As Long As I'm Singing: The Bobby Darin Collection

An absolutely wonderful review of Bobby Darin's career. Everything about the set is very well designed and aesthetically pleasing, and the accompanying booklet it packed full interesting stories, information about the individual songs included in the set, and many great insights into who Darin was as a man from some of the people who knew him best. Every song in the set is very enjoyable to listen to, and many of them are among his best work. Certainly many of them were among his dearest work, and each displays a part of who he was. Considering his wide musical interests, it comes as no surprise that the collection includes examples of early rock, swing, jazz, pop standards, country, folk, protest rock, gospel, motown, and even one of the first examples of what would toady be considered rap. After listening to this set, you will know Bobby Drain better than you did when you bought it. One can't help but imagine what Darin would be doing today had his life not been cut so tragically short.

I'd liked getting to hear all the Songs without having to buy expensive vintage records. The booklet was nice,too.

What's not to like? This was a perfect order. Thank you.

A really solid Bobby Darin compilation.......the rock n roll stuff....the nightclub stuff.....the country folk stuff, which really is quite solid, and easy to listen to. Bobby D could do it all. It also comes with a handsome booklet that is really nice. This guy was an American Music Icon, and a damn shame he left us at 37. I highly recommend this set to anyone interested in hearing a true Master...... :O) these tunes make you wanna snap your fingers, and sing.

I had this music before but lost it I am so glad I have it back. It is a good Box set of Bobby Darin.

The guy was a musical genius. What a great collection of his work.

Brings back so many fantastic memories!!

A quite legitimate argument could be proffered that Bobby Darin (born Cassotto) was the most unique and extraordinary singer in the history of American popular music. I know that in these sordid, pretentious, and intellectually-challenged times similar claims have been made about everyone from Snoop Dog to Big Head Todd. But a genuinely credible case could be made for Bobby Darin. Here's why: Darin was that rarest of performers capable of ingratiating himself to fans of all ages, races, and musical tastes. He had million-selling singles in musical categories as diverse as Jazz/Swing, Country & Western, Folk, and Rhythm and Blues. Darin was hailed as a brilliant performer from industry giants as diverse as Johnny Mercer, Perry Como and Henry Mancini on the one hand, and Neil Young, Rod Stewart and Elvis Presley on the other. He had a natural jazz feel and a sense of syncopation that eluded even Sinatra and Bennett. He had a sense of showmanship and an inborn panache that was unmatched. Sammy Davis Jr. and Wayne Newton both hailed Darin as the most connsummate cabaret performer in the world. Now, let's throw in the fact that Darin is a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the American Songwriters and Composers (ASCAP) Hall of Fame. Add to all of this the fact that Darin, despite making less than a dozen films, was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor ("Captain Newman, M.D.") and was the recipient of the Golden Globe Best Actor Award ("Pressure Point"). He was nominated for four Grammies in 1959 and won two of them ("Best New Vocalist" and "Song of the Year" for "Mack the Knife"). He was nominated again in 1963 in the category of Best Rhythm and Blues vocalist ("What'd I Say"), and then was nominated still again in 1966 in the category for Best Male Ballad Singer ("If I Were A Carpenter"). And let's not forget that Darin was nominated and/or received these Grammies when the competition included Frank Sinatra, Jack Jones, Vic Damone, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Tony Bennett (as opposed to Madonna, Snoop Dog, Britany Spears, Jennifer Lopez and the rest of contemporary pop culture's cookie-cutter, mass-produced pseudo-talents). Finally, throw into this mix the fact that Darin was a talented dancer, impersonator, and multi-instrumentalist, and you have arguably the most talented performer in American show business. If all of these facts aren't sufficient in convincing you that Bobby Darin was, in so many tangible ways, in a class by himself, then simply access the most persuasive evidence---his recordings. Listen to "Beyond the Sea," "You're the Reason I'm Living," "Things," "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey?" "A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley Square," or "Try To Remember." You might even want to check out "Me and Mr. Hohner," which presaged rap and hip-hop by twenty-five years. Try and think of a more versatile singer---assuming of course that he or she, like Darin, had a genuinely pleasant voice. Try this on for size: Could Sinatra sing "Dream Lover?" Could Neil Young sing "Clementine?" Could Marvin Gaye sing "Artificial Flowers?" How about Michael Feinstein singing "You're the Reason I'm Living?" Such pairings of singers and songs would be ridiculous at best. Yet Bobby Darin sang'm all, and sang'm well. While Marvin Gaye is considerd a "soul singer," Neil Young a "rock singer" and Sinatra a "big band singer," Darin mastered all three of these genres and many more as well. So why isn't Bobby Darin an American icon? Sadly, Darin is underappreciated for two critical reasons: First, he died at the tragically young age of 37. Because he knew he would die so young, Darin ventured into all musical genres and, although he mastered them all, he didn't remain in any one long enough to become identified with it. Unlike Sinatra and Bennett who are identified soley as big band swing and ballad singers, Darin mastered that category but he was also a folk, rock and roll, and Country-Western singer. Ironically, his own masterful versatility was detrimental to his legacy: it was virtually impossible for a man who had only so many years to live and perform to become firmly ensconced in the American psyche. The second reason for Darin's being underappreciated is the fact that he had the misfortune of appearing on the show-biz scene contemporaneously with a swarm of limited-talents who were also of Italian-American lineage like Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Rydel, Dion DiMucci, Freddie Cannon, Lou Christie, etc. Hence, lots of WWII generation folks hastily and unfairly categorized Darin with these far lesser lights. They heard "Splish Splash" and walked away from their phonographs believing Darin was just another teenybopper. Only in retrospect is Bobby Darin beginning to receive the credit he has long been overdue. The apex of this deserved Darin renaissance might well be the forthcoming Darin biopic starring the talented Kevin Spacey. This film might well be the final, ultimate catalyst necessary to open the eyes of those who heretofore were hesitent to mention Bobby Darin in the same sentence as Sinatra and Bennett. Hopefully the Darin biopic will induce viewers to exit movie theatres with an inclination to learn more about the late, great Bobby Darin. Perhaps then whatever remnant of class, taste and sophistication still existent in the oxymoron known as "contemporary pop culture" will manifest to sing the praises of a genuinely brilliant performer who was every bit as talented, if not more so, than Mr. Sinatra and Mr. Bennett.

A delight from beginning to end.