A Winter Romance
is perhaps best described as a "seasonal" album rather than a Christmas or holiday release, despite the inclusion of such familiar fare as
"White Christmas"
and
"Winter Wonderland."
Dean Martin
has also included such standards as
"The Things We Did Last Summer"
"June in January,"
as well as some specially written material such as
Sammy Cahn
Ken Lane
's title song and
"It Won't Cool Off."
Nevertheless, with its lush strings, well-scrubbed vocal choruses, and buoyant mood, this collection has an appropriately festive feel.
Martin
does a competent job, even having fun here and there when the song allows him to present his take on a similar baritone (
Bing Crosby
on
;
Vaughn Monroe
"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
), or when the subject matter strays to something more comfortably suggestive like
"Baby, It's Cold Outside"
(performed with a female vocal chorus instead of a single female duet partner). All of which is to say that
makes the best of the situation without doing anything special with it. [Some reissues add one track,
"Christmas Blues,"
recorded in 1953.] ~ William Ruhlmann