Dick Clark challenged Bobby Darin in the late '60s when Darin changed out of his tuxedo and refused to sing "Mack the Knife," but instead played acoustic guitar, harmonica and wrote protest songs. Darin told Clark he was "just doing my thing, man...just doing my thing."During his career Bobby Darin did many things covering an impressive spectrum of diversified styles with consummate skill. In the mid-1950s, he sang rhythm 'n' blues songs written by Berry Gordy, Jr. Darin wrote a handful of R&B tunes: "This Little Girl's Gone Rockin' " by Ruth Brown, "Wait a Minute" by the Coasters and "Love Me Right" for LaVern Baker. His fondness for R&B was obvious on his first recordings. Atlantic Records reportedly even considered making him a member of the Coasters, hardly practical for 1957. Darin wrote "Early in the Morning," a wailing gospel-blues song, and showed his appreciation for Fats Domino with his phrasing style on "Splish Splash."
"Early in the Morning" caused a custody battle between Coral Records and Atco: Darin recorded the song for Coral without Atco's permission, so Coral released it as a record by the Ding Dongs, a fictitious group. Atco found out and forced the record's recall and then issued it by its own fictitious group, the Rinky Dinks. Next, Coral released a version by their established hit maker, Buddy Holly. Darin's version (the Rinky Dinks) reached #24 nationally while Holly's peaked at #32.
Although he wrote most of his early hits, Darin preferred songs written by others — 75 percent of his releases were borrowed compositions spanning seven decades, from the 1909 "Bill Bailey" to 1973's "Happy," the latter from the film Lady Sings the Blues and Darin's only charting single on Motown.
Darin devoted an entire album to Ray Charles' music. Critics applauded and condemned his actions. Darlene Love, "a Raelet" on the LP, said, "Bobby was not out to imitate or assume anything...he just wanted to feel the same groove, and singing Ray Charles gave him the greatest kick."
Another Ray Charles-type song, "Irresistible You," initially recorded by Bobby Peterson, was successfully released by Darin. His pulsating version was a Top 20 twist hit in 1962.
Darin wrote over 200 songs for himself and others. Some were obscure: "Wear My Ring" for Gene Vincent, "School's Out" for the Jaye Sisters, "Summertime Symphony" for Jamie Coe, "I Want to Spend Christmas with Elvis" for Little Lambsie Penn. Others were more successful songs: "I'll Be There" for Gerry and the Pacemakers, "Sing a Song of Freedom" for Tim Hardin, and "Dream Lover," "You're The Reason I'm Living," "Plain Jane" and many more for himself.
Bobby Darin's greatest ambition was to become a serious and successful movie actor, and he realized rock 'n' roll stardom was a means to reach this goal. He continued to pound out Top 40 hits like "Queen of the Hop" (written with Woody Harris), which was based loosely on Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen," American Bandstand and 1958 song titles. Jim Croce (an avid Darin fan) used "Queen of the Hop" 's instrumental roots for his "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" classic in 1971. A Darin B-side, "Lost Love," was a calypso-flavored ballad patterned after one of his favorites, Harry Belafonte.
"Dream Lover" borrowed its musical structure from a Roy Hamilton single, "A Great Romance," and got its phrasing, according to Mike Kelly (who performed on Atlantic with Darin), from Sam Cooke's "I know, I know, I know...you send me." "Dream Lover" has been redone 20 times since 1959. There's even an outrageous version by the punk-rock Plasmatics' lead singer, Wendy 0. Williams!
Darin borrowed elements from others — Fats, Little Richard, Larry Williams, even Elvis (on "Mighty Mighty Man") — but quickly developed and mastered his own distinctive style which thrilled millions.
He experimented too. He used multi-track recording machines on his records, played drums, sang on other artists' hits (i.e.. Buddy Knox's), and developed a dance routine for personal appearances (at New Jersey's Palisades Park, etc.), thanks to his girlfriend, JoAnn Campbell, herself an early rock 'n' roll singer. Campbell sang "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby" (a Goffin/King song), written about Darin. When Darin became a nightclub performer, he emulated another of his personal favorites, Donald 0' Connor.
The next stage in his career occurred at Christmas time in 1958. Darin hired a big band orchestra (including young Doc Severinsen) and revived classics from the '30s and '40s. The end result was That's All, an LP released in early 1959. This LP spawned two major hits for Darin. On his classic "Mack the Knife" he utilized Buddy Greco's style from "The Lady Is a Tramp." This finger-snapping remake established Darin as a bona fide star. "Beyond the Sea," originally a post-World War II hit for Benny Goodman, became the second smash from this masterpiece LP.
His next hit, "Clementine," co-written with Woody Harris, was a parody of "My Darling Clementine." Darin liked the song so much he named his black poodle Clementine.
In 1959, he played the Town and Country club in Brooklyn and gave performances at Harlem's Apollo. A year later Darin became the youngest star to ever headline the Copacabana. This was a far cry from two years earlier when he wrote to girlfriend Connie Francis, "They clapped after I sang on stage, out of sympathy or maybe they liked me," His Copa performances became legendary. Darin sang, danced, played piano, horns, xylophone, and did impersonations of Cagney, Gable, Groucho, W.C. Fields and more.
In 1963 he added a folk and country segment to his concerts. Roger McGuinn, who accompanied him on stage, reflected that Darin was progressive for his time. Later, in 1969, Darin incorporated protest songs into his act. This offended some of his fans who had come to hear his finger-snapping performance.
Darin performed as much as his health would permit. He knew he was on borrowed time, so he crammed as much into each day as he could. In 1972, a year after his open heart surgery, he performed in New York City's Central Park. He told the audience he wanted to bring his son, Dodd, to his old neighborhood, where he grew up.
When Darin's bad health prohibited touring, he wrote and produced for aspiring rock 'n' rollers such as the Rip Chords ("Hot Rod USA"), the City Surfers ("Powder Puff," "50 Miles," "Beach Ball" and "Suntan Baby"), and the Catalinas' ("Run, Rabbit, Run," "Summer Means Fun," "Boss Barracuda"), The Catalina's 1964 album featured future pop stars Roger McGuinn (Byrds), Bruce Johnston (Beach Boys) and Terry Melcher. He also worked closely with Tony Orlando, Wayne Newton and Linda Ronstadt.
Bobby Darin's album output (34 issued between 1958 and 1973) was substantial. A few were "theme" or "concept" albums such as Sings Ray Charles, Golden Folk Hits (traditional folk), Earthy (African, Mexican and American songs of the 19th and 20th centuries), Born Walden Robert Cassotto and Commitment. The last two consisted of original songs in which Darin displayed his anger over the state of America in the late 1960s. Cashbox magazine said, "Our number one LP of the year (1969) would have been Born Walden Robert Cassotto except that Commitment was also released the same year. Both belong among the dominant social documentaries of our time. They cover our traditions and tragedies and should be illuminating the literature of song for years to come...they are shattering songs of social consciousness that belong in the mainstream of our new American revolution."
"Long Line Rider" bluntly addressed the need for prison reform; "In Memoriam" conveyed the bitterness Darin felt about Bobby Kennedy's death; and "Sausalito" pointed an accusatory finger at California's Governor Ronald Reagan. Songs like "Jive," "Distractions" and "Me And Mr. Hohner" explored different progressive themes. "Baby May" (a single) demanded parents accept more responsibility when their children have problems. The song's promotional literature said Bob Darin (as he wanted to be known then) had Art Linkletter in mind following the death of Linkletter's daughter from a drug overdose. Darin said Linkletter could have assumed more responsibility.
Darin's political and social activism should not have surprised anyone. In addition to his work for John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, he participated in freedom marches in Selma and other southern cities. He wrote and sang one of the first anti-war songs. "We Didn't Ask To Be Brought Here," in 1965. Later he sent an open letter to President Nixon asking him to end our involvement in Vietnam.
Again, at a later date, he approached Nixon on behalf of John Lennon and his battle to remain in the U.S. On "Sing a Simple Song of Freedom," which he wrote for Tim Hardin, he addressed the need for freedom and fairness in the U.S.S.R., specifically mentioning Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the imprisoned Russian author.
During quieter times, Darin appeared regularly on Ed Sullivan, The Tonight Show (often as guest host) and American Bandstand. He hosted Kraft music specials, his own productions (Darin And Friends, produced by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin of All In The Family fame; Friends and Lovers — Rodgers and Hart, produced by Quincy Jones; The Darin Invasion) and appeared on over 25 variety shows. He acted in dramatic roles on Night Gallery, Run For Your Life, Ironside and Wagon Train, among other TV programs. He wrote the theme for his friend George Burns' television series, Wendy And Me.
In 1972, Darin finally landed his first television series The Bobby Darin Amusement Company. Each week's show featured singing and comedy sketches with Darin characters: Dusty John, the hippie poet, Angie, the tenement dweller and Groucho. The series was cancelled just months before he died in 1973.
He appeared in 13 movies, notably Captain Newman. M.D., for which he won a French film award and an Oscar nomination for his role as Corporal Jim Tompkins. In the flak juice (sodium pentothol) scene, he graphically relives the loss of a friend.
He had marquee billing in two movies, Too Late Blues and Gunfight At Abilene. He appeared with his first wife, Sandra Dee, in three movies: Come September, If A Man Answers and That Funny Feeling. He appeared in three far-out flicks: Cop Out, Happy Mother's Day, Love George and Happy Ending. He played opposite Sidney Poitier in Pressure Point. Poitier was an Army doctor, while Darin was his patient who was a "Negro-hating Nazi sympathizer."
It's widely accepted that Bobby Darin was a multi-talented and versatile individual. Perhaps it's because he excelled at so many things that he has been kept from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Or maybe his huge success following his rock 'n' roll fame has caused people to forget or overlook his early contributions.
There's much more that will be written about the baron, Bobby Darin, who died at age 37 on December 20, 1973.
Harriet Wasser, who worked closely with Darin for years, said he did so much in such a short time because he always knew for him the clock of life was ticking fast. Wasser says his progressive heart illness helps us to understand why he did so many different things at the same time. Fortunately, many of us in the baby boom generation were moved when Bobby Darin "did his thing."
Home | News | Bobby | Career | Fun | Fans | Specials
bobbydarin.net, All Rights Reserved.