Bobby Darin Albums (27)
'Live! At the Desert Inn'
Release Date 1/1/1971
Tracks 16
Label Motown
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
In the early '70s, Bobby Darin had discontinued his infamous "Bob Darin" billing, but he was still interpolating the best of the late-'60s folk and singer/songwriter scene into his live act -- this despite playing to the mostly middle-aged, craps-playing audience assembled at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas for an early 1971 run. Darin had more than a decade's worth of hits to reprise for the crowd, and he did so happily, from "Mack the Knife" to "If I Were a Carpenter" and even including "Splish Splash" (as part of a rock and soul encore). But beyond not wishing to begrudge a fandom that had been left behind by the era of progressive rock, Darin most certainly did his best to entertain and enlighten his regular concert attendees -- musically, socially, and even politically -- without worrying about the blowback from his largely conservative base. It also earned him enmity in progressive circles as a faker, although with his performance Darin makes it clear that he has nothing to apologize for. After all, he was, at heart, a showman pure and simple. He starts the concert with an urgent plaint from the pen of Laura Nyro ("Save the Country") and, after inserting "Mack the Knife" as a sop to his fans, returns to the singer/songwriter crowd with James Taylor's "Fire and Rain." A Beatles medley appears halfway through the set, as does Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" and Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," all of them performed with too much reverence, but also a fine ear for what made those songs examples of great American pop. [Live! at the Desert Inn was projected to be Darin's first album release for Motown, and although it was pressed or planned twice (once under the present title, once as Finally), it was shelved until it finally appeared in 1987 (on Motown) and again in 2005 (on Concord), the latter with several bonus tracks.] ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Bobby Darin had done some folk-rock before this 1969 album, most notably on his hit cover of Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter." Commitment, however, was his most out-and-out folk-rock album, or at least his most folk-rockish album. That was apparent not only in the music (which Darin wrote in its entirety), but also in the packaging, with his billing changed to "Bob Darin," and a photo of the singer with a moustache and jean jacket on the back cover. It's a pity, therefore, that the album wasn't too good. The backup playing is only functional and perfunctory in a generic late-'60s folk-country-rock fashion, and the songs are neither too melodic nor too incisive in their lyrics, even as Darin was obviously striving for meaning. It's not strictly folk-rock. "Light Blue" has some period trippy lyrics and pseudo-sitar. "Hey Magic Man" has some orchestral, occasionally vaguely psychedelic embellishments, and is a little more memorable and pop-friendly than most of the other tunes. Certainly the influence of another "Bob," Bob Dylan, is to the fore, whether blatantly, as in the bluesy harmonica-driven "Mr. & Mrs. Hohner," or more subtly. Darin, it must be pointed out, was not a folk dilettante: he'd recorded some folk material throughout his career, and given big breaks to players like Roger McGuinn and Jesse Colin Young before their entrance into folk-rock. In spite of its consistent sound and vision, in the context of Darin's entire career it's a curiosity, and not something he did nearly as well as he did pop, rock & roll, swing jazz, or standards. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'Bobby Darin Born Walden Robert Cassotto'
Release Date 1/1/1968
Tracks 9
Label Direction
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Bobby Darin's Bobby Darin Born Walden Robert Cassotto was arguably his most personal project and his life's work. The album was completely written, arranged, and produced by Darin himself. In fact, the album jacket also asserts that Bobby Darin even designed the album art and took its pictures. The lyrics are printed on the inside jacket, which demonstrates how Darin was trying to express himself more with this album than any other, beginning with the title. Using it almost as a coming out, Darin sheds his stage persona and offers up himself as the true artist. In some ways, it could be claimed that this isn't a Bobby Darin album at all. Instead it is Robert Cassotto's debut (and only) record. The music is his most rock and is highly Beatlesque, and includes hints of psychedelia. The songwriting makes absolutely no attempt to be commercial, even by Darin's standards (which often led him to cover popular genres like folk or traditional ones like standards or Broadway). Instead, these tracks are marked with a personal voice that only occasionally appeared on previous Darin albums. "Questions" is a funky song inspired by soul and rock dealing with commercialism, identity, and urban ills. "The Proper Gander" even includes a Woody Guthrie homage ("This Land Is Your Land") and musical hints of the Beatles ("Drive My Car" and "Rocky Raccoon"), both of whom were major influences. "Change" includes the most straightforward lyric Darin ever sung: "music that used to sound hollow/Now seems to fit in your range." If Bobby Darin was an expert singer and interpreter, here he attempts to be the singer/songwriter. You can bet every executive who could have convinced Darin tried to dissuade him from including "Bullfrog," but the song encapsulates how he loved telling a story through lyrics. The album ends with such a story. "Memoriam" is inspired by Robert Kennedy, whose life and death deeply touched Darin. Overall, the album is a reflection of the historical moment, for it was created in an environment of assassinations, LSD, civil rights, economic recession, and war. Darin was feeling heavy and these songs became his cathartic release. Bobby Darin Born Walden Robert Cassotto did not chart, making it perhaps his most commercially disappointing album. It was surprisingly critically acclaimed, however, meaning that his message of artistic truth did reach some people. (In fact, "Long Line Rider" reached number 79 on the singles charts.) The least-essential record to casual fans. But possibly the most important Darin record for those who wish to better understand the man's love for music and his quest for artistic truth. Put another way, if you are moved by knowing that Bobby Darin once retired from the Las Vegas scene, started going by Bob, and removed his hairpiece to sing folk-rock songs with genuine passion and integrity, then this album may be your favorite. Bobby Darin Born Walden Robert Cassotto was more than a one-time indulgence. Committment followed in 1969 and makes a nice companion to this album, both of which were released by Darin's own Direction label. The catalogue number for the record is Robert Cassotto's birth date, not an insignificant choice. An overlooked masterpiece painted in bold, personal strokes. ~ JT Griffith, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The second album of Bobby Darin's brief folk-rock phase also found him sounding at times much like Tim Hardin, although it was poppier and inferior to its predecessor, late 1966's If I Were a Carpenter. Darin again plumbed for material by Hardin and John Sebastian, although he limited himself to two Hardin tunes ("The Lady Came from Baltimore" and "Black Sheep Boy") this time around; there were also three compositions by the Bonner-Gordon team (famous for the Turtles' "Happy Together"). Although there were some elements of folk-rock at play, the album was more properly termed as mature pop/rock, using (as If I Were a Carpenter did) light orchestration. It's not bad, but there are better versions than these songs; the arrangements are a little too syrupy, the singing is okay but not brilliant, some of the songs are too lightweight, and the overall mood is too damned unrelentingly understated. Actually the most interesting track is Darin's own "I Am," with its graceful harp plucks and wistful air. The most unexpected song choice was certainly the Rolling Stones' "Back Street Girl" (which had not even been released in the U.S. yet). And no, it doesn't challenge or redefine the Stones' original; it manages to almost make it into easy listening pop, actually. The album has been combined with an early 1967 LP, Inside Out, on a single-disc CD reissue on Diablo that also adds five bonus tracks, four recorded in November 1967, the fifth (a cover of Van McCoy's "My Baby Needs Me") undated. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'Bobby Darin Sings Doctor Doolittle'
Release Date 1/1/1967
Tracks 10
Label Atlantic
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Bobby Darin's 1967 album, Sings Doctor Doolittle, was his personal pet project (pun intended). Darin chose to sing ten songs from the musical film over the objections of his label, extending his repertoire from standards to folk to rock and now (kind of) kids music. Atlantic must have wondered to whom to market Sings Doctor Doolittle, which is completely fair, considering that the theatrical bomb almost ruined 20th Century-Fox. (And that this is not the official soundtrack.) Songwriter Leslie Bricusse won an oscar for the song "Talk to the Animals," which is included here. Not an essential Darin album, even to crazed fans. The songs are solid but the material is (obviously) neither his most weighty nor his most fun. An album of Oscar-nominated songs is one thing, but Sings Doctor Doolittle contains no great songs. It is interesting to note that only three of these songs appear on any Darin compilation: Swingin' the Standards, Moods/Swing: The Best of the Atlantic Years 1966-67, and As Long As I'm Singin'. But none are on any greatest hits CDs. Not a coincidence. Worth buying for completists. But Sings Doctor Doolittle will not be among the most listened to albums in anyone's collection. One of the few genuine missteps in Darin's career. ~ JT Griffith, All Music Guide
'If I Were a Carpenter'
Release Date 1/1/1966
Tracks 11
Label Atlantic
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Bobby Darin has been praised by some critics for his courage in moving to folk-rock in late 1966, at a time when his core audience would probably have been much happier if he'd continued to be the all-around mainstream pop singer. But let's get this straight: this is much more a pop album of folk-rock songs than it is a pure folk-rock album. In addition, the scope of Darin's folk-rock repertoire at this time was almost wholly limited to songs by Tim Hardin and John Sebastian; indeed, five of the 12 songs here are Hardin compositions, two (the hit title track and "Red Balloon") of which Hardin had not yet released. What's more, there's some reason to believe -- no pun intended -- that the record would not have taken the shape it did had there not been something of a conscious effort on his part to emulate Hardin's approach. Hardin himself was convinced that Darin had copied his vocal style by listening to his yet-to-be-issued version and the album as a whole boasts a production similar to the orchestrated folk-rock heard on the debut album in question, though it sounds like an inferior copy. Leaving aside the issue of whether Darin was trying to cop Hardin's style, this is a fair but unexceptional record. Darin falls short of the originals on Buffy St. Marie's "Until It's Time For You to Go" and the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream." In fact, aside from "If I Were a Carpenter," the standout is the odd low-charting single "The Girl Who Stood Beside Me," with its odd muted psychedelic bagpipe effects constantly buzzing in the background of an actual fairly strong folk-rock tune. The album has been combined with an early 1967 LP, Inside Out, on a single-disc CD reissue on Diablo that also adds five bonus tracks, four recorded in November 1967, the fifth (a cover of Van McCoy's "My Baby Needs Me") undated. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Venice Blue was released in May of 1965 and was Bobby Darin's follow-up to the artistically (but not financially) successful From Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie. Surprisingly, Darin stuck with his previous approach and offered another selection of romantic songs and contemporary Broadway tunes. The album peaked at a disappointing 132 (worse than From Hello Dolly's 107) and remained on the Billboard charts for only four weeks. Though the album did poorly upon release, some of the tracks have been mined for later compilations, most notably "The Good Life." A curious double album available through import-only packages, You're the Reason I'm Living, has an album apparently called I Wanna Be Around, but which is actually Venice Blue. The title track sounds like a cover of a Bobby Vinton ballad with its sweeping strings and sentimentality. Standout tracks include the Johnny Mercer song "I Wanna Be Around" (similar here to "Don't Rain on my Parade"),"The Good Life," Henry Mancini's "Dear Heart," and Stephen Sondheim's "Somewhere" from West Side Story. Venice Blue also includes two Darin originals: "You Just Don't Know" and "In a World Without You." Venice Blue is not a dramatic departure for Bobby Darin, but a solid collection nonetheless. Really of interest to fans looking to complete their collection. Well-arranged and well-sung, but not the most accessible album for the neo-swing set. ~ JT Griffith, All Music Guide
