James Darren Albums (7)
What The Critics Say
Darren is perhaps best-known as the actor who played Moondoggie in the original Gidget, and more recently the character of Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Concurrently with his acting career, he spent the '70s doing nightclubs in Vegas, Reno, and Tahoe and fairs around the country as a popular crooner. On this appealing collection featuring classic songs from various eras and shimmering, jazzy big-band arrangements by Patrick Williams, Darren follows in the footsteps of his idols Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Not surprisingly, he recorded the 14 tracks at the Capitol studios where Ol' Blue Eyes did some of his most famous work. Darren has an easy, Bennett-like voice -- instantly likeable, rich, and emotionally resonant. So, with solid vocals and one of the best arrangers in the business, the only wild card would be choice of material -- and it's spectacular. He opens with a perky take on Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things," then digs into the catalogs of Leslie Bricusse (the playful "My Kind of Girl"), Oscar Levant ("Blame It on My Youth"), and, of course, joyful songs that Bennett popularized like "Because of You" and "Good Life." On the opposite side emotionally, he tackles "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" with a slight Brazilian-flavored arrangement. Darren also has a great time turning pop classics like "More Today Than Yesterday" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" into jazzy songs that sound like they were written a generation before they were. The set closes with a charming jazz trio take on "Dream a Little Dream of Me," which won't make you forget Mama Cass but is nevertheless engaging. Darren hardly crafts a crooning style of his own, preferring to go after the warm familiarity of his idols. Still, in its own way, Because of You is pretty irresistible. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
'The This One's from the Heart'
Release Date 8/24/1999
Tracks 17
Label Concord Jazz
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
During a career that's stretched for more than 40 years, James Darren has touched many of the bases in the entertainment game. He started in the 1950s when he was a teenage idol of the big screen, and then moved on to appearances on any number of TV shows over the ensuing years. One of the more notable of these appearances was his portrayal of a swinging 1960s Rat Pack crooner on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This wasn't one of those too-often-seen instances of miscasting: The man can sing, and this, his latest album, is telling evidence of his gift. Coincidentally, ironically, or whatever, Darren comes across a bit like another singer who began his career in the 1950s: the similarly surnamed Bobby Darin. And like his near namesake, Darren suffers from unfair and unnecessary comparisons to Frank Sinatra. It probably doesn't help matters that several songs on the album are strongly associated with Sinatra, including "All the Way," "Come Fly With Me," "Night and Day," and "I've Got You Under My Skin." If any singer with a style like Darren's were forced to limit his selections to songs not already done by Sinatra, the vocal pickings would be slim indeed. Darren has something to say with each of these tunes, and he says it well. That he is blessed with outstanding arrangements by some of the best in the business, like Alan Broadbent, Sammy Nestico, Tom Ranier, and the late Marty Paich, contributes mightily to making this session an enjoyable listening experience. The instrumental accompaniment includes appearances by some of the finest jazz musicians extant. On a midtempo "I've Got the World on a String," Darren is backed by a strong tenor saxophone solo by Pete Christlieb. "Sophisticated Lady" features Ranier's piano and the graceful, floating figures of Warren Luening on a Sweets Edison-like muted trumpet. Luening makes a similar contribution on "I'll Be Seeing You." Darren's rendering of one of Duke Ellington's most popular tunes stands up well with most interpretations. Darren is accompanied by a big band, with strings attached, on eight of the cuts. This group provides the background for very lush renditions of such standards as Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields' hauntingly beautiful "The Way You Look Tonight" (on which Luening's flügelhorn is prominent). For the remaining nine tunes, Darren is backed by a small group of fine musicians, including Luening, Ranier, Christlieb, Chuck Berghoffer, Gregg Field, and Ron Escheté. Darren offers a legitimate option to the hip male singers of the day. His is a crooning, swinging style that reached its zenith with Bing Crosby, Sinatra, and Darin, and was carried on by the inestimable Tony Bennett and Darren himself. This One's From the Heart is an amiable 52 minutes of great music, excellently arranged and performed by a good singer backed by fine musicians. ~ Dave Nathan, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This odds and sods collection was the third of four 12" LPs from James Darren, whose talents reached beyond that of a teen idol singer and onto the silver screen. Sings for All Sizes (1962) gathers a dozen sides from numerous sources, such as tunes used in the popular series of "Gidget" romance flicks, as well as cuts that had formerly been available only on 45 rpm singles. The timing of the release suggests one primary impetus was the novelty-esque "Goodbye Cruel World" becoming Darren's first Top Ten smash. Aside from that, the material has become more notably oriented toward a youthful market. This was a contrast from Album No. 1 (1960) and Love Among the Young (1962), as both contained heavily scored adult MOR cuts of traditional pop. Appropriately, "Goodbye Cruel World" opens the effort with the familiar melody based on the calliope sounds of a circus. Although arguably lightweight, it allowed the artist an opportunity to connect to his core audience. However, with the exception of the bubblegum folderol "I Don't Wanna Lose Ya," a majority of this album features the vocalist backed by a chorus warbling a garden variety of conventional love songs in a fairly predictable pre-rock & roll style. Standouts include the up-tempo ballad "Angel Face," one of the earliest platters to have garnered Darren attention, as well as the airy "How Sweet Are You," with instrumental support that is curiously similar to Frankie Avalon's hit "Venus." The concluding "Man About Town" and "Dream Big" return to the copious orchestration and big-band arrangements, although the results are uniformly even, as opposed to the bulk of the disc, most of which is dismissible. In 2004, Collectors' Choice Music packaged both Sings the Movies (Gidget Goes Hawaiian) (1961) and Sings for All Sizes onto a single CD, making each available for the first time in four decades. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
James Darren's fourth long-player, Love Among the Young (1962), is a concept album of sorts as each of the dozen selections are love songs that actually feature the word "young" in the name. The platter was also his last for the Columbia Pictures subsidiary Colpix Records. Rather than back the vocalist with the looming big-band orchestration that had accompanied Darren on Album No. 1 (1958), arranger/producer Stu Phillips updated the musical scores to showcase the rich interpretive artist. Interestingly, the title track was recorded some years earlier on Darren's aforementioned debut, Album No. 1. The remake is equally affective in this slightly updated form. Otherwise, the results remained distinctly non-rock & roll oriented. That said, they certainly weren't throwbacks either. Phillips' use of a brass section and chorus colors the overall sound, rather than defining it. Both the jazzy opener, "Hello Young Lovers," as well as a measured and emotive reading of "Young World," the latter of which had been a rousing hit for Ricky Nelson, are evidence of Darren's supple and decidedly modern approach. His skills as an actor are especially exemplified on his interpretations of more familiar pop standards, such as the strong commanding baritone projected during "Blame It on My Youth" or the stirring "Too Young to Be True." Although his teen idol image was secured by not only his discs, but his cinematic exploits as well, the singer was still considered in the same nonthreatening, clean-cut camp as his contemporaries Pat Boone, Fabian, and Frankie Avalon. Instead of attempting aggressive early rock tunes that were quickly replacing milquetoast MOR as the music of choice among America's youth, the remainder of the LP is filled with a few covers made popular by Nat Cole on "Too Young" and "Too Young to Go Steady," as well as a pair that Ol' Blue Eyes regularly incorporated into his repertoire, "Young at Heart" and "You Make Me Feel So Young." In 2004, Collectors' Choice Music issued Love Among the Young and Album No. 1 onto a single two-fer CD, making both available for the first time in four decades. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
'Sings the Movies (Gidget Goes Hawaiian)'
Release Date 1/1/1961
Tracks 12
Label Colpix
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The dozen tracks on James Darren's second long-player, Sings the Movies (Gidget Goes Hawaiian) (1961) are derived from not only Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961), but other silver screen offerings as well. The variety of musical settings is a welcome change from the MOR pop standards that comprised Album No. 1 (1959). While that platter was lauded by Darren's teenybopper fans, it failed to spotlight him in a manner that would befit his image. Rather, it was a relatively reserved affair, not unlike that of Frank Sinatra. However, as a majority of his contributions were one-off sides, there is a notably less than methodical feel to it. Opening the effort is the title composition to the aforementioned Gidget Goes Hawaiian. The mid-tempo tune is augmented with the appropriate woozy Hawaiian slack key guitar introduction and copious use of ukuleles. Another danceable cut, "Wild About That Girl" is also included from the movie. Since the vast majority of Darren's motion picture appearances had not featured him as a vocalist, but rather as an actor, the other cinematic sides on Sings the Movies (Gidget Goes Hawaiian) are taken from tinsel town "classics" such as the affective "Hand in Hand" from the film of the same name, or the fully orchestrated ballad "You Are My Dream" off of the 1001 Arabian Nights animated flick that starred none other than Mr. Magoo in an adaptation of Don Quixote -- which was scripted, incidentally, by one Aldous Huxley. Darren's ability to bring a distinguished dramatic quality to his interpretations proves to be his forte, as each of the numbers are both independently compelling, and in the context of what is by all outward appearances a hastily compiled aggregate. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Although his name is inextricably linked to his late-'50s teen idol status, James Darren's first long-player -- the somewhat redundantly designated Album No. 1 (1959) -- is much more akin to adult pop than early rock. With a sizeable chunk of the dozen-song list derived from the rich catalog of Americana popular standards, Darren comes off more like a Frank Sinatra spinoff than Elvis or Ricky Nelson, all three of whom were accredited actors as well. It was Darren's portrayal of "Moondoggie" in the romantic comedy Gidget (1959) that would ultimately spawn his career as a vocalist. He supplied vocals not only to the film's title track, "Gidget," but also the mid-tempo Jules Styne classic "There's No Such Thing." The overwhelmingly positive results led Columbia Pictures execs to sign Darren to their subsidiary, Colpix Records. Rather than maneuver his image as a rebellious rocker, Darren was preened for conversely innocuous adult contemporary music such as the material he interprets here. The artist was teamed up with a top-shelf cast of notable West Coast big-band and jazz arrangers. Primary among them is the legendary Billy May, whose contributions are evidenced by his trademark swingin' and brass-driven sound on the aforementioned "Gidget" and "There's No Such Thing." These sides quite literally set the tone for the rest of the album, most notably Bob Florence's horn charts on "Walkin' My Baby Back Home." A young John Williams is credited with scoring several of the more contemporary-sounding cuts, including the breezy opener, "Let's Fall in Love" as well as "The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else." Darren ably takes on these well-established standards, bringing a decidedly dramatic flare to his contributions. Although Album No. 1 failed to make much of a dent on the charts or in the racks, it established the burgeoning talent as a formidable vocalist and primed him for his follow-up, the soundtrack-sourced Sings the Movies (Gidget Goes Hawaiian) (1961). In 2004, Collectors' Choice Music coupled Album No. 1 with Love Among the Young (1962) onto a double-play CD. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
