Customer Reviews

Aces Back to Back (Audio CD & DVD)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Some of this material is on the "Mack Is Back" DVD, but a great deal of it is new, previously unreleased material.

The first 8 songs from the DVD are television performances from the early 70's. Songs 2 (Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You) and 7 are repeats from the "Mack Is Back" DVD. However, songs 1, 3-6, and 8-11 are all new never before released performances. All of these performances are good color video quality.

Also included on the DVD is some additional black and white footage that was to be used for an unfinished documentary on Bobby's 1966 "comeback" (i.e. his return to nightclub performing). Some of this footage is also on the "Mack Is Back" DVD, but there is also some previously unreleased (so called "lost") documentary footage as well.

Songs 1-7 on the CD are the just the audio from the performances on the "Aces Back to Back" and the "Mack Is Back" DVD's.

Songs 8 & 9 on the CD appear to be the same live performances as heard on the now out-of-print Motown release "Bobby Darin Live at the Desert Inn."

Songs 10 & 11 appear to be alternate takes that I have not heard elsewhere.

Songs 12 & 14 are also on "Bobby Darin Songs From Big Sur" and were originally released on Bobby's own "Direction" label.

I believe songs 15-18 are the "lost milk tapes" (previously unreleased). They are more intimate recordings (done as radio spots promoting the dairy industry) where Bobby is accompanied by a small ensemble of about 3 or 4 pieces. Very nice.

Songs 19 and 20 are alternate takes of both songs-- I believe from the 1963 Flamingo Hotel performances in Las Vegas (these are different takes than what is on "Bobby Darin: The Curtain Falls Live at the Flamingo").

All in all a great package and value for the money. Sound and picture quality are excellent. Hopefully, with the help of the official Bobby Darin archivist, Jimmy Scalia, (who is co-producer of this package http://www.jimmyscalia.com ) more Darin material will be released soon.

Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin biopic "Beyond the Sea" (Lion's Gate Films) is scheduled to be released in early December 2004, and is sure to generate a Darin renaissance.

Darin was one of the most exciting, versatile performers of the 20th century, but his tragic death at the tender age of 37 due to heart failure whisked him away from us at the height of his abilities. It is efforts like this CD/DVD package that keep his memory alive and secure his place in history. Future generations are sure to love his unique energy, panache, and soul. Hope there is more of this to come! (Love to see them release his 1970's television shows on DVD as well!)

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I was in a store and I heard this CD playing in the backround. I tried to ignore it but I couldn't resist the magnetic attraction to what I was hearing. At first I thought it was Sinatra but then I said (don't get mad) hey this guy is too exciting to be Sinatra. I said to the clerk who is that. She must have been about 23 years old and with a blushing excitement said "It's Bobby Darin.....isn't he great"! I had to buy it. When I got to the register I noticed that it included a DVD also. Now folks.....I remember Bobby Darin from all those Kinescope type of Dick Clark and Ed Sullivan shows doing Dream Lover and Splish Splash and the like. You know the kind....poor sound and black & white distorted image. Well I wasn't prepared for what I was about to see and hear. Take my word for it.....if you are able to get this CD/DVD you will have in your possesion one of if not the greatest entertainers "EVER"! I'M NUMB! I want him back right now....right here....today! And since that's not possible this is the next best thing. YOU POSITIVELY WILL NOT BELIEVE HOW GREAT THIS IS.....IT'S THAT GOOD! GET IT!

Well, I'm way late on writing this review. I've been loving this CD/DVD combo for over a year and should have been talking-it-up a while ago. Aces and The Mack is Back(DVD only)are essentials for anyone's Bobby Darin collection. Between the two there is a lot of repeat material but it's all so good you would not want to be without any of it.

Aces' CD's songs are so perfectly picked it creates an absolutely mindboggling range of musical genres. Many of these versions are so good they're not only the definitive Darin version but could be argued that they're definitive version of the song, themselves. I can't tell you how many times I've switched off Diamond's Song Sung Blue or O'Sullivan's Alone Again Naturally. Darin's Alone Again Naturally I HAVE to hear at least once a day. Somedays I'll listen to it four times. Who knew? The opening three tunes(one medley)will raise the hair on the back of your neck and I don't think anyone, not Dylan, not Guthrie, could pack the kind of punch Bobby gets with Song of Freedom. If there's a better version of Quarter to Nine, I ain't heard it

Curiously, the visuals for Quarter to Nine aren't quite as exciting. I would suggest you get into the CD before the DVD. I think maybe the grind of getting these songs so perfectly charged up sometimes might have left Darin drained by performance time and it sometimes showed. The Mack is Back is much better over all for visuals, but for song selection, this might be the best record of all time.

What the DVD does have is a fabulous documentary section letting us see Bobby behind the scenes and we find we like him even more than we thought. This separates him from his movie persona.

Not enough could be said about his band(s)or the arrangements. Just a very big WOW !

I listen to everything. Debussy to The Sex Pistols, Ernest Tubb to King Crimson. If you like hearing it all then there is no better record out there than Aces Back to Back.

The songs are great on the CD. Part of the reason I bought this was for the DVD of some his live performances. Turns outs most of those clips were chopped from his last recorded performance in 1973 and inserted in the DVD, so you don't get any of his live act between songs.

If you are just buying this for the DVD footage, I recommend, "Bobby Darin, Mack is Back!" DVD. It has the whole, uncut, live performance, including banter between sets and extra songs.

This set has it all! It's a great opportunity to hear and see some ultra rare performances by the versatile Bobby Darin! He truly was a MASTER of all musical styles, and this shows in the selections included here. The DVD video performances will leave you wanting more from Bobby's wonderful early 1970s variety series! The Bobby Darin Estate should start a DVD club like Carol Burnett did.Carol's great club includes TWO complete episodes on each DVD in pristine quality.It would be great to have the entire collection of ALL of Bobby's 1970s TV shows UNCUT and UNEDITED with all of the wonderful songs that he performed!Although the video performances were taped shortly before Bobby's untimely death, he is in his absolute prime! The performances are sheer magic. His duet with Petula Clark is just perfect. The film clips are excellent quality. Joel Dorn, Steve Blauner and Jimmy Scalia did a PHENOMENAL job with this release Hopefully there will be an entire Darin DVD collection forthcoming! I highly recommend this fantastic set. It's a must have in any popular music collection.

This is a teriffic Bobby Darin collection, which grabs a series of selections from "The Bobby Darin Show," his NBC TV romp, a couple tracks from "Songs from Big Sur," and some various either unreleased ("Dream Lover,") or short-print/rare tracks (the "Milk Tapes"). Overall, it's a coherant and well-balanced collection that should thrill even the casual listener, from the opening duo of "This Could Be The Start of Something Big"/"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" to the 'stoned-since-half-past-ten' sounds of the Big Sur tracks "Jive" and "Long Time Movin'." The classics get a great wakeup, especially the version of "Mack the Knife" presented here, with tight band versus Darin's strong voice everybody is the winner!
The true gem in this set, however, is the DVD. You should be paying outright $15 for the footage contained within - very warm looking footage from "The Bobby Darin Show," which mirrors some of the tracks on the audio CD. For those of us who were not fortunate enough to have seen this show, the musical highlights presented here make us only drool more for an official DVD release of the entire series! Darin is literally on fire, "giving it to the band," and "doing it to it!" Some of the "lost" footage is fascinating, and even the end credits have a little surprise for those of us pateint enough to watch it all the way through!
Aces back to back, indeed! Highly recommended!

Darin was the consummate pop chameleon, forging a career that variously framed him as a '50s rock 'n' roll teen idol, standards crooner, Vegas powerhouse, and an unlikely - yet truly compelling - counterculture protestor.

Hyena's CD/ DVD package captures Darin's entire arc with live recordings, TV and film footage, a selection of his folk songs and several intimate, and rare small-combo jazz recordings. Crisp video from Darin's 1972 TV variety show demonstrates how freely he could swing like a junior Rat Packer. Whether covering Neil Diamond's "Song Sung Blue" or recounting his own "Beyond the Sea," Darin sizzles with an energy that befits the band's brassy charts. Unreleased documentary footage shows Darin firmly in control both in the studio and on stage, and additional audio tracks include an astounding stripped-down demo of 1959's "Dream Lover," riveting Vegas performances of Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" and Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter," and a sampling of Darin's own latter-day folk-rock songs.

This set shows off Darin's brilliant versatility, something that might seem like a dilettante's marketing gimmick if these discs didn't show a hall of fame rock 'n' roller who could convincingly swing like Sinatra and pull it back in for an introspective folk song.

Bobby Darin may be the forgotten giant of American Music. This CD shows that he needs to be recognized for his contribution. He loved what he did and it shows in every note.

This is by far one of Bobby's best albums. He was such a versatile entertainer but I think he was very much underrated. If you're a Bobby Darin fan, this is not to be missed.

Recently revived interest in Bobby Darin is compelling me to collect much of his body of work - This "double treat" is the best so far! I had forgotten how amazing he was, such a multi- talented genius - I am delighting in his music once again!