Robert Mitchum Albums (2)
'That Man, Robert Mitchum, Sings'
Release Date 1/1/1967
Tracks 26
Label Monument
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Unlike most celebrity vocalists, Robert Mitchum actually had musical talent. Music was never anything more than an occasional sideline to his acting career, but he recorded sporadically throughout the years. That Man, Robert Mitchum, Sings collects all of his commercial recordings from the '50s and '60s, including the complete albums Calypso Is Like So (1957) and That Man (1967), plus the hit single "Ballad of Thunder Road." The latter, a song Mitchum wrote for his film Thunder Road, charted twice for him and once for the bluegrass duo Jim & Jesse, who covered it for the country market in the late '60s. Calypso Is Like So is one of many albums of its era designed to cash in on the calypso craze, but is a cut above the typical offering because of Mitchum's obvious fondness for the style and the humorous songs, most of which comment on the war between the sexes. "What Is This Generation Coming To" addresses rock & roll and the generation gap, and "From a Logical Point of View" is based on the same calypso tune as Jimmy Soul's later hit "If You Wanna Be Happy." In a completely different vein, That Man is a country album Mitchum cut for Monument Records after hearing Charlie Walker's "Little Ole Winedrinker Me," which Mitchum included on the album. That song became a big country hit for Mitchum, and the rest of the album is just as good. He sings an assortment of pop and country hits, a new version of "The Ballad of Thunder Road," and a lovely pop ballad he composed, "Whippoorwill," all in a style similar to Dean Martin's country recordings. ~ Greg Adams, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
More hip than Don Johnson's Heartbeat, not as camp as William Shatner's The Transformed Man, and equally as kitsch as, well, most everything else from the '50s, Robert Mitchum's Calypso -- Is Like So will win you over. Recorded in 1957, the idea for the album must have been hatched in a rum fervor. While filming in Trinidad, Mitchum began soaking up some of the local musical talent, such as Lord Melody and Mighty Sparrow. The result is an album of neither watered down nor truly authentic calypso. Included are the requisite steel drums, congas, and backing horns and many traditional Caribbean songs, yet, a few are obvious rockers รก la Elvis Presley. His voice sounds something like Bing Crosby crossed with Dean Martin and Merle Haggard, and his insistence of affecting the broken English of many of the real calypso artists -- this is "dis," "the" is often dropped -- may smack some as distasteful. Nonetheless, it is great to hear such an icon of Hollywood cool having so much kooky fun at his own expense. And the album is not bereft of musical merit. One of the most interesting elements is the use of a banjo instead of guitar as a single line instrument for solos, prefiguring the instrument's use in many contemporary bluegrass and avant-jazz outfits. Also included as a bonus are two rockabilly tracks the artist recorded for his 1958 bootleg. Noir flick Thunder Road, of which the title track "The Ballad of Thunder Road" was a moderately successful pop hit. ~ Matt Collar, All Music Guide
