When you're the son of one of the most popular and loved singers in the world, it can be a tough road if you decide to follow in his footsteps. But according to Ricci Martin, "It is more difficult because people compare you and you're never going to overshadow your father-let's face it, there's only one Dean Martin. So it would be absurd to try and compare me to my dad. He was an impossible act to follow, not only for his talent, but because dad was so revered and so loved by so many, it has always made it easier for me. I truly fashioned myself after my dad because I really admired him. Here's a guy who was truly a superstar, but he never played the big-shot card. I figured that if he could be a gentleman and treat people with respect, I felt that I could as well."

And it showed when Martin took the stage with his tribute-Dino, His Son Remembers-to his famous father, as he did at the Suncoast last week. I caught up to the likeable Martin at his home just outside Park City, Utah recently. He's a regular guy who likes to laugh and doesn't take himself too seriously, maybe because he never had, as he says, "... any visions of grandeur. When I was coming of age, the Beatles came on the scene and I had a band when I was 14, as everybody did in those days. That was also the time my brother Dino, who was 22 months older than me, had his group, Dino, Desi (Arnaz, Jr.) and Billy (Hinsche) and they were doing really well."

Martin says his famous father didn't get involved with their careers. "My dad felt it was a good thing to keep a distance because of the cries from critics of nepotism and that kind of thing."

Martin began to seriously think about becoming a singer when Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys heard some of his songs. "Billy's sister Annie had married Carl, so consequently I hung with Billy, which meant I hung with Annie and spent a lot of time with Carl. I would go over to Carl's house and play on his piano.

"I was also singing and songwriting because it was something I just enjoyed doing. One day Carl overheard me and said, 'Hey, what's that song?' I told him it was one of mine. He said lets go over to the studio and record it, so we ended up doing a whole album of my songs. We started in 1975 and finished in '77. That's when I started singing seriously."

In 1977, he was the opening act for the Beach Boys during their tour. When the tour finished, "I started playing clubs, but wasn't doing my dad's music. Then fade out, fade, in, years went by, I got married, separated, had three beautiful children. Then Carl died of cancer and Billy was doing a tribute to Carl at the Roxy in LA to raise money to fight cancer.

He asked me to come in and perform and while there, I said to Billy and Desi, 'Why don't we get together and do something?' "They liked the idea so we did a few shows, but the guys were always asking me to sing dad's songs. I finally agreed to sing That's Amore and Volare. When I did the songs, the place went nuts. We were trying to make the show work, but Desi didn't really want to tour, so I said to Billy 'I have all of these stills of dad's variety show' and I had digitized all these incredible photos going back to the days of the Rat Pack.

"So we picked a bunch of my dad's hit songs and we storyboarded the show." A few months later, they started to tour and the act caught on. Since then, Martin has toured across the country and Canada. When he comes to a casino in your area this year, make sure you catch his show.