Bobby Darin

I love Bobby Darin.  I didn’t really discover him until college when we would always play “Mack the Knife” and “Somewhere Beyond the Sea” at dances and parties.  Remember, I went to Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia in the late 1970’s- early 1980’s.  We were in our own special world and I won’t apologize for it.

Anyway, the more I learned the more fascinated I became.  The man could sing.

And he was married to Sandra Dee- whose movies I loved–especially “A Summer Place.”  Say what you will….It was a younger, more innocent time.  And they could really dress well.

As I’ve listened to him more over the years, my respect for the man has only grown.  I always recognize his voice when I hear it.  Arguably, he was the greatest male vocalist after Sinatra.  He was also a showman.

And there were many, many stages to his much too brief life and career.  He died of heart failure at age 37.

They was an interesting bio-pic a few years ago with a much too old Kevin Spacey playing Bobby, but it’s worth seeing.

Here are some clips of the real Bobby Darin performing some of my favorites:

His biggest hit, “Mack the Knife”

His is my personal favorite version of this song, “A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square”:

Performing one of the songs he wrote, “A Simple Song of Freedom” that’s still timely today:

One of his later hits, “If I Were a Carpenter”.  This was recorded just a few months before his death.

This was always his closing number in Vegas and on tour:

And, because I can’t help myself, this is a video tribute to Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee set to his recording of “Once Upon a Time”