David Cassidy on the Web
Following famous dad's footsteps
September 01, 2002
ByMike Weatherford
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Dean Martin's son Ricci is coming to Las Vegas to perform the tribute to his father you might expect.
Pardon my indescretion, but I'm more curious about the show he didn't do.
The 48-year-old Woodland, Utah, resident has enjoyed a high profile this year, working the promotional circuit for his book "That's Amore -- A Son Remembers Dean Martin."
Ricci is a performer himself. His then-Beach Boy brother-in-law Carl Wilson produced Martin's 1977 album, "Beached."
More recently, he's stepped into the shoes of late brother Dean Paul to carry on the '60s pop legacy of Dino, Desi & Billy with Desi Arnaz Jr. and Billy Hinsche.
But Martin says Arnaz prefers staying home in Boulder City to working state fairs and casinos. Martin and Hinsche like to be busier. Hence, the Dean Martin tribute show, opening Friday at the Riviera.
Martin will share stories, show slides and yes, croon some of his late father's standards such as "Volare" and "Memories Are Made of This."
He had held off doing the latter until a high-roller's party at Sunset Station in June. The crowd went wild, and because Martin turns 49 on Sept. 20, "I'm more at ease with the idea of singing the standards."
He had resisted because "no one can do Dad, for crying out loud. No one can be Dad, and I'm not trying to do it."
Then why, oh why, was he preparing to join the cast of "The Rat Pack Is Back" last spring?
The Sahara show ended up closing, but not before reports that Martin was preparing to play some guy named Dean.
It's hard enough for most of us to imagine having a famous dad. It's beyond the realm of sane thought to imagine someone putting on a costume and wig and pretending to be your dad.
But "Rat Pack" producer (and former teen idol) David Cassidy was a friend since childhood. "If anyone else had asked me to do this I would not even have considered it for a minute," Martin says.
Moreover, the "Rat Pack" show was "more of a theatrical play than it was an impersonation."
But Martin is sympathetic even to guys such as Tom Stevens, who does wear the wig and puffs on fake cigarettes in a Suncoast revue.
"It keeps my father alive," he says. "There is something about (the legend) that is so real and true that people find it attractive.
"You can have someone do Dad horribly. The point is that people are still willing to buy into Dad no matter who does it. That's something that speaks very highly of my father. As corny or as great as someone is doing him, it's still an amazing compliment to my father in a huge way."
The younger Martin is willing to settle for a genetic resemblance. "My mom (Jeanne) has always said, `You are your father.' "
He's just trying not to take that compliment too literally.
