Bobby Darin - Capitol Collectors Series

His Capitol Years Were Hardly His Best

In terms of his overall best hits, these easily came during his two stints with Atlantic and their Atco subsidiary, which was his first label where he registered 25 Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 hits, and six R&B and one Country cross-overs, from 1958 to 1962 (one more came in 1964 with an Atco release of something cut there earlier - Milord, # 11 Adult Contemporary/# 45 Hot 100 and issued while he was under contract to Capitol). After his last Capitol hit in 1965, he returned to Atlantic and added six more to 1967, before finishing his chart career with one for Direction in 1969, and his last for Motown in 1973.

At Capitol he had seven hits and they are all in this compilation, along with four of the B-sides. The first, coming in early 1963 and with the backing of the Jimmie Haskell orchestra, was the best as You're The Reason I'm Living soared to # 3 Hot 100/# 9 R&B b/w Now You're Gone (which the producer decided to leave out of this album in favour of one of the obscure cuts included, of which there are nine). A few months later came his second-best Capitol hit, this time with the backing of the Jack Nitzsche orchestra, as 18 Yellow Roses reached # 5 AC/# 10 Hot 100/# 28 R&B b/w Not For Me. And once again, producer Ron Furmanek decided that flipside was also not worthy of inclusion. His two best Capitol hits and they leave out the B-sides. Great decision.

Nothing else he did at Capitol would ever again make the Billboard Pop Top 40. Treat My Baby Good, again with the Haskell orchestra, came close, reaching # 43 Hot 100 in late summer 1963, as well as # 11 AC, b/w Down So Long (yet another omission here). Then, late that year, Be Mad Little Girl struggled to a # 64 Hot 100 in December, and NOW they include the B-side, Since You Been Gone.

Like a lot of North American artists, he then found the going tough into 1964 as the British Invasion gathered steam, and in March the old standard, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now barely made the Hot 100, settling at # 93 b/w As Long As I'm Singing, And, of course, producer Furmanek figured the B-side to his worst Capitol hit should be included. In May he had the Atco release, Milord, chart as indicated above, followed in October by The Things In This House which reached a respectable # 18 AC, but could only manage a dismal # 86 on the more lucrative Hot 100. The admittedly delightful B-side, Wait By The Water, is included.

Then, in early 1965, came his last Capitol hit as Hello Dolly topped out at # 18 AC/# 79 Hot 100 b/w a great version of Goodbye, Charlie. Three straight Capitol releases then failed to chart, and they and their B-sides are all included: Venus Blue/In A World Without You (Capitol 5399); When I Get Home/Lonely Road (Capitol 5443); and That Funny Feeling/Gyp The Cat (Capitol 5481). I have no idea as to where tracks 4 and 5 fit into his Capitol years since there are no liner notes whatsoever, and naturally no discography (another in the Collectors Series covering Ray Anthony provides both - go figure).

Despite the excellent sound quality, I had no choice but to deduct 2 stars for these deficiencies. September 17, 2007

Kitschy And Enjoyable

Bobby Darin had a soulful voice and even though most of these songs are kind of hokey, I always enjoy listening to this album. My favorite track is "Since You've Been Gone", it really kicks. "The Sermon of Samson" is fun as is "Wait By the Water", or as Bobby says it "de Wada". "18 Yellow Roses" is catchy. And "When I Get Home" is kind of funky.

These are tracks Bobby recorded in the 60's for Capitol so "Mack The Knife" is not included. I guess that is what he is best remembered for, that and "Splish Splash". But I like this album and enjoy hearing the quirky tunes. June 13, 2000

Not quite as good as other titles in the Cap. Coll. Series

I mainly bought this album due to the fact that other items in the Capitol Collector's Series have original studio outtakes included between the songs, however, Bobby Darin's only included very limited audio of that sort. Although, hearing him warm up before the track Goodbye Charlie was a bit of a treat for me. The version of Wait By The Water was different than what I'd heard before on another Capitol release, so the alternate take was also a plus. My favorite track would have to be Sermon of Samson - which is a nice rockin' bible tale and Mr. Darin sounds quite a bit like Elvis on this particular recording. Overall, this is a good cd, however, due to the more obscure tunes on it, it is not an album that I would want to start a Bobby Darin collection with. December 28, 1999

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