''A Winter Romance'' is a 1959 long playing album by

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

, accompanied by an orchestra arranged and conducted by

Gus Levene Gus Levene, born Gershun Levene (July 11, 1911 – February 9, 1979), was an American arranger, composer, orchestrator and guitarist. In the mid-1940s, he was one of the top network radio arrangers. Levene is best remembered for his work as an ar ...

. While not exclusively a Christmas album, it features several songs associated with Christmas as part of its larger winter theme. It was Martin's only Christmas themed album for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. Martin later recorded ''

The Dean Martin Christmas Album __NOTOC__ ''The Dean Martin Christmas Album'' is a 1966 studio album by Dean Martin arranged by Ernie Freeman and Bill Justis. Release This was Martin's only album of Christmas music released on Reprise Records (his only other Christmas album, ...

'' for

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

in 1966. The original artwork featured a picture of Martin embracing a fetching young woman. At the same time, he is throwing a passing flirt at a second, attractive woman.

Reception

The initial ''Billboard'' magazine review from November 30, 1959, chose the album as one of its "Spotlight Winners of the Week" and commented that "The tunes are all one the winter kick... Martin sings them with his usual ease and nonchalance... A potent waxing for the holiday season".

Track listing

Original LP

Capitol (S) T-1285

Side A

#"A Winter Romance" (

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premier ...

Ken Lane Kermit "Ken" Lane (December 20, 1912 – November 23, 1996) was an American musician from Brooklyn, New York. He was best known to audiences as Dean Martin's pianist on ''The Dean Martin Show'' in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but was already ...

) – 2:57 #*Session 7875S; Master 32161; Take 10. Recorded August 4, 1959. #"

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as simply "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heat wave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions ...

" (

Jule Styne Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became s ...

, Sammy Cahn) – 1:55 #*Session 7882; Master 32194; Take 15. Recorded August 6, 1959. #"

The Things We Did Last Summer "The Things We Did Last Summer" is a popular song about nostalgia from 1946. The words were written by Sammy Cahn, with the composition by Jule Styne. The most well known version is the 1946 Top ten hit by Jo Stafford. Versions by Frank Sinatra an ...

" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) – 3:37 #*Session 7851; Master 32147; Take 8. Recorded July 29, 1959. #"

I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" is a popular song copyrighted in 1937 by its composer, Irving Berlin, and first recorded by (i) Ray Noble (January 5, 1937), Howard Barrie, vocalist, and (ii) Red Norvo (January 8, 1937), Mildred Bailey, vocalist ...

" (

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russi ...

) – 2:43 #*Session 7875S; Master 32164; Take 8. Recorded August 4, 1959. #"

June in January "June in January" is a popular song with music by Ralph Rainger and lyrics by Leo Robin, published in 1934. The song was introduced in the movie '' Here Is My Heart'' by Bing Crosby in 1934. The Crosby recording, made on November 9, 1934 with Ge ...

" (

Leo Robin Leo Robin (April 6, 1900 – December 29, 1984) was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope and Shirl ...

Ralph Rainger Ralph Rainger ( Reichenthal; October 7, 1901 – October 23, 1942) was an American composer of popular music principally for films. Biography Born Ralph Reichenthal in New York City, United States, Rainger initially embarked on a legal career, ...

) – 2:46 #*Session 7875S; Master 32162; Take 6. Recorded August 4, 1959. #"

Canadian Sunset "Canadian Sunset" is a popular song with music by jazz pianist Eddie Heywood and lyrics by Norman Gimbel. An instrumental version by Heywood and Hugo Winterhalter reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 7 on the R&B chart in 195 ...

" (

Eddie Heywood Edward Heywood Jr. (December 4, 1915 – January 3, 1989) was an American jazz pianist particularly active in the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Heywood was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. His father, Eddie Heywood Sr., was also a jazz m ...

Norman Gimbel Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes. He wrote the lyrics for songs including "Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Ready to Take a Chance Again" (both with ...

) – 3:18 #*Session 7851; Master 32150; Take 4. Recorded July 29, 1959.

Side B

Winter Wonderland "Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himber, ...

" (

Felix Bernard Felix William Bernard (April 28, 1897 – October 20, 1944) was an American conductor, pianist and a composer of popular music. His writing credits include the popular songs "Winter Wonderland" (with lyricist Richard B. Smith) and "Dardanella". B ...

, Dick Smith) – 1:51 #*Session 7851; Master 32148; Take 7. Recorded July 29, 1959. #"

Out in the Cold Again "Out in the Cold Again" is a song written by Ted Koehler and Rube Bloom and first performed by Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra. It reached #4 on the US chart in 1934. Other charting versions *In 1951, Richard Hayes released a version as ...

" (

Rube Bloom Reuben Bloom (April 24, 1902 – March 30, 1976) was an American songwriter, pianist, arranger, band leader, recording artist, vocalist, and author. Life and career Bloom was born and died in New York City. He was Jewish. During his career, he wo ...

Ted Koehler Ted L. Koehler (July 14, 1894 – January 17, 1973) was an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Life and career Koehler was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver, but w ...

) – 3:34 #*Session 7882; Master 32191; Take 12. Recorded August 6, 1959. #"

Baby, It's Cold Outside "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a popular song written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and popularized in the 1949 film '' Neptune's Daughter''. While the lyrics make no mention of a holiday, it is commonly regarded as a Christmas song owing to its winter ...

" (

Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a Tony ...

) – 2:23 #*Session 7882; Master 32192; Take 15. Recorded August 6, 1959. #"

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

" (

Johnny Marks John David Marks (November 10, 1909 – September 3, 1985) was an American songwriter. He specialized in Christmas songs (although he himself was Jewish and did not celebrate Christmas) and wrote many holiday standards, including "Rudolph the Red- ...

) – 2:15 #*Session 7882; Master 32193; Take 4. Recorded August 6, 1959. #" White Christmas" (Berlin) – 2:28 #*Session 7851; Master 32149; Take 7. Recorded July 29, 1959. #"It Won't Cool Off" (Cahn, Lane) – 2:27 #*Session 7875S; Master 32163; Take 7. Recorded August 4, 1959.

Reissues

The LP was reissued in 1965 as ''Holiday Cheer'' (Capitol STT-2343) as well as on the

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

, with different cover art and the song "A Winter Romance" omitted. This version charted for 11 weeks peaking at #12 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s Best Bets For Christmas album chart December 14, 1968."Billboard Best Bets For Christmas." Billboard, vol. 80, no. 50, December 14, 1968, p. 84. worldradiohistory.com. The 1989 Capitol CD reissue added a thirteenth

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

following to the original album. #"The Christmas Blues" ( David Holt, Cahn) – 2:54. #*Session 3176; Master 11943–8; Take 8. Recorded October 5, 1953. The 2005

Collectors' Choice Music Collectors' Choice Music (CCM) is an Itasca, Illinois, company originally primarily in two businesses, but since 2010 only in the second. CCM was best known for reissuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact discs. , its catalog ...

CD reissue added four (non-Christmas) bonus tracks to the original album. #"Meanderin'" (Cy Coben,

Charles Randolph Grean Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

George Botsford George Botsford (February 24, 1874 – February 1, 1949) was an American composer of ragtime and other forms of music. Early life and education Botsford was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but grew up mostly in Clermont, Iowa. He married s ...

) – 2:58 #*Session 2309; Master 9022–7. Recorded September 15, 1951. #"Sogni d'Oro" ( Marilyn Keith, Lew Spence,

Alan Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...

) – 2:35 #*Session 7751; Master 31662–14. Recorded May 13, 1959. #"Go Go Go Go" (

Jerry Livingston Jerry Livingston (born Jerry Levinson; March 25, 1909 – July 1, 1987) was an American songwriter and dance orchestra pianist. Life and career Born in Denver, Colorado, Livingston studied music at the University of Arizona. While there he com ...

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

) – 2:22 #*Session 2092; Master 7256–7. Recorded June 20, 1951. #"Buttercup of Golden Hair" (Mitchell Tableporter) – 2:18 #*Session 7757; Master 31694–3. Recorded May 15, 1959.

Personnel

– vocals *Gus Levene – leader *Hy Lesnick – contractor *Joseph R. (Bobby) Gibbons – guitar * George Sylvester 'Red' Callender – bass guitar *Louis 'Lou' Singer – drums *James Rowles – piano on sessions 7851 and 7882 *Ray I. Sherman – piano on session 7875S *Edward Ross – accordion on session 7882 *Kurt Reher – cello *Eleanor Aller Slatkin – cello *Kathryn Julye –

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

on sessions 7875S and 7882 *Donald Cole – viola *Alvin Dinkin – viola on session 7875S *Virginia Majewski – viola *David H. Sterkin – viola on session 7851 *

Israel Baker Israel Baker (February 11, 1919 – December 25, 2011) was an American violinist and concertmaster. Through a long and varied career he played with many of the greatest figures in the worlds of classical music, jazz and pop. He appeared on hund ...

– violin on session 7882 *Victor Bay – violin *John Peter DeVoogt – violin *Nathan Kaproff – violin *Joseph Livoti – violin *Daniel 'Dan' Lube – violin *Erno Neufeld – violin *Jerome 'Jerry' Reisler – violin *Ralph Schaeffer – violin on session 7875S *Felix Slatkin – violin on sessions 7851 and 7882 *Gerald Vinci – violin on sessions 7851 and 7875S *Arnold Koblentz – oboe on sessions 7851 and 7875S *James Briggs – saxophone on session 7882 *Mahlon Clark – saxophone on sessions 7875S and 7882 * Arthur 'Skeets' Herfurt – saxophone on session 7875S *Edward Kuczborski ('Eddie' Kusby) – saxophone on session 7875S *Harry Klee – saxophone on session 7882 * Ronald Langinger – saxophone on session 7875S *Theodore M. 'Ted' Nash – saxophone on session 7851 * Emanuel 'Mannie' Klein – trumpet on session 7875S

Charts

Certifications

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter Romance, A 1959 Christmas albums Albums recorded at Capitol Studios Capitol Records Christmas albums Christmas albums by American artists Dean Martin albums Pop Christmas albums Concept albums