. Break It to Me Gently
9. Show Banter #5
10. Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody
11. Instrumental
12. Show Banter #6
13. Primrose Lane/You Are Too Beautiful/Carolina in the Morning/Love Walked In/I Love Being a Girl
14. Beautiful Dreamer
15. You Made Me Love You
16. It Had to Be You/Nevertheless
17. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter /Volare/On an Evening in Roma
18. Show Banter #7
19. I Love Paris (Tahoe)
20. Outro

DVD : Dean Martin Live in London

1. Everybody Loves Somebody
2. Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
3.  When You're Smiling
4. Pennies From Heaven
5.  L-O-V-E
6. Everybody Loves Somebody (reprise)
7. Where or When
8. Welcome to My World
9. Drinking Champagne
10. That's Amore
11. Love Walked In
12. Please Be Kind
13. It's Magic
14. Ken's Noodle
15. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
16. For the Good Times
17. Here Comes My Baby Back Again
18. Little Ole Wine Drinker Me
19. Bumming Around
20. One Hour With You

CD 3, previously unreleased except for Tracks 1, 3, 6, 8, 10 & 17 previously released on The Essential Dean Martin: Special Platinum Edition, Capitol 09463 11568 2 7, 2005

All tracks on DVD previously unreleased