Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin (May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973), born Walden Robert Perciville Cassotto, was a two-time Grammy award winning American singer, Oscar nominated actor and accomplished musician.

Darin performed widely in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country. Although unknown to his public, his health was dangerously fragile and strongly motivated him to succeed within the limited lifetime he feared he would, and ultimately did, have.

Darin married Sandra Dee; they met while making the film Come September (1961). They made a few more movies together at Universal Studios that were moderately successful. They had one son, Dodd Mitchell Darin (also known as Morgan Mitchell Darin). She and Darin divorced in 1967.

He was also an actor, singer/songwriter and music business entrepreneur. His wish for a legacy was "to be remembered as a human being and as a great performer." Among his many other contributions, he became a goodwill ambassador for the American Heart Association.

Early years

Bobby Darin was born to a poor, working-class family of mostly Italian descent in The Bronx. The person thought to be his father (who was actually his grandfather) died in jail a few months before he was born. It was the height of the Great Depression, and he once remarked that his crib was a cardboard box, then later a dresser drawer. He was initially raised by his mother Polly, who was Anglo-American, and his sister Nina, subsisting on Home Relief until Nina later married and started a family with her new husband Charlie Maffia. It was not until Darin was an adult that he learned Nina, who was 17 years his senior, was in fact his birth mother, and that Polly, the woman he thought was his mother, was really his grandmother. He was never told the identity of his real father, other than being told that his birth father had no idea Nina was pregnant, and thus never knew that Bobby was even born. Polly mothered him well, despite her own medical history resulting in her addiction to morphine. It was Polly who took the young Bobby to what was left of the old vaudeville circuit in New York, places like the Bronx Opera House, and the RKO Jefferson in Manhattan, where he received his first showbiz inspiration, and where he saw performers like Sophie Tucker, whom he loved.

Darin was frail and sickly as an infant and, beginning at the age of 8, was stricken with multiple recurring bouts of rheumatic fever. The illness left him with a seriously weakened heart. Overhearing a doctor tell his mother he would be lucky to reach the age of 16, Darin lived with the constant knowledge that his life would be short, which further motivated him to use his talents. He was driven by his poverty and illness to make something of his life and, with his innate talent for music, by the time he was a teenager he could play several instruments, including piano, drums and guitar. He later added harmonica and xylophone.

An outstanding student, Darin graduated from the prestigious Bronx High School of Science and went on to attend Hunter College on a scholarship. Wanting a career in the New York theater, he dropped out of college to play small nightclubs around the city with a musical combo. In the resort area of the Catskill Mountains, he was both a busboy and an entertainer. For the most part teenage Bobby was a comedy drummer and an ambitious but unpolished vocalist.

As was common with first-generation Americans at the time, he changed his Italian surname to one that sounded less ethnic. He chose the name "Bobby" because he had been called that as a child. He allegedly chose Darin because he had seen a malfunctioning electrical sign at a Chinese restaurant reading "DARIN DUCK" rather than "MANDARIN DUCK", and he thought "Darin" looked good. Later, he said that the name was randomly picked out of the telephone book, either by himself or by his publicist. It has also been suggested that he amended the word "daring" to suit his ambitions. None of these stories have been verified.

Music career

What really moved things along for Darin was his songwriting partnership, formed in 1955, with fellow Bronx Science student Don Kirshner. In 1956 his agent negotiated a contract for him with Decca Records, where Bill Haley & His Comets had risen to fame. However, this was a time when rock and roll was still in its infancy and the number of capable record producers and arrangers in the field was extremely limited.

A member of the now famous Brill Building gang of once-struggling songwriters who later found success, Darin was introduced to then up-and-coming singer Connie Francis. Bobby's manager arranged for Darin to help write several songs for Connie in order to help jump-start her singing career. Initially the two artists couldn't see eye to eye on potential material, but after several weeks Bobby and Connie developed a romantic interest in one another. Purportedly, Connie had a very strict Italian father who would separate the couple whenever possible. When Connie's father learned that Bobby had suggested the two lovers elope after one of Connie's shows, he ran Darin out of the building while waving a gun telling Bobby to never see his daughter again.

Bobby saw Connie only twice more after this happened, once when the two were scheduled to sing together for a television show and again later when Connie was spotlighted on the TV series This Is Your Life. Connie has said that not marrying Bobby was the biggest mistake of her life. She used the title words of the song "My First Real Love," (a Darin-Kirshner song she'd recorded and on which Darin had played drums), when she said, "Well, he was my first real love and I never stopped loving him all my life." Connie Francis said too that she and Darin would sometimes go to the Apollo Theater to see artists like James Brown and Ray Charles, 'we were the only white people in the audience', and when Darin did record first for Decca early in 1956 it was a piece of black music, pioneered by the Louisiana songster Leadbelly, "Rock Island Line"—though the immediate inspiration was Lonnie Donegan's skiffle version. He sang it that year on the CBS program Stage Show, his TV debut, with the lyrics written on the palms of his hands in case he forgot them, which he did. But the songs recorded at Decca did very little business.

Darin left Decca to sign with Atlantic Records (ATCO), where he wrote and arranged music for himself and others. Songs he recorded , like Harry Warren's I Found a Million Dollar Baby were sung with an Elvis-like attack - but Darin was not fully equipped to be a teen idol. Around this time he worried about his appearance. He was losing his hair and told Steve Blauner that when he looked in the mirror he saw "an ugly small Italian man." Yet many attested that on stage he had 'absolute charisma'. Fitted with a hairpiece Darin faced the world anew ; but now it was his ATCO career that was failing to thrive. There was talk of releasing Darin from his contract until Ahmet Ertegun, the Turkish-American co-founder of Atlantic, stepped in, and his career took off in 1958 when he wrote and recorded "Splish Splash", with Ertegun producing. The song was an instant hit, selling more than a million copies. "Splish Splash" was written with radio DJ Murray "Murray the K" Kaufman, who bet Darin that he could not write a song that started out with the words "Splish Splash, I was takin' a bath", as suggested by Murray's mother. On a snow-bound night in early 1958, Darin went in the studio alone and recorded a demo of "Splish Splash." They eventually shared writing credits with her. This was followed by more hits recorded in the same style.

In 1959, Bobby Darin recorded "Dream Lover", a ballad that became a multi-million seller. Along came financial success and with it came the ability to demand more so-called creative control. Some at the label wanted a Fats Domino-ish album, but Darin's devoted publicist and advisor Harriet 'Hesh' Wasser wanted a 'great, swinging, standard album,' and, as she later told it, they were walking down 57th street when Darin told her "Hesh, don't worry, you'll get your album." His next record, "Mack the Knife", was the classic standard from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera: Darin gave the tune a vamping jazz-pop interpretation. Although Darin initially opposed releasing it as a single, the song went to No. 1 on the charts for nine weeks, sold two million copies, and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960. Darin was also voted the Grammy Award for Best New Artist that year. "Mack The Knife" has since been honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. He followed "Mack" with "Beyond the Sea", a jazzy English-language version of Charles Trenet's French hit song "La Mer".

The tracks were produced by Atlantic founders, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün with staff producer Jerry Wexler and featured brilliant arrangements by Richard Wess. Propelled by the success of "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea", Darin became a hot commodity. He set all-time attendance records at the famed Copacabana nightclub in New York City, where it was not unusual for fans to line up all the way around the block to get tickets when Darin performed there. The Copacabana sold so many seats for Darin's shows that they had to fill the dance floor, normally part of the performance area, with extra seating. Darin also headlined at the major casinos in Las Vegas.

Sammy Davis Jr., an exceptionally multi-talented and dynamic performer himself, was quoted as saying that Bobby Darin was "the only person I never wanted to follow" after seeing him perform in Las Vegas. However, Davis was among those who appeared on the 1959 telecast of This Is Your Life, along with George Burns and relatives and friends, that surprised and honored Darin at NBC's Burbank, California studios.

Darin had a significant role in fostering new talent. Richard Pryor, Flip Wilson and Wayne Newton opened his nightclub performances when they were virtually unknown. Early on, at the Copacabana, he insisted that black comic George Kirby be his opening act. His request was grudgingly granted by Jules Podell, the manager of the Copacabana.

In the 1960s, Darin also owned and operated a highly successful music publishing and production company (TM Music/Trio) and signed Wayne Newton to TM, giving him a song that was originally sent to Darin to record. That record went on to become Newton's breakout hit, "Danke Schoen". He also was a mentor to Roger McGuinn, who worked for Darin at TM Music and played the 12 string guitar in Darin's nightclub band before going off to form The Byrds. Darin also produced Rosey Grier's 1964 LP, Soul City, and Made in the Shade for Jimmy Boyd.

In 1962, Darin also began to write and sing country music, with hit songs including "Things" (U.S. #3) (1962), "You're the Reason I'm Living" (U.S. #3), and "18 Yellow Roses" (U.S. #10). The latter two were on Capitol Records, which he joined in 1962, before returning to Atlantic four years later. The song "Things" was sung by Dean Martin in the 1967 TV special Movin' With Nancy, starring Nancy Sinatra, which was released to home video in 2000.

Acting career

In addition to music, Darin became a motion picture actor. In 1960, he appeared twice as himself in NBC's short-lived crime drama Dan Raven, starring Skip Homeier and set on the Sunset Strip of West Hollywood. In 1960, he was the only actor ever to have been signed contractually to five major Hollywood film studios. He wrote music for several films and acted in them as well. In his first major film, Come September, a romantic comedy designed to capitalize on his popularity with the teenage and young adult audience, he met and co-starred with 18-year-old actress Sandra Dee. They fell in love and were married in 1960. The couple had one son, Dodd Mitchell Darin (born 1961) and later divorced in 1967.

Wanting his acting to be taken seriously, he took on more meaningful movie roles, and in 1962, he won the Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Male Newcomer" for his role in Pressure Point.

In 1963, Darin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a shell-shocked soldier in Captain Newman, M.D.. At the Cannes Film Festival, where his records—in particular "Beyond the Sea"—brought him a wide following, he won the French Film Critics Award for best actor.

Later years

Darin's musical output became more "folky" as the 1960s progressed and he became more politically aware and active. In 1966, he had another big hit record, but this time it was with folksinger Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter", adding another style to his vast repertoire. The song secured Darin's return to the Top 10 after a two-year absence. Jim (Roger) McGuinn, the future leader of the Byrds, was part of his performing band. Darin traveled with Robert Kennedy and worked on the politician's 1968 presidential campaign. He was with Kennedy the day he traveled to Los Angeles on June 4, 1968 for the California Primary, and was at the Ambassador Hotel later that night when Kennedy was assassinated. Darin was devastated by this news.

Afterwards, Darin sold his house and most of his possessions and lived in seclusion in a trailer near Big Sur for nearly a year. Coming back to Los Angeles in 1969, Darin started another record company, Direction Records, putting out folk and protest music. He wrote the very popular "Simple Song of Freedom" in 1969. He said of his first Direction Records album, "The purpose of Direction Records is to seek out statement-makers. The album is solely [composed] of compositions designed to reflect my thoughts on the turbulent aspects of modern society." During this time, he was billed under the name "Bob Darin," grew a mustache, and stopped wearing a hairpiece. Within two years, however, all of these changes were discontinued.

At the beginning of the 1970s, he continued to act and to record, including several albums with Motown Records and a couple of films. In January 1971, he underwent his first heart surgery in an attempt to correct some of the heart damage he had lived with since childhood. He spent most of the year recovering from the surgery.

In 1972, he starred in his own TV variety show on NBC, The Bobby Darin Amusement Company, which ran until his death in 1973. Darin married Andrea Yeager in June 1973. He made TV guest appearances and also remained a top draw at Las Vegas, where, owing to his poor health, he was often administered oxygen after his performances.

Death

In 1973, Darin's ill health took a turn for the worse. After failing to take medication (prescribed to protect his heart) before a dental visit, he developed blood poisoning. This weakened his body and badly affected one of his heart valves. On December 11, Darin entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for surgery to repair the two artificial heart valves he received in the previous 1971 operation. On December 19, the surgery began. A five-man surgical team worked for over six hours to repair his damaged heart. However, although the surgery was initially successful, Darin died minutes afterward in the recovery room without regaining consciousness on December 20, 1973, at age 37.

Legacy

In 1990, singer Paul Anka made the speech for Darin's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Righteous Brothers refer to Darin in their song Rock and Roll Heaven, a tribute to late musicians, which was released months after Darin's death. The duo also make a reference to hill road. In 2000, actor Kevin Spacey, a lifelong fan of Darin, acquired the film rights to his story. Spacey directed and produced the film, and played Bobby Darin; as well as co-writing the script. The film is named after one of Darin's top hits, Beyond the Sea. With the consent of the Darin estate, Steve Blauner, and archivist Jimmy Scalia, the movie's opening was at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. Despite strong studio promotion, critical reaction was poor, and box office results were disappointing. However, the movie spurred a renewed interest in Darin, which has resulted in the release of "never heard before" material. His pianist, Roger Kellaway, has recorded two albums of Darin's music as well. Spacey was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor for the movie. He also occasionally did concert tours, performing many of Darin's hits as a tribute to the singer.

In 1998 PBS aired the acclaimed documentary Bobby Darin: Beyond the Song, produced by Henry Astor and Jason Cilo.

In a 2003 episode of the NBC television series American Dreams, Duncan Sheik portrays Darin and performs Beyond the Sea on American Bandstand. Brittany Snow's character, Meg Pryor, is assigned as Darin's liaison during the show.

On Monday, May 14, 2007, Darin was awarded a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. This tribute honors Darin for his contribution to making Las Vegas the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and acknowledges his reputation as one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century. The sponsorship fee for this star was raised entirely by fan donations.

In December 2007, Darin was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Darin had a custom car built called the "Dream Car," designed by Andy DiDia; it is on display at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation.

On December 13, 2009, the Recording Academy announced that Darin would receive a Lifetime Achievement Award (post-mortem) at the 2010 Grammy Awards ceremony.

Biopic

Main article: Beyond the Sea (film)

Beyond the Sea is a 2004 biographical film based on the life of Darin, which takes its title from the Darin song of the same name. Kevin Spacey, who stars in the lead role and used his own singing voice for the musical numbers, co-wrote, directed, and co-produced the film which depicts Darin's rise to teen idol success in both the music and film industry during the 1950s and 60s, as well as his marriage to Sandra Dee, portrayed by Kate Bosworth.

As early as 1986, Barry Levinson intended to direct a film based on the life of Darin, and he began preproduction on the project in early 1997. When he eventually vacated the director's position, Spacey, along with Darin's son, Dodd, acquired the film rights. Beyond the Sea was released in December 2004 to mixed reviews from critics and bombed at the box office. However, Dodd Darin, Sandra Dee, and former Darin manager Steve Blauner responded with enthusiastic feedback to Spacey's work on the film. Despite the mixed reviews, some critics praised Spacey's performance, largely owing to his decision to use his own singing voice. He also received a Golden Globe nomination.

Discography

Singles

Release date	Title	Flip side	Record label	Chart Positions
				US Charts	Cashbox	UK	R&B
1956	Rock Island Line /	Timber	Decca 29883
	Silly Willy /	Blue Eyed Mermaid	Decca 29922
	The Greatest Builder Of Them All /	Hear Them Bells	Decca 30031
1957	Dealer In Dreams /	Help Me	Decca 30225
	Million Dollar Baby /	Talk To Me	Atco 6092
	Don't Call My Name /	Pretty Betty	Atco 6103
1958	Silly Willy /	Dealer In Dreams	Decca 30737
	Just In Case You Change Your Mind /	So Mean	Atco 6109
	Splish Splash/	Judy Don't Be Moody	US Atco 6117/ UK London 8666	3	2	18	1
	Early in the Morning /	Now We're One	Brunswick 55073 (See below)
	Early in the Morning /	Now We're One	Atco 6121	24	25		8
	Queen of the Hop	Lost Love	US Atco 6127/UK London 8737	9	12	24	6
	Mighty Mighty Man /	You're Gone	Atco 6128
1959	Plain Jane	While I'm Gone	Atco 6133	38	30
	Dream Lover	Bullmoose	US Atco 6140/UK London 8867	2	3	1	4
	Mack the Knife	Was There A Call For Me	US Atco 6147/UK London 8939	1	1	1	6
1960	Beyond the Sea (the French hit song "La Mer")	That's The Way Love Is	US Atco 6158/UK London 9034	6	7	8	15
	Clementine	Tall Story	US Atco 6161/UK London 9086	21	13	8
	Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey?/		US Atco 6167/UK London 9142	19	16	34
		I'll Be There		79
	Beachcomber	Autumn Blues	Atco 6173	100	50
	Artificial Flowers/		Atco 6179	20	19
	::above Shown as "Bobby Darin at the Piano"
		Somebody To Love		45	58
	Christmas Auld Lang Syne/		Atco 6183	51	50
		Child Of God		95	95
	She's Tanfastic!	Moments Of Love	Atco/Ferrion Inc.	--	--
	::above Special premium record
1961	Lazy River	Oo-Ee Train	US Atco 6188/UK London 9303	14	18	2
	Nature Boy	Look For My True Love	US Atco 6196/UK London 9375	40	31	24
	Theme From "Come September"	Walk Back To Me	US Atco 6200/UK London 9407	113	55	50
			::Shown as "Bobby Darin & His Orchestra"
	You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby	Sorrow Tomorrow	US Atco 6206/UK London 9429	5	7	10
	Irresistible You/		US Atco 6214/UK London 9474	15	16
		Multiplication		30	26	5
1962	What'd I Say (Part 1)/	What'd I Say (Part 2)	Atco 6221	24	6
	Things	Jailer Bring Me Water	US Atco 6229/UK London 9575	3	10	2
	If A Man Answers/All By Myself		US Capitol 4837/UK Capitol 15272	32	28	24
		True, True Love		105
	Baby Face	You Know How	US Atco 6236/UK London 9624	42	38	40
	I Found a New Baby	Keep-A-Walkin'	Atco 6244	90
1963	You're the Reason I'm Living	Now You're Gone	Capitol 4897	3	5
	18 Yellow Roses	Not For Me	US Capitol 4970/UK Capitol 15306	10	12	37	28
	Treat My Baby Good	Down So Long	Capitol 5019	43	38
	Be Mad Little Girl	Since You've Been Gone	Capitol 5079	64	74
1964	I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now	As Long As I'm Singing	Capitol 5126	93	83
	Milord	Golden Earrings	Atco 6297	45	39
	Swing Low Sweet Chariot /	Similau	Atco 6316	--	--
	The Things In This House	Wait By The Water	Capitol 5257	86	89
1965	Minnie The Moocher /	Hard Headed Hannah	Atco 6334	--	--
	Hello, Dolly!	Golden Earrings	Capitol 5359	79	--
	Venice Blue (Que C'est Triste Venise)	A World Without You	Capitol 5399	133	94
	When I Get Home /	Lonely Road	Capitol 5443	--	--
	Gyp The Cat /	That Funny Feeling	Capitol 5481	--	--
1966	We Didn't Ask To Be Brought Here	Funny What Love Can Do	Atlantic 2305	117	--
	Silver Dollar /	The Breaking Point	Atlantic 2317	--	--
	Mame	Walking In The Shadow Of Love	Atlantic 2329	53	63
	Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? /	Merci, Cheri	Atlantic 2341	--	--
	If I Were a Carpenter	Rainin'	US Atlantic 2350/UK Atlantic 584051	8	9	9
	The Girl That Stood Beside Me	Reason To Believe	Atlantic 2367	66	65
	Lovin' You /	Amy	Atlantic 2376	32	43
	The Lady Came From Baltimore /	I Am		62	73
1967	Darling Be Home Soon/	Hello, Sunshine	Atlantic 2420	93	--
	Talk To The Animals /	After Today	Atlantic 2433	--	--
	Talk To The Animals /	She Knows	Atlantic 2433	105	--
1968	Long Line Rider/	Change	Direction 350	79	66
1969	Me & Mr. Hohner /	Song for A Dollar	Direction 351	123	--
	Distractions (Part 1) /	Jive	Direction 352	111	--
		::Shown as "Bob Darin"
1970	Sugar Man (9 To 5) /	Jive's Alive	Direction 4000	--	--
	Baby May /	Sweet Reason	Direction 4001	--	--
	Maybe We Can Get It Together /	Rx Pyro (Prescription: Fire)	Direction 4002	--	--
1971	Melody /	Someday We'll Be Together	Motown 1183	--	--
	Simple Song Of Freedom /	I'll Be Your Baby Tonight	Motown 1193	--	--
1972	Sail Away /	Something In Her Love	Motown 1203	--	--
1973	Average People /	Something In Her Love	Motown 1217	--	--
	Happy	Something In Her Love	Motown 1217	67	59
1979	Dream Lover/		UK Lightning 9017	--	--	64
		Mack The Knife		--	--	64
1987	Beyond The Sea	Mack The Knife	Atlantic 89166	--	--

Early In The Morning

Darin approached Brunswick Records with "Early In the Morning." Brunswick was impressed, but as Darin was still under contract to Atlantic Records' subsidiary, Atco, the song was released by "The Ding Dongs". New York deejays liked the record and Atco soon discovered the deception. Brunswick was forced to turn over the masters to Atco which released the record under the name, "The Rinky Dinks". In the UK where it had to compete with a version by Buddy Holly, rush released by Brunswick, the single was released under Darin's own name.

Albums

Key:

• US Billboard = BB
• US Cashbox = CB
• UK chart = UK

• Bobby Darin -- Atco 33-102—1958

Issued only in mono

• That's All (BB #7)-- Atco 33-104 (Mono) (CB #9)/SD 33-104 (Stereo) (CB #16) -- 1959

Note: There were separate Cashbox charts for mono and stereo albums until 1965

• This is Darin (BB #6) -- Atco 33-115 (CB #5)/SD 33-115 (CB #7) -- 1960
• Darin At The Copa (BB #9) -- Atco 33-122 (CB #6)/SD 33-122 (CB #12) -- 1960
• For Teenagers Only (CB #38) -- Atco 1001—1960

Issued only in mono

• It's You Or No One -- Atco 33-124/SD 33-124—1960
• The 25th Day of December -- Atco 33-125/SD 33-125—1960
• Two Of A Kind (Bobby Darin & Johnny Mercer) -- Atco 33-126 (CB #38)/SD 33-126—1961
• The Bobby Darin Story (BB #18) -- Atco 33-131 (CB #11)/SD 33-131—1961

Originally issued with white album cover, reissued in 1962 with black album cover. These issues were pressed with Bobby Darin's autograph in the run-out groove plate on Side 2; later reissues do not include the autograph

• Love Swings (BB #92) -- Atco 33-134 (CB #49)/SD 33-134—1961
• Twist with Bobby Darin (BB #48) -- Atco 33-138 (CB #45)/SD 33-138—1961

Original copies of the above Atco albums were originally pressed with yellow "harp" labels. In 1962, these were re-released with gold/dark blue labels (mono copies) and purple/brown labels (stereo copies), which were also used for the forecoming Atco releases

• Bobby Darin Sings Ray Charles (BB #96) -- Atco 33-140 (CB #41)/SD 33-140—1962
• Things and Other Things (BB #45) -- Atco 33-146 (CB #43)/SD 33-146—1962
• Oh! Look at Me Now (BB #100) -- Capitol T(Mono)/ST(Stereo) 1791—1962
• Earthy -- Capitol T/ST-1826—1963
• You're the Reason I'm Living (BB #43) -- Capitol T 1866 (CB #19)/ST 1866—1963
• 18 Yellow Roses" (BB #98) -- Capitol T 1942 (CB #69)/ST 1942—1963
• Golden Folk Hits -- Capitol T/ST 2007—1963
• Winners -- Atco 33-167/SD 33-167—1964
• As Long As I'm Singing -- Capitol T/ST 2084—1964

Unreleased, but rare stereo acetates are known to exist

• From Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie (BB #107) -- Capitol T/ST -2194—1964
• Venice Blue (BB #132) -- Capitol T/ST 2322—1965
• The Best Of Bobby Darin -- Capitol T/ST 2571—1966
• The Shadow of Your Smile -- Atlantic 8121(Mono)/SD 8121(Stereo) - 1966
• In A Broadway Bag -- Atlantic 8126/SD 8126—1966
• If I Were a Carpenter (BB #142, CB #97) -- Atlantic 8135/SD 8135—1966

There were more mono copies than stereo copies of this album pressed

• Inside Out -- Atlantic 8142/SD 8142—1967
• Bobby Darin Sings Doctor Dolittle -— Atlantic 8154/SD 8154—1967
• Bobby Darin Born Walden Robert Cassotto -- Direction 1936 -— 1968
• Commitment -— Direction 1937—1969
• Finally -- Motown 739—1972

Commercially unreleased, but rare test pressings from RCA exist

• Bobby Darin -- Motown 753—1972
• Darin: 1936-1973 (CB #136) -- Motown 813—1974

Filmography

• Come September (1961)
• Too Late Blues (1962)
• State Fair (1962)
• Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
• If a Man Answers (1962)
• Pressure Point (1962)
• Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
• That Funny Feeling (1965)
• Gunfight in Abilene (1967)
• Stranger in the House (1967)
• The Happy Ending (1969)
• Happy Mother's Day, Love George (1973)

Literature

• Dodd Darin & Maxine Paetro: Dream Lovers: the Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee. New York: Warner Books 1994. ISBN 0-446-51768-2

Quotation

If I'm this good now, what will I be like when I'm Sinatra's age?

NME - January 1960

External links

• International Jose Guillermo Carrillo Foundation
• Bobby Darin at Find a Grave
• Official site
• Hall of Rock
• "Beyond the Sea" (2004) Hollywood movie on the life of Bobby Darin
• Jimmy Scalia: The Official Bobby Darin Archivist
• Bobby Darin Discography: Complete Details on all Darin LPs