Dino, Desi & Billy were an American singing trio that existed between 1964 and 1969. The group featured Dean "Dino" Martin (Dean Paul Martin, the son of singer and actor Dean Martin), Desi Arnaz Jr. (Desiderio Arnaz IV, the son of television stars Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball), and their friend Billy Hinsche, the son of Otto “Doc” Hinsche and Celia Bautista.[1] A reconstituted version of the group performed between 1998 and 2010.
Dino Martin, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Billy Hinsche first met in grammar school.[2][3] Due to the family connections of Dino and Desi, the band's first audition was for Frank Sinatra, who founded and still had an interest in Reprise Records, the recording label for Dean Martin.[4] Though Arnaz, whose father was a famous drummer and who had learned to play drums from close family friend Richard Keith (who played Little Ricky on I Love Lucy)[5] was a skilled drummer in his own right, the group did not play their own instruments on most of their records, instead using top session players, producers and songwriters. Producers included Lee Hazlewood, Billy Strange and Jimmy Bowen. Songwriters whose compositions were recorded by the group included Hazlewood, Red West, David Gates, Boyce and Hart, Clint Ballard Jr. and Bonner & Gordon.[4]
The band did not have a top 40 hit after 1965, despite releasing records for five years thereafter.[4]
The group released one album in 1965 and three albums in 1966. Dino, Desi & Billy albums contained primarily versions of Top 40 songs made popular by others,[9] with new content being minor. The three boys made an appearance in the Dean Martin film Murderers' Row and sang the Boyce & Hart song, "If You're Thinkin' What I'm Thinkin'". From 1966 to 1970, the group continued to release singles, encountering marginal success, which was not altered by a change of label to Columbia Records in 1969. Also in 1969, the group contributed three songs to the soundtrack of the surf film Follow Me. The group received top billing on the soundtrack album, despite the fact that most of the album featured music by composer Stu Phillips.[10] Later in 1969, the group broke up, due in part to Desi joining his mother's television show and Hinsche wishing to commence university studies.[2]
The group was never a favorite of the critics. Writing for AllMusic, music critic Richie Unterberger characterized them as a group that "never had an ounce of credibility", with music that was "innocuously bland in the extreme."[4] These sentiments may be contrasted with the fact that the band was well thought of by the Beach Boys, to the extent that Brian Wilson and Hinsche co-wrote one of the band's original songs, and their final single, "Lady Love". That single was released by Reprise Records in 1970, after the group had broken up. Hinsche's sister, Annie, married Carl Wilson and Hinsche himself worked with the Beach Boys as a backing musician for many years.[4]
Dean Paul Martin became a tennis player, actor and a captain in the California Air National Guard. He was married to actress Olivia Hussey and figure skater Dorothy Hamill, and was killed while piloting an F-4 Phantom jet in 1987.[11]
In 1996, Sundazed Records released The Rebel Kind: The Best of Dino, Desi & Billy, in which all of the group's singles and other non-cover material was collected for the first time on one album.
From 1998 to 2010, a reconfiguration of the group, known as "Ricci, Desi, & Billy", performed at various times, in addition to releasing two live albums.[12] The band performed new material and the original hits, with Ricci Martin, the youngest son of singer Dean Martin, replacing his late older brother, Dean Paul Martin.[13][14]
I'm a Fool – Reprise R (Mono)/RS (Stereo) 6176 — U.S. No. 51, September 1965
Our Time's Coming— Reprise R/RS 6194 — U.S. No. 119, February 1966
Memories Are Made of This — Reprise R/RS 6198 – 1966
Souvenir — Reprise R/RS 6224 – 1966
Follow Me Original Soundtrack – Uni 73056 – 1969 – Three songs sung by Dino, Desi & Billy, "Thru Spray Colored Glasses" (co-written by Stu Phillips and David Gates), "Like The Wind And Sea" (co-written by Phillips and Ronnie Franklin) and "Just Lookin' For Someone" (co-written by Phillips and Gates)[23]
The Rebel Kind: The Best of Dino, Desi & Billy – Sundazed, 1996[24]
^Contrary to the liner notes on their first album, Billy Hinsche did not meet the others by virtue of his father becoming wealthy selling real estate to Dean Martin, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. See Gary James, Interview with Billy Hinsche; www.classicbands.com.
^For Billy Hinsche, the connection to the Beach Boys became longstanding. He became a touring member of the band, commencing in 1974, following his completion of university studies. Hinsche's sister also married Beach Boy Carl Wilson.
