In his brief 37 years, Bobby Darin accumulated 22 Top 40 singles, 10 of them in Billboard's Top 10, and four Top 40 albums. Seventeen of his Top 40 hits were recorded with Atco, three on the Capitol label, and the final two when he returned to Atlantic, Atco's parent label. In all, Darin released nearly 70 singles and more than 30 albums for six different labels, and he remained one of the top attractions at clubs throughout the United States during most of his 17-year career. During that time, Darin also wrote or collaborated on 153 songs.Beginning his career during rock 'n' roll's primordial mid-1950s, Darin was one of rock's first successful recording stars to cross over into what was then seen as a different, "adult" pop market. Rock was viewed as strictly teen fodder during those years when a lot of popular recordings by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Perry Como and others were still in demand by older record buyers. Darin achieved stardom among both groups, running up an early string of rock hits while also gaining a grip on the more adult oriented market. Among the standards that will always be considered "Darin songs" are the megabit "Mack the Knife," and "Beyond the Sea," "Dream Lover," "Splish Splash," "Queen of the Hop" and "If I Were a Carpenter." This list doesn't even scratch the surface of the mountain of memorable Darin numbers.
If someone attempted to build a rudimentary collection of Darin recordings today it would quickly become obvious that surprisingly few of them remain available, unless the collector is willing to scour the universe of used record shops. A complete Darin discography accompanies this article, but the focus here will be on summarizing the Darin recordings that are still available. These fall into several categories, beginning with the handful of tracks Darin cut with Decca, his first label. Second are the "greatest hits" compilations that contain most of Darin's 17 Top 40 hits recorded on the Atco label, a subsidiary of Atlantic. Next, there are recordings of live Darin performances. Then there are a few tracks culled from a variety of Capitol records that are no longer available. These titles are now found on cassette compilations and include Darin's three Capitol Top 40 singles. Capitol is beginning to reissue some of its Darin albums, starting with Oh! Look At Me Now.
There is a final category containing recordings that don't neatly fit elsewhere. These tracks include Bobby Darin: 1936-1973, a posthumous album containing some of the recordings he did for Motown in the final days of his career. Two of a Kind, an Atco album recorded with Johnny Mercer, and an offbeat album called As Long As I'm Singin'. Ironically, Darin recordings are available from every company he worked for except his own Direction label.
Darin's earliest recordings were done for Decca in 1956, but his relationship with that label was a short one and he cut only eight songs there. These rare Decca singles, and the Decca EP, Hear Them Bells, which contains four of the songs, are among the most collectible Darin discs. In 1986, MCA obtained the rights to all eight titles and released them on the budget line cassette Silly Willie.
For Darin fans familiar only with his most recognized hits, the Decca cuts are eye openers, especially the spirituals "Hear Them Bells" and "The Greatest Builder of Them All." Titles like "Rock Island Line" and "Silly Willie" also seem a bit odd for the hip, finger-snapping Darin. But, while the Darin voice wasn't quite there yet, and the right material was still in the future, the sharp resonance and vocal sincerity were clearly present in these first tracks.
By the time the right material did arrive, Darin had signed with Atco, where he enjoyed his greatest period of recording success. There are three album compilations of Darin's Atco hits, one on CD and two on vinyl. By far the best collection of these standards appears on the Warner Special Products CD, The Ultimate Bobby Darin, which includes 17 songs. Of all these collections, the CD has the best sound quality and, in every way, is the preferred Darin Atco anthology. It is missing only two hit singles, "Nature Boy" and "What'd I Say," but adds two B-sides, "I'll Be There" and "Somebody to Love," and it is the only place you'll find "Irresistible You." All three songs appear in flawless stereo.
The CD has the added virtue of returning to their original mono form "Plain Jane," "Bill Bailey," "Artificial Flowers" and "Lazy River." All four were hopelessly botched when remixed for a variety of earlier stereo releases. The CD also presents excellent stereo mixes of "Irresistible You," "Multiplication" and "Things," and "Multiplication" adds the closing line, "They better," missing from all other releases of the song, including the single. The original single version of "Clementine" reemerges on the CD in a new stereo mix. This version was replaced with an alternate take on earlier stereo releases. (The original "Clementine" is available in mono on the original The Bobby Darin Story LP.) The CD also restores the bubble sounds at the end of "Splish Splash," cut from all releases except the single, and has the full fade-out on "Beyond The Sea," also previously heard only on the single.
Most of Darin's Atco hits can also be found on the albums The Bobby Darin Story and the British release, The Legend of Bobby Darin. Atco's The Bobby Darin Story originally appeared in mono and was released with a white cover. It now features a black cover and is available only in stereo, although many of the tracks remain in mono. This album also includes narration by Darin himself, which is a nice touch, but it sometimes obscures the beginnings of songs. This album is the most recent Darin CD release as well.
Of the Atco Top 40 titles. Story is missing "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," "Irresistible You," "Multiplication" and "Things." The album does feature "Somebody to Love." the original B-side of "Artificial Flowers," which appears here in dreadful stereo. There is a new, vastly improved stereo mix of the song on the Ultimate Bobby Darin CD- Some of the tracks on Story were replaced with different mixes for the stereo release, which also has the alternate lake of "Clementine" noted earlier. More on the "stereoza- tion" of Darin later.
The British album The Legend of Bobby Darin is the preferable of the two vinyl releases since it includes nine songs missing from Story, all but one in mono. On the minus side, it offers the same stereo mixes found on Story, except for "Beyond the Sea," which appears in mono. All of the Atco hits are present except "Irresistible You," and the album adds four other tracks: "My Bonnie" and "I Got a Woman," both from the Bobby Darin Sings Ray Charles LP, "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," from This Is Darin, and "Baby Face," a single that did not make the Top 40.
Unfortunately, all three collections include some tracks in stereo and others in mono. This creates a two-fold problem. First, many Darin fans would like to have a full set of his hits in true stereo on a single album. There is no record of this kind as yet, and the best that can be done is to gather together the three discs mentioned above, and to add the Australian K-Tel LP, Sold Out: Bobby Darin — 20 Greatest Hits, which offers rare stereo versions of "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" and "What'd I Say." These are also available in stereo on Japanese singles. This still leaves only mono versions of "Early in the Morning" and "Nature Boy." Other fans may prefer to hear these hit singles in their original mono mixes, which in many cases are livelier and lighter than the sometimes watered-down stereo versions. Alas, there is no album that can fill that bill either.
Second, most of the stereo tracks on the two vinyl releases are so badly botched that they rank with the all time worst vinyl degradations. Worse yet, except for "Clementine," these are the only stereo mixes available of most of these Darin hits. Thus, fans preferring an all-stereo collection will not only have to wait for such a release, but must cling to the everlasting hope that some industrious record company will remix virtually all of these tracks into presentable stereo, a highly unlikely possibility.
Whoever committed these stereo atrocities had obviously only recently discovered that stereo technology not only permits the separation of sounds into left and right channels, but provides the added opportunity of moving vocals or instruments from right to left, or to center, during a song. The culprit in this case must have become infatuated with the device to the point of losing all self control. On many of the stereo mixes, Darin's voice is heard jumping constantly in mid-song from right to left and back again. Worse, the volume levels sometimes change as rapidly as the location of the voice. Darin himself couldn't jump this fast or often if he were still alive and hot-footing down at the Copa. Sloppy edits are another integral part of these horrid mixes.
The most badly damaged songs in this group are "Lazy River," "Plain Jane," "Clementine," and, worst of all, "Bill Bailey" and "Artificial Flowers." Fortunately, all but "Clementine" appear in mono on the Ultimate CD, which happily adds a completely new, quality stereo mix of the original single version of that song. The Story and Legend albums contain an alternate take of "Clementine." in stereo, noticeably different in its lackluster ending, which has slightly different lyrics. Curiously, the original mono Story album did contain the single version of "Clementine," and the faster single version of "Queen Of The Hop," also replaced on the stereo reissue with a different, slower mix.
Other early stereo mixes do not suffer from ill treatment, but they seem to lose much of the punch and presence of the original mono versions. Most notable among these are "Mack the Knife" and "Dream Lover." The latter number appears in mono on Ultimate, and "Mack the Knife" is in a livelier stereo mix there, but it has a mistake, or defect, near the end of the song when the horns momentarily drop out. With that lone exception, the CD stereo tracks are commendable.
Several Darin Atco classics are preserved in their original mono form on Atlantic's Oldies singles, although many titles previously available in that series are now deleted. There are differences on some of these mono singles compared to their LP counterparts, including variations in running times. The titles still available in the Oldies series are "Splish Splash," "Queen of the Hop," "Mack the Knife," "Beyond the Sea," "Dream Lover," "Things," "Bill Bailey," "Artificial Flowers," "Multiplication" and Darin's later Atlantic hit, "If I Were a Carpenter." The accompanying table lists each of Darin's 17 Atco Top 40 hits, and shows where and in what form they currently exist.
This still leaves most of Darin's Atco material unavailable including 11 of his 14 Atco albums. In short, only the smallest fraction of Darin's work with that label remains within reach. Darin returned to Atlantic in 1966 and cut seven more albums, none of which survives.
Two recordings of live Darin performances now exist. The more familiar of the two, Darin At the Copa, was the star's fourth Atco album, released in 1960. It is not surprising that one of Darin's earliest albums featured a live set, nor that the album remains available and popular. Live performance was what Darin loved best, and it was an important factor in his popularity. The reasons for that are more than clear on this album which captures Darin in his prime, clearly enjoying himself and turning in a lively performance. It also illustrates the dual nature of Darin's repertoire, featuring both early teen hits (some girls can be heard screaming when he goes into "Dream Lover") and more seasoned covers like Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and "Love For Sale."
The second live album, available only on compact disc, is Motown's Live At the Desert Inn, released in 1987. This album has a long and interesting history. Recorded at the Las Vegas venue on Feb. 6, 1971, the album was twice scheduled for release, and twice cancelled, by Motown. Its original title was to have been Bobby Darin Live At the Desert Inn and it was assigned Motown catalog number 738. This release was scrapped and the album was retitled Finally (Motown 738L), but the scheduled release was again cancelled.
Two of the Desert Inn tracks did eventually appear. "Mack the Knife" and "If I Were a Carpenter" were released in 1974, shortly after Darin's death, on Motown's album, Bobby Darin: 1936-1973, and were also released at about the same time as a single on Motown's Yesteryear oldies label. Oddly, different versions of these two songs appear on the Desert Inn CD.
While not up to the earlier Copa album, Desert Inn features a variety of song styles, mostly Darin standards and other numbers typical of his stage performances, plus a few of the more folk/protest-oriented songs that Darin was more devoted to toward the close of his career. This blend was the artistic compromise Darin had made after finding that audiences did not respond to a totally social/political repertoire. One interesting segment features a Beatles medley of "Hey Jude," "Eleanor Rigby," "Blackbird" and "A Day In The Life." An encore medley of "Chain Of Fools," "Respect," "Splish Splash" and "Johnny B. Goode" reunites Darin with his rock roots. The album seems far more impressive than might otherwise be the case after considering how ill Darin was at the time it was recorded.
Between 1962 and 1966 Darin recorded 11 singles and eight albums for Capitol. The period not only yielded recording success for Darin, but was one in which his film career also advanced. In fact, his first single for Capitol was the title tune from If a Man Answers, which starred Darin and his wife Sandra Dee. None of Darin's Capitol records are available today, although Oh! Look At Me Now, recorded with Billy May, is scheduled to be reissued, and other Capitol reissues may follow.
Five Capilol cassettes offer some Darin nuggets from these years, although each contains only nine songs. Hits By Bobby Darin is by far the more interesting of the set and offers his three Capitol Top 40 singles — "If a Man Answers," "You're the Reason I'm Living" and "18 Yellow Roses" — all in stereo. Of Darin's 22 Top 40 hits, only his final one, "Lovin' You," is no longer available. The hit total includes 17 for Atco, three for Capitol, and "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Lovin' You," both on the Atlantic label. This cassette has also been issued under the title The Best of Bobby Darin. The third Capitol cassette, All-Time Favorites, has some of Darin's less noted film songs such as "Call Me Irresponsible" (first done on film by Jackie Gleason), "Days of Wine And Roses" and "More." A fourth cassette is Bobby Darin Country, featuring nine country songs, and there is a fifth simply tilled Bobby Darin.
Both Atco's Two of a Kind and Motown's Bobby Darin: 1936-1973 also remain available. Two of a Kind is a duet album recorded with Johnny Mercer, again with Billy May's orchestra. There are some good tunes on the album, but unless you're a fan of Mercer, his considerable presence may get in the way. None of the numbers is closely associated with Darin, although he and Mercer co-wrote the title tune. This is, however, an interesting Darin venture and, unlike most of the star's records, has somehow stood the test of time and has avoided deletion. It had been unavailable for 20 years before its recent reissue.
Motown's posthumous 1936-1973 brings together some of the songs Darin recorded for his final label during the last three years of his life. Ironically, the first album he cut for Motown was the long-postponed live Desert Inn album. 1936-1973 is a mixed bag at best and it is obvious that Darin's progressive heart disease had affected his singing. The ability was still there, but it is clear that only a fraction of his great energy remained.
The two live tracks noted earlier highlight the album, and this version of "Mack the Knife," also released on the Motown Yesteryear single, is superior to the one chosen for the Desert Inn CD. Darin only released one album for Motown, Bobby Darin, and there simply wasn't a great deal of material for Motown to choose from in compiling a tribute LP, although there are still a few unreleased tracks left from the Motown years. 1936-1973 does offer the previously unreleased cover of Fats Domino's "Blue Monday," as well as Darin's final single, "Happy," from the film Lady Sings the Blues.
Finally, Darin collectors can make the most of the 1986 LP, As Long As I'm Singin'. This is an oddball little album, also released on CD where two additional tracks are found. There is little to identify the origin or manufacturer of the album, which has all the outward appearance of a well-manicured bootleg, and contains the kind of recordings that are the bootlegger's specialty. The closest thing to a label identification is a credit for Rare 'N' Darin Productions, and the runout groove has "Jass 9" stamped into it. Otherwise, the origin of this record is anyone's guess. Despite its appearance, it is apparently a legitimate release and is available in some record chain stores and through mail order houses.
The album consists largely of alternate versions of Darin songs that were recorded for television appearances, including the Ed Sullivan Show. There are also a few rare released tracks and some unreleased studio numbers. No doubt there is a wealth of Darin televison material since he made numerous tube appearances. In addition to the usual variety shows, including the Ed Sullivan Show, Darin appeared on The Music Shop, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Kraft Music Hall, and many of Dick Clark's shows, among others. During the summer of 1972 Darin hosted Dean Martin Presents The Bobby Darin Amusement Co., a summer replacement for Martin's show. From January to April 1973, he hosted The Bobby Darin Show. Both shows featured songs and comedy sketches.
The studio recordings on As Long As I'm Singin' feature an alternate version of the title track, originally one of Darin's Capitol singles, "That's The Way Love Is," and "Silver Dollar." There are also studio recordings of the unreleased Darin titles "Just in Time," "The Sweetest Sounds" and "This Nearly Was Mine." An alternate version of "The Breaking Point" is also heard along with the obscure Darin Atco single, "Minnie the Moocher." Darin's cover of this Cab Calloway standard was cut for Atco on Feb. 2, 1960, but was not released until 1965, three years after Darin had signed with Capitol and just as he was about to end his term with that label to return to Atlantic.
The album also features a number of titles, recorded before television studio audiences, that Darin never released. These include a medley of "Toot Toot Tootsie, Good- bye"/"Don't Worry 'Bout Me" and "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You." Among the alternate, live versions of released Darin songs are "Mack the Knife," "Beyond the Sea," "Clementine," and medleys of "By Myself'/"When Your Lover Has Gone," and "I Got a Woman"/"What'd I Say"/"When The Saints Go Marching In." The CD release adds a spiritual medley and an alternate version of "Dream Lover."
The release is bound to be a welcome addition to Darin collections. The record is neatly packaged with extensive liner notes and several rare photos of Darin. The performances all seem to come from Darin's peak years, although some may have originated on his latter-day television shows. The album cover bears the added subtitle, "rare 'n' darin number 1," which may or may not mean that additional releases are planned. There are a couple of foreign releases worth noting, if those in search of Darin material are lucky enough to find them. First, the previously noted Australian Sold Out: Bobby Darin — 20 Greatest Hits (K-tel NA-520) has rare stereo versions of "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" and "What'd I Say." It also features "The More I See You" and "It Had To Be You," both in stereo, from the 1961 LP Love Swings, and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," in mono, from the 1963 LP It's You Or No One. The 1986 Portuguese cassette release, Bobby Darin: Mack The Knife (Movie Play 5623), boasts the rare original mono version of "I'll Be There," which appears in stereo on the Ultimate Bobby Darin CD. Both versions run 2:08. It also appears in fake stereo on Sold Out.
All Darin fans will have their own priority list of desirable reissues or songs that would be most welcome on new CD compilations. Certainly at a minimum, two of Darin's earliest Atco albums, That's All and This Is Darin, should be given serious consideration, while a CD release of Darin At the Copa might also be in order. A complete Darin hits collection, either in original mono, or in quality stereo, would be welcome too. Such a CD collection would have plenty of room for some of Darin's long ignored B-sides, like "Sorrow Tomorrow" (perhaps with the name of the male vocalist who shares this duet), "While I'm Gone," "Somebody to Love," "I'll Be There," "Was There a Call For Me," "Walking in the Shadow of Love," and the long-lost "Tall Story," a dopey little ditty from Jane Fonda's first film. There is also no excuse for the long absence of Darin's original Yuletide offering, "Christmas Auld Lang Syne," especially considering some of the seasonal trash that is recycled every December.
The Darin catalog is a large one indeed, and there is little chance that all of it will ever see the light of day on fresh vinyl again. Most Darin fans would be satisfied to see decent pressings of a representative cross- section of his recordings. At a minimum, the man deserves better than having his biggest hit mooned in a McDonald's commercial.
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