Sleep Warm

AMG Review of Sleep Warm

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

On only his third full-length, 12-inch LP recorded as such, Dean Martin finally found a way to construct an album in the style of pal and rival Frank Sinatra's highly successful concept LPs: Bring Sinatra in as the conductor. (The arrangements are by Pete King.) Repose was Sinatra's chosen theme, and he selected a set of songs well-suited to Martin's bedroom voice, from Johnny Mercer's "Dream" and "Hit the Road to Dreamland" to "Let's Put Out the Lights (And Go to Sleep)" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me." Just as on a Sinatra theme album, the title track was written to order, in this case by Lew Spence with lyrics by Marilyn Keith and her husband-to-be, Alan Bergman. Martin brought more attention to the sessions than usual, and the sympathetic string arrangements supported his romantic vocals, making this one of his best album releases.