Rolling Stones vs. Dean Martin: 1964

FRIDAY, 16 MARCH 2012 17:10 WRITTEN BY RICH KIENZLE

Today the Rolling Stones are still Rock and Roll and pop culture icons, even as they battle over when (if ever) to do a 50th Anniversary Tour.  Scott Mervis posted a very astute Pop Noise blog entry regarding Bruce Springsteen's recollections of the legendary TAMI Show movie, James Brown's explosive appearance in that film and the Rolling Stones' unenviable task of following the Godfather of Soul.

It's also worth noting that nearly 50 years later, it's easy to forget how revolutionary the Stones were in, say, 1964.  But here's an example that just about anyone can relate to.  It was still the Mad Men era in those days, Beatle haircuts got kids thrown out of school and music that could (and is) played in churches nowadays was considered subversive and sick.

Their music, both the hardcore blues aspects, and the blues-based rock, was too authentically black-sounding for white picket fence, white bread Mainstream America.  Hell, parents were only beginning to cope with the less threatening Beatles.

Enter the Stones, appearing on ABC's Ed Sullivan-like Saturday night variety show The Hollywood Palace  on June 3, 1964.  The show had guest hosts and this week's was Dean Martin, then in his prime and creating the legend that's honored today with Dino and imitators around the country, mostly as part of Rat Pack shows.

The Palace, taped in an LA theater, was produced by old-school showbiz types who had little truck with this whole youth movement, prefering instead to present the old farts of showbiz (Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, etc.) and the young farts who followed in their footsteps.  The Stones, no less controversial in England than they were here, were anathema to all that.

Ironically, Dino's kids came to the rehearsals for the telecast to get the Stones' autographs, according to then-bassist Bill Wyman. In his memoir Stone Alone: The Diary of a Rock and Roll Band, Wyman wrote in vivid detail about the tensions that ensued when the band played on the show. The show's jackass producers tried to give them money to buy band uniforms (which they hadn't worn except for a brief period early in their careers). A backstage dust-up with Dino nearly led Keith Richards to as Wyman put it, "pop (Dean) one with his guitar."

Here's that notorious performance, complete with Martin's snarky intro, homophobic eye-rolling and post-performance mockery. The song: Willie Dixon's  "I Just Want to Make Love to You," a souped-up arrangement of Muddy Waters' much slower version. Note that by today's standards, their stage attire would be appropriate at a formal dinner today.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/kqYEkYpX-uY?rel=0

Scott is right. The Stones had it in that day.  I'm a bit older than he is, so I remember this time in a bit more detail.  And I love Dean Martin as well (per my blog on his country side and this followup). But this particular day, he was playing to his crowd, and being a consummate a-hole in the process.

Of course not long after, Martin's son Dino, Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Billy Hinsche (a future Beach Boy) put together a rock band titled "Dino, Desi and Billy."  Dean did not treat them the same way.

http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/arts-entertainment-living/get-rhythm/32294-rolling-stones-vs-dean-martin-1964

Whats funny is that the performance of 'Not Fade away' filmed that day was finally shown a few months later - by which time the Stones had become 'big' in the States - with the Dino comments edited out and replaced by less sarcastic ones by another host (Ed Wynn, I think).

Dean being Dean.........That's all.
Great clip thanks!

Thanks for bringing that up, I first saw this in 25x5, the internet & Youtube weren't as popular then or even around, & later the full performance was on Youtube, Brian was so pissed of, he made these hate glares while he played harmonica.

1 minute and 35 seconds of pure magic.....more entertaining than the entire sum of 'Dino's " career.....

Martin was hilarious.

Take the Stones,lay the points.  :wtf2

Heart Of Stone wrote on Mar 17^th, 2012 at 7:13am:

Thanks for bringing that up, I first saw this in 25x5, the internet & Youtube weren't as popular then or even around, & later the full performance was on Youtube, Brian was so pissed of, he made these hate glares while he played harmonica.

yes, and from watching the 25x5 tape I remember Keith saying it just made the band stronger.

MrPleasant wrote on Mar 17^th, 2012 at 12:40pm:

Martin was hilarious.

Yes I agree!
You got to understand the times, it was common at the time to "make fun of" poke fun of or make light of the hair and The new thing (in their case The Stones).........I do not believe it was anything but a joke.
Martin was in his way IMO paying tribute to them.

Maybe 10-12 years ago Bill Wyman was a guest in a dutch talkshow (Wintertijd), where he told that they got even with Dean. Brian nailed his daughter. Don't know if it's true, but it sure was funny.

"You wouldn't leave me alone with the Rolling Stones now would ya ?"  :wtf1

Thanks for the clip EG ~ that looked like a live performance, and usually back then everything was lip-synched so I really loved watching it! Good old Dean Martin, he was such a kidder. At the time The Stones really were anti-establishment and to someone like Dean, they probably were a bit scary too!  

LOL ~ Brian & Dean's daughter! Brian ~ a perv with a vengence! I believe it!

Bitch wrote on Mar 18^th, 2012 at 2:39pm:

Thanks for the clip EG ~ that looked like a live performance, and usually back then everything was lip-synched so I really loved watching it!

Yeah, the whole thing looks and sounds live.

A lot of the shows from this era featured a live vocal over a pre-recorded musical playback (Ed Sullivan Show, for example)

These days we'd call that karaoke!