Bobby Darin - Mack is Back DVD (review)

I just posted a new review of the Mack is Back DVD to my Retro Music Review site... (Why not leave a comment while you're there!)

Bobby Darin - Mack is Back DVD (Questar; QD3180)

One of the earliest Bobby Darin DVDs ever released and still the best, Mack is Back showcases the many talents of the great Mr. Darin beautifully. The centerpiece of this disc is essentially a concert; an uncut version of the final episode of Darin's 1972-73 TV variety series. This would also be the last time Darin stepped in front of a camera before his passing late in 1973, and so it has a unique resonance... READ MORE

Bobby Darin Live in London 1967 (6 videos)

This week's Bobby Darin VideoBlast on the DarinLand.com website features 6 rare video clips from Bobby Darin's 1967 Live in London TV Special. Use this link to view the clips:

Bobby Darin Live in London 1967

There's also a new poll (What is Your Favorite LIVE Bobby Darin DVD?) and a new Question of the Week (What is your favorite performance from this week's Bobby Darin Live in London VideoBlast?). Check it all out at DarinLand.com.

Bobby Darin on the Flip Wilson Show (4 videos)

The latest Bobby Darin Video Blast on the DarinLand.com site features 4 clips of Bobby Darin on the Flip Wilson Show. Use this link to see the videos:

Bobby Darin on the Flip Wilson Show

There's also a new poll (What is Bobby Darin's best LP of 1962?) and a new Question of the Week (What recent film do you think Bobby Darin would have been great in?) on the site!

Bobby Darin CD Profile: That’s All

Bobby Darin: That's All (Atco 33-104, March 1959)
CD Release: Atlantic 82627, 6/24/1994
Recording Dates: December 19, 22, 24, 1958, NYC
Producers: Ahmet Ertegun, Nesuhi Ertegun, Jerry Wexler
Engineers: Tom Dowd, Carl Lustig, Herb Kaplan, Heinz Kubicka
Arrangements: Richard Wess
Musicians: Richard Wess (cond)
DEC 19-Joe Cabot, Jimmy Nottingham, Bernie Privin, Doc Severinsen (tp); Morton Bullman, Harry DiVito, Bob McGarity, Frank Rehak (tb); George Berg, Romeo Penque, Jerome Richardson, Jerry Sanfino, Joe Soldo (reeds); Hank Jones (p); Al Caiola (g); Eddie Safranski (b); Don Lamond (d); Phil Kraus, Terry Snyder (per).

DEC 22-George Berg, Romeo Penque (reeds); Isadore Zir (vla); Maurice Brown, Henry Pakaln (cello); Morris Stonzek (cello?); Moe Wechsler (p, cello); Mundell Lowe (g); Eddie Safranski (b); Bobby Rosengarden (d); unidentified 12 violins.

DEC 24-Joe Cabot, Mel Davis, Al DeRisi, Doc Severinsen (tp); Billy Byers, Cutty Cutshall, Frank Rehak, Chauncey Welsch (tb); Leon Cohen, Walt Levinsky, Seldon Powell, Jerry Sanfino (reeds); Moe Wechsler (p); Mundell Lowe (g); Eddie Safranski (b); Don Lamond (d); unidentified 8 strings.

Original LP Sequence:

Side 1:
Mack the Knife (Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht/Marc Blitzstein) (December 19)
Beyond the Sea (Charles Trenet/Jack Lawrence) (December 24)
Through a Long and Sleepless Night (Alfred Newman/Mack Gordon) (December 22)
Softly As in a Morning Sunrise (Oscar Hammerstein/Sigmund Romberg) (December 19)
She Needs Me (Arthur Hamilton) (December 22)
It Ain't Necessarily So (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin) (December 24)

Side 2:
I'll Remember April (Gene DePaul/Don Raye/Pat Johnson) (December 24)
That's the Way Love Is (Bobby Darin) (December 19)
Was There a Call For Me (Woody Harris/Marty Holmes) (December 22)
Some of These Days (Shelton Brooks) (December 24)
Where Is the One (Edwin Finckel/Alec Wilder) (December 22)
That's All (Bob Haymes/Alan Brandt) (December 19)

Comments: Bobby Darin was a visionary. After the chart-topping success of "Splish Splash", he longed to make a record of standards. His label refused to finance it, so in 1959 he took his own profits from "Splash" and paid for the recording session himself. The result? He became the first artist in history to make a successful transition from rock n' roll to standards. "That's All" is a testament to the dynamic duo of Darin and arranger/conductor Richard Wess. Together they produced a record that generated two hit singles ("Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea") and proved that Darin had the pipes and the sensiblities to be a legendary crooner.