There's been considerable discussion about whether Darin
should be classified
as a rock'n'roll singer, a Vegas hipster cat, an interpreter of popular
standards, or even a folk-rocker. He was all of these and none of these.
Throughout his career he made a point out of not becoming committed to any one
style at the exclusion of others; at the height of his nightclub fame he
incorporated a folk set into his act. When it appeared he could have gone on
indefinitely as a sort of junior version of Frank Sinatra, he would periodically
record pop-rock and folk-rock singles whose principal appeal lay outside of the
adult pop market. At one point he started calling himself Bob Darin and recorded
songs with vague anti-establishment overtones that could be said to be biting
the largely bourgeois hands that fed his highest-paying gigs. It may be most
accurate to say that Darin was, above all, a singer who wanted to do a lot of
things, rather than make his mark as a particular stylist. That may have cost
him some points as far as making it to the very top of certain genres, but also
makes his work more versatile than almost any other vocalist of his era.
When Darin had his first hits in the late '50s, he was a teen idol of sorts,
albeit a teen idol with much more talent and mature command than the typical
singer in that style. The novelty-tinged "Splish Splash" was his
breakthrough smash, followed by "Queen of the Hop" and the ballad
"Dream Lover." There was a slight R&B feel to Bobby's delivery
that may well have influenced R&B-pop-rock singers such as Dion, though it
would be an exaggeration to call Darin a blue-eyed soul man. In late 1959, he
found a new direction when the swinging "Mack the Knife," a tune from
Brecht-Weill's Threepenny Opera musical, made #1. The song came from an album of
pop standards, heralding his move toward light big band jazz, which was
consolidated by the Top Ten success of "Beyond the Sea" in 1960.
In the early '60s, Darin had mostly abandoned rock for the adult pop market,
becoming a huge success on the Vegas-nightclub circuit, and moving into the
all-around entertainer mode with starring roles in movies (including one as a
non-singing jazz musician in John Cassavetes' Too Young Blues). He also
continued to score regular hits with the likes of "You Must Have Been a
Beautiful Baby," "Things," and "Lazy River." To keep
people guessing, there was also a hit cover of "What'd I Say" and some
country tunes (one of which, "You're the Reason I'm Living," made #3
on the pop charts). Around 1963, he put a folk section into his nightclub act
that employed guitarist Roger McGuinn, then a couple of years away from fame as
the leader of the Byrds.
Darin didn't make the expected retreat into Rat Pack land when his records
stopped making the upper reaches of the charts in the mid-'60s. In 1965, there
was a rather nice self-penned jangly folk-rocker, "When I Get Home,"
that become a British hit for The Searchers. Another 1965 flop, "We Didn't
Ask to Be Brought Here," was an unexpected anti-war tune. When he made his
return to the Top Ten in late 1966, it was with a cover of a gentle Tim Hardin
folk-rock song, "If I Were a Carpenter." His final Top Forty hit the
following year, "Lovin' You," opted for material by another major
folk-rock composer, John Sebastian.
Darin may indeed have been far more hipper and politically aware than the
average nightclub act, covering tunes by Dylan and The Rolling Stones,
participating in a 1965 civil rights march to Alabama, and penning some
Dylan-influenced songs of his own in the late '60s It doesn't seem accurate to
say that this was the true Bobby Darin, shedding his show-biz skin for something
that came to him more naturally; in 1967, the same year he covered
Jagger-Richards' "Back Street Girl," he also recorded material for an
album entitled Bobby Darin Sings Doctor Dolittle. By the early '70s he working
Vegas and similar joints again, exchanging his blue jeans for a tuxedo, and
hosting a TV variety series. In a much odder turn of events, he was now
recording for Motown, though these efforts met little success.
Born with a rheumatic heart, Darin was always aware that his time might be
limited, and died near the end of 1973 during open-heart surgery. He left behind
a considerable quantity (and diversity) of recorded work, and underwent a
critical reevaluation of sorts, especially among rock critics, which might have
aided his election to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. A 1996 four-CD box
set, divided into thematic discs, attempted to put his wide-ranging efforts into
perspective.
Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
