Customer Reviews

A & E Biography: A (Musical) Anthology [ENHANCED CD]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is outrageous. It's a mix of live and studio recordings, the live ones not all from the same concert. Some of them were done in 1963 at the Flamingo, others in 1973 (the year he died) in Los Angeles. Only after I saw Spacey's film "Beyond the Sea" and read Darin's biography, did I find that the 1973 concert was his last major one, and he already knew his time was running out. That makes the performances even more powerful to listen to. It is awe-inspiring that this guy was running backstage for oxygen between songs.

"Beyond the Sea" is great fun here; the song doesn't have the studio version's romance and power, but his joshing with the audience and the interminable vamp are tons of fun.

"As Long As I'm Singing" was sort of a signature song for him, so true about the buzz he got from performing. It's great to hear "Mack the Knife" live. "18 Yellow Roses" is a great period song and Darin wrote it. (In the Darin book it notes that when he was courting Sandra Dee on a Rome movie set - she was all of 16 and fiercely guarded by her mother - he sent her 18 yellow roses every day.)

"Call Me Irresponsible" is one of the Darin songs used in the film "American Beauty" and is iconic in its own way. "If I Were A Carpenter" represents another phase of the old pop's decay, this one "struggling to stay relevant" as rock and political folk displaced it. It shows Darin's versatility and helped put him back on the map of a changing music world.

This entire album would be made worthy, if it weren't already, by its version of "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher". You want to turn your stereo up REAL loud for this one. It just keeps building and building. Both he and the backup singers are out of this world; it is so powerful. When you think he would die that same year from a weak heart - imagine a weak heart singing this. It's barely imaginable.

"Don't Rain On My Parade" is so powerful it transcends schlock, which it otherwise would be.

There isn't a bad cut on this album.

A good compilation of his work from start to finish. The first cut is from his last recorded performance, and has a lot of humor injected in the center. You would never know that he was very ill when you listen to "Higher and Higher", and would die several months later. Bobby gave 150% to his audiences, and despite comparisons to Sinatra and the rest, he was true to himself and his talent is unmistakable. Why else would we be listening 27 years after his death? This is a great CD for a beginning Bobby Darin fan.

No words can adequately describe this huge talent...Simply superb !

...Wait till you here the sensitive perfomance of " If I were a Carpenter" the way it was recorded on the old FLIP WILSON broadcast on NBC in 71! Darin will bring you to tears....I promise!! He could sing in an eclectic way...it doesnt matter if it were the 50,s-60,s or the Anti-war 70,s....his singing always fits the generations that he sang to! Frank Sinatra could not sing a better version of this cover of the Darin hit ...BEYOND the sea! Discover or RE-discover Darin,s work....you will thank me!!!

This is one of my favorite CDs! From the live performances of "Beyond the Sea" and "The Curtain Falls" to such classics as "The Good Life" and "Don't Rain On My Parade," you'll love every single song. "Love Look Away," a previously unreleased song, is on this CD too. The live version of "Mack the Knife" is as good as the original, although Bobby forgets some of the lyrics at the beginning. His fun humor about it is hilarious! Discover the wonderful, awesome talent of Bobby Darin with this great CD.

Everything you would want for an overview of Bobby's talent, with some live performances. His version of "Higher & Higher" always gets me. and " Eighteen Yellow Roses" which he wrote himself is one of the greats.

I would highly recommend this CD to anyone especially other Bobby Darin fans. It has songs on it not found anywhere else. I loved the songs from his last TV performance especially "Beyond The Sea".

A truly remarkable listening experience!

An ectletic collection for a multi-talented performer. Here the listener gains a glimpse of the versatility, humor, and raw energy of Mr. Entertainment. Although the A&E mini-biography of Darin, which runs as a CD-ROM program, leaves less room for music, the fourteen songs, ranging from country to rock to folk to standards, provide a good sample of Darin's diversity. Particularly rewarding are the rare, previously unavailable live performances. Darin's showmanship comes out swinging on these live tracks, where Darin shines on traditional standards, torch songs, country, and rock. Although several of the Darin CDs offer Mack the Knife and Beyond the Sea, the live versions on this disc stand out for their humorous departures from the classic recordings. The seven-minute-plus Beyond the Sea finds Darin venturing into a musical monologue comedy routine, while the live Higher & Higher follows its title, bursting with more and more energy until its explosive conclusion. Finally, the CD ends fittingly with the gorgeous torch song The Curtain Falls--recorded live--which depicts the somber parting of entertainer and audience.

If you seek the standard recordings of Darin, look elsewhere. But if you want a taste of the master showman at his prime, pick up this CD.

I've owned this CD for a couple of years, always enjoyed it (other reviewers here describe it better than I can), but I wanted to add that it's an "enhanced" CD. Including some crazy AOL access software (which I don't want anywhere near my PC).

It plays wonderfully in the CD player in my car or my home stereo system, but won't play music at all in my PC (running Windows XP). In fact I came looking for the album on Amazon hoping I could purchase some tracks in mp3 form so I could play them on my home computer.

I have been a big Bobby Darin fan since I was in my teens, which goes back further than I care to remember (stealing from the consummate professional, Bobby Darin) and I have been utterly decimated by his untimely death in '73. As a matter of fact, I still haven't gotten over it! To me, it was a tragic waste of a gifted personality and his incomparable talents which were many! I, for one, will NEVER forget what he gave to me and the rest of the public which are very good memories!