Dean Martin
Dean Martin turned effortlessness into an art form, a saloon-singer croon draped over perfect comic timing that made him, alongside Sinatra, the coolest man in the room for three decades running. He built his sound by openly studying Bing Crosby and the era's great harmony singers, then loosened it all up with his own boozy, unbothered charisma. He died in 1995, the King of Cool to the very end.
Martin said outright that he 'copied Bing Crosby 100 percent' while developing his singing style, before loosening it into his own boozier, more playful persona.
listen forPlay Crosby's easygoing 'White Christmas,' then Martin's 'That's Amore' — the same relaxed, close-microphone croon, filtered through Martin's own Italian-American warmth and wink.
Martin named Harry Mills of the Mills Brothers among the singers he copied while finding his own voice, absorbing the group's smooth, jazz-inflected vocal phrasing.
listen forListen to the tight, swinging vocal interplay on the Mills Brothers' 'Tiger Rag,' then Martin's own easy swing on 'Memories Are Made of This' — the rhythmic pop-jazz phrasing carries clearly from one to the other.
Martin also named Perry Como among the singers he studied early on, part of a shared postwar generation of easygoing baritone crooners who softened big-band bombast into something more intimate.
listen forHear the unhurried, warmly sincere delivery of Como's 'Till the End of Time,' then Martin's 'Everybody Loves Somebody' — both let the melody do the work without ever straining for effect.