Bobby Darin sax player Plas Johnson playing in Los Angeles on February 2nd, 2008

Sax legend Plas Johnson, who can be heard on the Bobby Darin LPs Sings Ray Charles, Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie, Venice Blue, Sings The Shadow of Your Smile, and In a Broadway Bag, as well as many other famous recordings, will be appearing with his Plas Johnson Quartet on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 at Charlie O's Jazz Club, 13725 Victory Blvd, Valley Glenn, California. The quartet also features John Gianelli on bass, Roy McCurdy on drums, and Jon Mayer on piano.

For set times and more info, call Charlie O's at 818-994-3058 or visit their website at www.charlieos.com.

Thanks to Jo-Ann from Charlie O's for this info.

Bobby Darin sax player Plas Johnson and Bobby Darin bassist Carol Kaye playing in Los Angeles on January 5th, 2008

The great Plas Johnson, who played sax on numerous Bobby Darin LPs, including Sings Ray Charles, Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie, Venice Blue, Sings The Shadow of Your Smile, and In a Broadway Bag, will be appearing with his Plas Johnson Quartet on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 at Charlie O's Jazz Club, 13725 Victory Blvd, Valley Glenn, California. The quartet also features John Gianelli on bass, Roy McCurdy on drums, and Jon Mayer on piano. Rumor has it that the legendary Carol Kaye, who played bass on Bobby Darin's Lazy River, as well as other Darin recordings, will be in attendance, and will very likely sit in with the band.

Sets are at 8pm, 9:30pm, and 11pm. For more info call Charlie O's at 818-994-3058 or visit their website at www.charlieos.com.

Thanks to Jan Derrer of lostandsound.wordpress.com and Jo-Ann from Charlie O's for this info.

Bobby Darin sings "I Will Wait For You" (mp3)

A romantic Bobby Darin number to heat up a chilly weekend...check it out at the DarinLand page on MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/darinland

--Michael M

Bobby Darin CD Profile: Sings the Shadow of Your Smile/In a Broadway Bag

Bobby Darin Sings The Shadow of Your Smile (Atlantic 8121, April 1966)
CD Release: Edsel EDSS1012, 07/10/2007; Disky HR 902614, 12/14/2004
Recording Dates: December 13-15, 1965, Los Angeles, CA; February 4, 1966, Las Vegas, NV; March 23, 1966, Los Angeles, CA
Producer: Bobby Darin
Engineer: Walt Payne
Arrangements: Richard Wess*, Shorty Rogers**
Musicians:
DEC 13-Richard Wess (cond); Conte Candoli, Don Fagerquist, Al Porcino, Clarence "Shorty" Sherock (tp); Urbie Green, Lew McCreary, Dick Nash, Tom Shepard (tb); Plas Johnson, Wilbur Schwartz, Bud Shank (sax); Bill Hood (sax, cl); Israel Baker, Harry Bluestone, James Getzoff, Jack Lee, Alfred Lustgarten, Erno Neufeld, Ralph Schaeffer, Marshall Sosson (vln); Louis Kievman, Milton Thomas (vla); William Van Den Berg, Harold Schneier (cello); Jimmy Rowles (p); Bill Pittman, Tom Tedesco (g); Max Bennett (b); Jack Sperling (d); Milt Holland (cga); Sam Kaplan (string dir).

DEC 14-Richard Wess (cond); Bud Brisbois, Pete Candoli, Don Fagerquist, Lee Katzman (tp); Gilbert Falco, Urbie Green, George Roberts, Lloyd Ulyate (tb); Plas Johnson, Ronald Langinger, Jack Nimitz, Wilbur Schwartz (sax); Jimmy Rowles (p); Bill Pittman, Howard Roberts (g); Max Bennett (b); Jack Spering (d); Emil Richards (cga); Jack Lee (string dir).

DEC 15-Richard Wess (cond); Aubrey Bouck, Sinclair Lott, Richard Mackey, Alan Robinson (frh); Harry Klee, Wilbur Schwartz (sax, fl); Norman Benno (sax, cl); Howard Terry (sax, bcl); Alex Beller, Harry Bluestone, Sam Caplan, Jacques Gasselin, Anatol Kaminsky, Nathan Kaproff, William Kurash, Carl Lavagna, Erno Neufeld, Wilbert Nuttycombe, Nathan Ross, Ralph Schaeffer (vln); Louis Kievman, Gary Nuttycombe, Robert Ostrowsky, Milton Thomas (vla); William Van Den Berg, Nathan Gershman, Joseph Saxon, Harold Schneier (cello); Bill Pittman (g); Max Bennett (b); Jack Sperling (d); Emil Richards (per, mallets); Jack Lee (string dir).

FEB 4-Julian C. Matlock (cond); Archie LeCoque, Eddie Miller (sax); Joe Venuti (vln); Stan Wrightsman (p); Henry Levine (b); Nick Fatool (d); Russell P. Black, Robert Paul Morgan, Edmund J. Scarazzo (unknown inst.)

MAR 23-Shorty Rogers (cond); George Roberts (tb); John Cave, James Decker, William Hinshaw (frh); Dorothy Colton, Louis Kievman, Virginia Majewski, Paul Robyn (vla); Norman Benko, Paul Bergstrom, Justin DiTullio, Ann Goodman, Ray Kramer, Emmett Sargeant, Joseph Saxon, Eleanor Slatkin (cello); Pete Jolly (p); Laurindo Almeida, Don Peake (g); Joe Mondragon (b); Larry Bunker, Earl Palmer (d).

Original LP Sequence:

Side 1:
**The Shadow Of Your Smile (Johnny Mandel/Paul Francis Webster) (March 23)
**The Sweetheart Tree (Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer) (March 23)
**I Will Wait For You (Jacques Demy/Norman Gimbel/Michel Legrand) (March 23)
**The Ballad Of Cat Ballou (Mack David/Jerry Livingston) (March 23)
**What's New Pussycat? (Burt Bacharach/Hal David) (March 23)

Side 2:
*Rainin' (Bobby Darin) (February 4)
*Lover Come Back To Me (Oscar Hammerstein II/Sigmund Romberg) (December 13)
*Cute (Neal Hefti/Stanley Styne) (December 14)
*After You've Gone (Henry Creamer/Turner Layton) (December 13)
*It's Only A Paper Moon (Harold Arlen/E.Y. "Yip" Harburg/Billy Rose) (December 14)
*Liza (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin/Gus Kahn) (December 15)

Bonus Tracks Added to the CD:

We Didn't Ask To Be Brought Here
Funny What Love Can Do
The Breaking Point
Silver Dollar

________________________________

Bobby Darin: In a Broadway Bag (Atlantic 8126, June 1966)
CD Release: Edsel EDSS1012, 07/10/2007; Disky HR 902614, 12/14/2004
Recording Dates: March 24, 1966, NYC ("Mame" only); May 10, 1966, Los Angeles, CA
Producer: Bobby Darin
Engineer: David Hassinger
Arrangements: Shorty Rogers*, Perry Botkin Jr.**
Musicians:
Shorty Rogers (cond), other details unknown.

Perry Botkin Jr. (cond); Allan Reuss (g); Pete Jolly (p, organ); Lyle Ritz (b); Irv Cottler (d); Richie Frost (d) ("Mame" only); Larry Bunker (per); Pete Candoli, John Audino, Frank Beach, Ray Triscari (tp); Harry Betts, Joe Howard, Lloyd Ulyate, George Roberts (tb); Ronnie Lang, Wilbur Schwartz, Plas Johnson, Bob Hardaway, John Lowe (sax).

Original LP Sequence:

Side 1:
**Mame (Jerry Herman)
**I Believe In You (Frank Loesser)
**It's Today (Jerry Herman)
**Everybody Has The Right To Be Wrong (Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen)
**Feelin' Good (Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley)
*Don't Rain On My Parade (Bob Merrill/Jule Styne)

Side 2:
*The Other Half Of Me (Stan Freeman/Jack Lawrence)
*Once Upon A Time (Lee Adams/Charles Strouse)
*Try To Remember (Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt)
*I'll Only Miss Her When I Think Of Her (Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen)
*Night Song (Lee Adams/Charles Strouse)

Bonus Tracks Added to the CD:

Walking In The Shadow Of Love
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
Merci Cherie

Comments: "Sings the Shadow of Your Smile" signaled Bobby Darin's return to his old label, Atlantic, after a 7-album stint at Capitol. Continuing in the vein of his last two swingin' Capitol LPs, Darin brings in "Shadow" as a glorious salute to the great songwriters, with entries from such luminaries as Johnny Mercer, Burt Bacharach, "Yip" Harburg, and the Gershwins. The Darin magic infuses every one of these tracks, from the tender and warm title tune, to Darin's passionate and dramatic reading of "I Will Wait For You," to the playful and snappy "Cute." His own composition, "Rainin'," fits in beautifully, casting a very special kind of lazy day spell.

"In a Broadway Bag" is just what the title suggests: Darin puts his stamp on many of the Broadway hits of the time. The narcissistic "I Believe in You" gets flipped on its head, and becomes a sweet pledge of support for a lover or friend. "Everybody Has the Right to Be Wrong" is pure, jaunty Darin joy, delivered with his trademark vocal wink. His heartwarming and effective rendition of "Once Upon a Time" is a classic, and is only overshadowed by the final cut on this record, his indescribably powerful and haunting version of "Night Song." In this one, he uses every bit of his legendary acting skill, to draw out every ounce of heart-rending truth from the lyrics. Breathtaking.

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 "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...