Artist:Dino, Desi & Billy
Song:I'm a Fool
Album:The Singles A's & B's
Similar to Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Dino, Desi & Billy used showbiz connections to make it in the music business. The 1965 single I'm a Fool was their biggest hit and they recorded four albums in two years. They just weren't that successful. Dean Paul Martin and Billy Hinsche were classmates in grammar school. Of course Martin was the son of Dean Martin. At first they played acoustic guitars similar to Chad & Jeremy. They decided to add a drummer and go electric. Desi Arnaz Jr. went to the same grammar school. He is the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. They played neighborhood shows and rehearsed in Dean Martin's den. Martin's wife asked Frank Sinatra if he wanted to hear them. Of course Sinatra owned Reprise Records. They got a record deal. The 1965 album I'm a Fool was their debut album. I'm a Fool was the second single and it reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. That turned out to be their biggest hit. The album was produced by Jimmy Bowen, Billy Strange, Jack Nitzsche and Lee Hazlewood. Hazlewood also produced Nancy Sinatra. I thought they made two big mistakes. They should have let Dino, Desi & Billy play their own instruments instead of using studio musicians. But the biggest mistake was having them record mostly covers. For example, I'm a Fool was written by Joey Cooper and Red West and originally recorded by Ricky Nelson. Cooper was the drummer in Shindig's house band The Shindogs. West wrote songs with Elvis Presley. Hazlewood wrote two songs for the album. But there were four Bob Dylan songs on the album. Fans already knew these songs and these versions were unnecessary. Dino, Desi & Billy opened for The Beach Boys and others and they appeared a lot on TV. This comp from Wounded Bird is available. After four albums and a bunch of singles, Dino, Desi & Billy split up in 1969. Desi Arnaz Jr. got into acting. Dean Paul Martin was a tennis player and was a captain in the California Air National Guard when he died in 1987 while piloting an F-4 Phantom jet. Hinsche was a backup musician for The Beach Boys. In 1998, Arnaz and Hinsche formed Ricci, Desi & Billy with Dean Martin's youngest son Ricci Martin. They released two albums and played shows until 2010. Hinsche died on Nov. 20, 2021. Here's Dino, Desi & Billy performing I'm a Fool on a 1965 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show.
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