The Legendary Bobby Darin

by Bobby Darin

Overview

In a recording career lasting 17 years, Bobby Darin spent only three of those years, 1962-1965, signed to Capitol Records. They were busy years for him in the recording studio: he released seven Capitol LPs, five of which made the charts, and 11 Capitol singles, eight of which entered the Billboard Hot 100, two of those, the self-written, country-styled "You're the Reason I'm Living" and "18 Yellow Roses," reaching the Top Ten. Still, his relatively brief Capitol sojourn was not as memorable as his two stints at Atlantic Records, 1958-1961 (on the Atco subsidiary) and 1966-1967, which accounted for his eight other Top Ten hits, including the chart-topping "Mack the Knife." Naturally, however, Capitol has re-compiled its Darin catalog several times over the years, starting with 1966's deceptively titled The Best of Bobby Darin. In 2004, with a film biography and two book biographies imminent, Capitol tried again, and The Legendary Bobby Darin is the label's longest and most comprehensive attempt at a Darin compilation yet, topping out at 70-plus minutes and covering the stylistic bases of the singer's eclectic dabbling in rock & roll (the title song from his 1962 movie If a Man Answers), country (the hits noted above), folk-rock (the Atlantic recording of the Top Ten hit "If I Were a Carpenter"), and, of course, traditional pop. The last actually dominates the collection, with Darin, employing such arrangers as Frank Sinatra stalwart Billy May, turning in his versions of early-'60s show tunes and movie themes like "Once in a Lifetime," "Moon River," and "Hello, Dolly!" To give the collection the appearance of a more complete hits set, live versions of the Atco hits "Beyond the Sea" and "Mack the Knife" have been included, and the album concludes with two previously unreleased live cuts, both recorded in Las Vegas in 1963, the first a hits medley and the other a version of "The Curtain Falls." The result is a respectable effort that still represents only a slice of Darin's recording career. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/28/2004
Label:	Capitol/Emi Records / Capitol
UPC:	0724359457727

Tracks

1. Once in a Lifetime
2. More
3. Charade
4. Beyond the Sea
5. As Long as I'm Singing
6. Mack the Knife
7. On the Street Where You Live
8. Hello, Dolly!
9. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
10. The Good Life
11. I Got Rhythm
12. Oh! Look at Me Now
13. Moon River
14. You're the Reason I'm Living
15. Call Me Irresponsible
16. Goodbye, Charlie
17. Softly, As I Leave You
18. Venice Blue
19. If a Man Answers
20. 18 Yellow Roses
21. If I Were a Carpenter
22. Hits Medley: Splish Splash/Beyond The Sea/Artificial Flowers/Cleme ...
23. (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
24. The Curtain Falls

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Bobby Darin   Primary Artist,Vocals
Bobby Rozario   Conductor
Richard Weiss   Conductor
Ernie Freeman Combo   Conductor
Jack Nitzsche   Conductor
Donald Peake   Conductor
Jimmie Haskell   Conductor
Billy May   Conductor

Technical Credits

Rob Christie   Compilation Producer,Producer
Steve Douglas   Audio Production,Producer
Nick Venet   Audio Production,Producer
Tom Morgan   Audio Production,Producer
Richard Wess   Arranger
Jim Economides   Audio Production,Producer
Charles Koppelman   Producer
Jerry Bock   Composer
Sammy Cahn   Composer
Dory Langdon   Composer
Hal Shaper   Composer
Giorgio Calabrese   Composer
Walter Raim   Composer
Don Rubin   Producer
Sol Weinstein   Composer
Diana Barnes   Art Direction
John DeVries   Composer
Charlie Paakkari   Mixing
Jack Reardon   Composer
Richard Weiss   Arranger
Charles Trenet   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
Ernie Freeman Combo   Arranger
Frederick Loewe   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Andre Previn   Composer
Bertolt Brecht   Composer
Antonio de Vita   Composer
Bobby Darin   Composer
Jerry Herman   Composer
Jack Lawrence   Composer
Jack Nitzsche   Arranger
Alan Jay Lerner   Composer
Carl Smith   Composer
Donald Peake   Arranger
Johnny Mercer   Composer
Leslie Bricusse   Composer
Sacha Distel   Composer
Riz Ortolani   Composer
Jimmie Haskell   Arranger
James Van Heusen   Composer
Nino Oliviero   Composer
Norman Newell   Composer
Raynard Miner   Composer
Tim Hardin   Composer
Gary Jackson   Composer
Henry Mancini   Composer
Manning Sherwin   Composer
Woody Harris   Composer
Kurt Weill   Composer
Will Friedwald   Liner Notes
Sheldon Harnick   Composer
Anthony Newley   Composer
Bob Norberg   Mastering
Billy May   Arranger
Joe Bushkin   Composer
Marc Blitzstein   Composer
Eric Maschwitz   Composer
Gene Lees   Composer
Charles Aznavour   Composer