Bobby Darin: The Bobby Darin Story

Why bother picking up a CD re-release of a 1961 greatest hits LP that ran about half an hour and doesn't feature the later changes made by one of rock's most mercurial artists? Because Bobby Darin himself "narrated" this early best-of, which is somewhat like having the legend conduct his own biopic right there in the headphones with you.

Perhaps you're one of those Bobby Darin fans that don't appreciate the singer's later turn to "serious" material like "If I Were A Carpenter" and "Simple Song Of Freedom." If so, you should already be sold on 1961's greatest hits collection The Bobby Darin Story -- a slab of vinyl that sums up his early pop and rock years expertly. True, he had made six long-playing albums by that time, and so twelve tracks might seem a little skimpy; but such was the order of the day, and you won't even find later hits in the same vein here, like "Things" or "Multiplication," just the big smashes and some choice album cuts.

What wasn't the norm back in the Camelot days, however, was an artist narrating his own comp, and that's what makes The Bobby Darin Story such a fun collectors item: you can hear him explaining how he caught his big break with "Splish Splash," how "Mack The Knife" changed his life for good, and even warning you to take the record off before he crashes into the label! ("Pass me the band-aids, please," he jokes.) Yeah, it's corny, but it's also a good insight into the man, a refreshing dose of real Bobby -- even behind a showbiz entertainer's veneer -- that's oddly missing from the overwrought Kevin Spacey biopic Under The Sea. And of course, you do get both sides of early Bobby, back when he only had two: the rocker of "Splish Splash," "Dream Lover," and "Queen Of The Hop," as well as the smooth, swinging pop balladeer of "Beyond The Sea" and "Mack The Knife." Yes, Mack is back, on CD for the first time since a shoddy 1990 original CD release. And now we have him!