Bobby Darin's "Commitment" LP on CD for the First Time Ever

The Edsel label in the UK will continue its program of fantastic Bobby Darin re-issues in September, with the release of the historic "Bob Darin: Commitment" LP from 1969 (never before available on CD). This was the second of Darin's 2 albums on his own Direction label, and the only album he ever released under the name 'Bob Darin.' Like his first Direction album ("Born Walden Robert Cassotto," coming from Edsel on 08/21/2007), "Commitment" is composed entirely of original material, and thus stands as one Darin's most heartfelt and honest artistic expressions.

Standout tracks include the sly and clever "Distractions (Part 1)," the biting "Song For a Dollar," the snappy wordplay of "Me and Mr. Hohner", and the irresistibly catchy "Jive." Bobby Darin was a first class songwriter with a playful approach to language, and this album found him in top form.

Edsel has also included 10 tracks of additional material from the Direction era, under the title "Rare Darin." Among these tracks, "City Life" and "Route 58" are true gems, as they both represent insights into Darin's past and his personal and artistic struggles. Of course, the rest of it is pretty darned nifty too, especially the live tracks from a 1969 appearance at the legendary Troubadour in Los Angeles.

A pre-order listing for the "Bob Darin: Commitment/Rare Darin" CD will be posted on the DarinLand.com site soon. Keep an eye on this space for updates.

Meanwhile, here are the full details on the upcoming "Commitment/Rare Darin" CD:

BOB DARIN
COMMITMENT + RARE DARIN
EDSS 1015

COMMITMENT
Me And Mr Hohner / Sugar-Man / Sausalito (The Governor's Song) / Song For A Dollar / The Harvest / Distractions (Part 1) / Water Color Canvas / Jive / Hey Magic Man / Light Blue

RARE DARIN
Baby May / Sweet Reasons / Maybe We Can Get It Together / Rx-Pyro (Prescription: Fire) / City Life / Route 58 / Distractions (Part 1) [live at The Troubadour 1969] / Long Line Rider [live at The Troubadour 1969] / Simple Song Of Freedom [live at The Troubadour 1969] / Monologue; Questions [live at The Troubadour 1969]

2 new Bobby Darin CDs out today!!!

Today is the day: the Edsel label re-issues of Bobby Darin's classic LPs, "Sings the Shadow of Your Smile," "In a Broadway Bag," "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Inside Out" are finally back in print. "Shadow" and "Broadway" are together on one disc, "Carpenter" and "Inside Out" are together on another. And both discs are packed with amazing bonus tracks.

This is nothing short of a minor miracle, when you consider the glorious Bobby Darin recordings to be found on these discs:

"Shadow" boasts the intensely romantic "I Will Wait For You," the delightfully playful "Cute," and Bobby's own brilliant composition, "Rainin'." "Broadway Bag" ranges from the cool rhythm of "Feelin' Good" to the explosive joy of "It's Today" to the melancholy beauty of "Once Upon a Time."

"Carpenter" has another fabulous Bobby original, "Amy," plus the smilin' classic "Lovin' You" and the heartbreakingly powerful "Until It's Time for You to Go." "Inside Out" includes the warm and gentle "About You," the kicky and ironic "Bes' Friends," and another fabulous Darin original, "I Am."

It's a good day to be a Bobby Darin fan.

HA CHA doesn't even begin to cover it... :)

Bobby Darin sings "I'm On My Way, Great God" (video clip)

Bobby Darin sang spirituals with more power and soul than almost anyone. This beautiful black and white footage of him singing "I'm On My Way, Great God" is bound to send shivers up your spine. Absolutely stunning.

Bobby's studio recording of "I'm On My Way" originally appeared on the now out-of-print "Earthy" LP, but a live version can still be found on the "Curtain Falls: Live at the Flamingo" CD.

Bobby Darin sings "If I Were a Carpenter" in 1970

Here's something to hold us all over until the "If I Were a Carpenter/Inside Out" and "Shadow of Your Smile/In a Broadway Bag" re-issue CDs are out. The release date for these discs has been re-scheduled (it's now 07/17/2007, a week later than originally planned), so we've got a few extra days to wait! You can still pre-order them at DarinLand.com, and thus get your copy sent out to you the day they hit the street.

In the meantime, enjoy this clip of Bobby Darin singing "If I Were a Carpenter" in 1970...

Review your favorite Bobby Darin CD or DVD

The DarinLand.com website needs reviews of Bobby Darin CDs and DVDs. Go to DarinLand.com, page through the Darin CDs and DVDs, find your favorite, then click the "write a review" button at the bottom of the page. Let other fans know what you think! Once your review is approved, it'll appear on the site, with your credit, and it might also be selected as the Featured Review for that release. Thanks!

Bobby Darin sings "On Broadway" from the "18 Yellow Roses" LP

Check out Bobby Darin's driving, building, brilliant rendition of "On Broadway," from the "You're the Reason I'm Living/18 Yellow Roses and 11 Other Hits" 2-fer CD. Love the way the tune just gets more and more intense, till it finally busts out with them drums!

Hear it on the DarinLand MySpace page...

http://www.myspace.com/darinland

This is HA CHA CHA HOT!

Waverly Seven play “Nature Boy” from their Bobby Darin Tribute, “Yo! Bobby”

The talents of saxophonist Anat Cohen are showcased in this amazing clip of the Waverly Seven performing a haunting and stylish rendition of "Nature Boy," from their newly released 2-disc Bobby Darin Tribute, "Yo! Bobby."

Bobby Darin Tribute Record released today!

"Yo! Bobby," the Waverly Seven's 2-disc tribute to the legendary Bobby Darin, is out today on Anzic Records. This New York jazz outfit has put together 24 tracks of pure brilliance, saluting the great Mr. Darin with kickin' interpretations of "Splish Splash," "The Good Life," "I Wanna Be Around," "The More I See You," and "Some of These Days" (to name-drop a few). Clearly, these young jazz musicians know their Darin, because they also offer up versions of several lesser known Darin classics, including "I Guess I'm Good for Nothing But the Blues," "Work Song," and "Black Coffee." It's taken decades, but at last, the jazz world is giving Bobby his due. Love it!

You can get Waverly Seven's "Yo! Bobby" on the DarinLand.com site.

Bobby Darin sings "Once Upon a Time"

In honor of the recent re-issue of the Shadow of Your Smile/In a Broadway Bag 2-on-1 CD, here is a video clip of Bobby Darin singing one of my favorite numbers from the In a Broadway Bag LP... the tender and beautiful "Once Upon a Time."

Bobby Darin: Alabamy Bound (The Hit Single That Could Have Been)

Many of Bobby Darin's early hit singles had essentially the same set of traits that rocketed them up the charts. The formula for a Darin hit seemed to be one part finger-snappin' rhythm, one part sly or humorous lyrics, and a heaping splash of Darin's undeniably thrilling vocal style. "Splish Splash," "Mack the Knife," "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," and "Things," all released between 1958 and 1962, showed time and again that this recipe was a virtual guarantee of a place in Billboard's Top Ten. But somehow, this trend was overlooked when Darin recorded the Buddy DeSylva/Bud Green/Ray Henderson chestnut "Alabamy Bound" with arranger/conductor Jimmie Haskell in September of 1962. Instead of being released as a single, or even as an album track, the recording languished on a shelf, until it finally appeared in 1995 as part of Capitol's "Spotlight on Bobby Darin" CD.

The choice not to release "Alabamy Bound" back then seems even stranger when you consider the fact that the tune's arranger, Jimmie Haskell, was at the helm for several of Darin's hit singles, including the abovementioned "Beautiful Baby" and "Things." The latter had reached #3 on the charts only months before "Alabamy Bound" was recorded.

One listen to the tune (check it out at the DarinLand Myspace) confirms it has the same Darin magic that made "Mack," "Beautiful Baby" and "Things" so irresistible. Haskell's arrangement for "Alabamy Bound" is simply brilliant. This man knows what to do with a train song. Haskell's train is not chugging lazily along, but roaring down the track, with horns and drums kicking out with an infectious intensity. Darin sings the song with a perpetual smile in his voice, loving every line. When he talks about puttin' his "eight-and-a-halfs in an upper berth" you know he's getting a charge out of the entire experience. And when Bobby Darin is charged up, he tends to pass that spark right over to the listener. This, my friends, is how hits are born.

While it is unfortunate this tune never had the chance for the chart-topping success it so richly deserved, we can at least be glad we have it to enjoy now, along with all the other amazing Darin performances available on CD and DVD.

Bobby Darin lost albums: "It's You or No One"

When talking about the great Bobby Darin LPs, critics tend to cite titles such as "That's All" and "Love Swings." But there are so many Darin records that were somehow lost in the shuffle, records like his 1963 Atco release "It's You Or No One." It's not just a shame, but a downright tragedy that more fans don't know how amazing an album this is.

Like "Love Swings," "It's You or No One" is a concept piece, with bright, warm arrangements by Torrie Zito on Side One, exploring the "It's You" part of the title, and darker, melancholy arrangements by Bobby Scott on Side Two, falling gently into the "No One" part of the title.

The last song on Side One, "All or Nothing at All" (Johnny Mercer/Victor Schertzinger), does a magnificent job of setting up the lost love theme of Side Two. Darin's vocal sizzles with passion as he declares "Half a love just never appealed to me. If your heart never could yield to me, then I'd rather have nothin' at all." Coming on the heels of the joyous "I've Never Been in Love Before" (Frank Loesser), "All or Nothing At All" reveals what could be a hint of desperation, as Darin reaches out for the love he thought was there, and finds the commitment is only half-hearted.

When Side Two commences with "One Little Item" (Libby Holden), we find Darin "in a crowd, so noisy and loud" when his former love walks in. The strings here are astounding, trembling with the flutter in Darin's chest as he describes his reaction: "When she nears me, how she cheers me, her eyes so warm, so gay. But what can all this matter to me? Those eyes aren't looking my way." As the tune comes to a close, Darin lays his pain out for all to see: "She's everything I told you. I swear by stars above. There's only one little item... I'm not the guy she loves." Again, the use of strings is dramatic, magnificent and perfect. The woodwinds are also used to powerful effect.

Recorded in January of 1960, less than a week before Darin would work with Bobby Scott on the "Winners" LP, and a little over a year before he would work with Torrie Zito on "Love Swings," "It's You Or No One" was, in some ways, a warm-up for both of those collaborations. Both arrangers had the opportunity to take a set of songs, match them to a mood, and get a feel for the deeply personal way Darin approached a ballad.

Of course, to call this album simply a "warm-up" would be to deny the fact that it stands on its own, as one of the most evocative, emotionally honest, and utterly effective artistic statements on love and loss ever recorded. Darin's vocal is powerful beyond words, and his ability to draw the listener into the very heart of his story is brilliantly represented.

So, why was such a fantastic piece overlooked? Possibly it was because of Atlantic's odd releasing strategy. Like several other Darin records, this album was recorded and then left on the shelf until years later. As stated above, it came out in 1963, after "Love Swings," and after Darin had left Atlantic for Capitol. It seemed at the time that Atlantic was just clearing out the vaults and releasing whatever Darin material they still had lying around. This perception by the public and the press could have stamped "It's You" as a leftover, not worth checking out.

Again, this is a true tragedy, because "It's You or No One" is one of Bobby Darin's finest and most honest artistic and personal expressions. Any Bobby Darin fan that does not have this record is missing out on something astounding.

--Michael M