Customer Reviews

Live at the Desert Inn

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is it folks! According to the CD notes, his manager Steve Blauner, who attended this performance, considers it "to be Bobby's most brilliant work and perhaps one of the best performances of his career..." Darin is in absolute top form, the voice ranging from full throttle hard rock in the encore medley of Chain of Fools/Respect/Splish Splash/Johnny B. Goode to throaty tender in Hey Jude and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight to sexy swing in Mack the Knife and Beyond the Sea to plaintive clarity in the folk tunes. And the humor, and the heat!

There are two myths/stereotypes propounded about Bobby Darin and Las Vegas, Nevada: First, that Darin was a second-rate Sinatra; and second, that Vegas (or at least the Vegas of the '70's) was a place where over-the-hill singers with a former hit song or two "retired" to sing schlocky versions of their hits and make $250,000/week or so while more worthy singers continued to toil in relative obscurity.

As to the first: Sinatra was considered by many to be the finest American male non-classical singer of the 20th century. To be called a "second-rate Sinatra" begs the question: "If Sinatra was a Ferrari Testarosa, was the person being compared a Ford Escort or a Beemer?"

As to the second: It isn't quite accurate to say that Vegas was a "safe-haven" for over-the-hill singers. After all, Bennett and Torme played there in the '70's, and they were hardly over the hill at that time. But Vegas did have a "sameness house band sound" that tended to make singers who followed the "house charts" sound sort of schlocky.

All of which leads to my comments about Bobby Darin, singing shortly before his death, live at the "Fabulous Desert Inn":

This man could sing. Listen to how he powders the high D on the tag of "Mack the Knife" and holds it through about 6 walkin- bars. The man had breath control. Or listen to how he sings "Beyond the Sea", from a clear high G to a clear low G. The man had range. Or listen to how he interprets "Simple Song of Freedom" , "Work Song", and "Hey Jude." The man knew how to interpret and deliver a song.

But the charts of the house band ulitmately bring him down. Sinatra did Vegas most memorably with the Basie Orchestra. Put Bobby Darin behind that orchestra, with Frank Foster's charts, and you'd have a 5-star album here. As it is, he does best on songs such as the above, or "Fire and Rain", where the charts don't get in the way.

In sum, the man was not a Ford Escort; he was a Beemer. And that's plenty good enough. Recommended. RC

I agree with the previous reviewer: Bobby Darin could sing all genres of music with unmatched style, drama, and on the upbeat tunes, a sense of innate syncopation that neither Sinatra nor Bennett ever were able to approach. He was attractive, magnetic, witty, and ingratiating. He won Golden Globes and French Film Critics Awrads for his superb acting, (not to mention an Academy Award nomination). He is in both the ASCAP and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame, and he was the highest paid performer in Las Vegas history at the time of his death. Sinatra once told Richard Bakalyan, who was a mutual friend of the two peerless singers--"nobody was better than Darin." Frank was right. It's about time Bobby Darin received the credit a true musical genius deserves. Buy this CD and begin experiencing the majic of one the 20th century's great all-around entertainers and jazz-swing vocalists. Had Bobby lived even twenty more years, he would have blown by Sinatra (and I am a true, blue Sinatra fan). What a shame the poor guy was doomed from childhood to die young. He was the man. He was the man.

If you have seen "Beyond the Sea," then you know that Bobby Darin started off singing rock songs like "Splish Splash," moved on to being a hipster with songs like "Beyond the See," dabbled in jazz as personified by his recording of "Mack the Knife," and then went the folk music route, writing "A Simple Song of Freedom." With that background it is not surprising in the least that Darin puts together as diverse a collection of songs to sing in a Las Vegas lounge act as you can imagine. Recorded February 6, 1971 in the Crystal Room, "Live! At the Desert Inn" captures Darin towards the end of his career.

On this album Darin touches all of the bases. He starts off contemporary doing Laura Nyro's "Save the Country" (a 5th Dimension song back then) and then goes to a relatively low key version of "Mack the Knife." The blues version of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" is certainly an interesting approach even if I do not think it particularly works well. But the medley of Beatles songs that puts together "Hey Jude," "Eleanor Rigby," "Blackbird" and "A Day in the Life" shows what a medley can be like in the hands of a master. After a cover of Jackie Wilson's "(You're Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," Darin goes into folk territory. Starting with Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," he turns to his hit cover of Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter" and then his own anti-war anthem, "Sing a Simple Song of Freedom," which, ironically, Hardin covered (Darin jokes about the "rift" between the two in his monologue introducing the two songs). Clearly, Darin is trying to do more than entertain his audience, which, given the setting, was going to be more conservative than these particular song selections.

Darin's choice of a medley of "Chain of Fools," "Respect," "Splish Splash," and "Johnny B. Goode" for his encore is interesting. This was supposed to be Darin's first album for Motown, but you have to like the audacity of Darin putting his first hit in with three other R&B classics. This guy clearly wanted to have his cake and eat it too. Vocally Darin is past his prime at this point, but as is the case with most great entertainers that is hardly the point. For this reissue on CD there are a couple of bonus tracks, including "Beyond the Sea," to provide the movie that just came out on DVD a implicit but unintentional tie-in and provide the false impression that ultimately Darin was a hipster, because these song selections obviously prove he was a lot more than that (but still a cool cat under any and all circumstances).

Lawrance in Minnesota gave a very positive review to this record, but allow me to butt in anyway on one point:
This concert was just before Bobby's first heart surgery. There is no question he is awesome in this performance. But, his voice was not "past his prime." The man was going on 35. His voice is deeper from age and raspy towards the end of the show. But, so is Sinatra's (raspy, not deeper) in his concert album from 1957. And, Frank's voice was not past its prime in 1957.....when he was 41....which is an age Bobby never saw.

For reasons I am not sure anybody fully understands (but as a cancer survivor I can guess), Bobby came full circle and put "the tux and the toupe" on after the heart surgery and he began singing songs he pretty much said in his protest phase that he didn't enjoy and "weren't him." Well, there were many Bobbys and they were all "him." Watch the "Mack is Back" DVD or the watch or listen to the "Aces" CD/DVD and you will realize his prime was........... probably ahead of him. That's the tragedy.

Sit back, pretend you were in Las Vegas during its glory days, and listen to a master vocalist and his orchestra in total sync. After hearing this album, you'll throw away all your "It's Vegas, Baby" compilations. This album is truly Bobby Darin and Sin City at its best.

Though I have always liked Bobby Darin, I became a real fan with this CD, re-released in 2005. Recorded in 1971, two years before his premature death at 37, it shows Darin at his peak--sophisticated, versatile, brilliant in his choice of material and presentation, and totally in control, whether he is letting it all hang out in his Medley of "Chain of Fools," "Respect," "Splish Splash," and "Johnny B. Goode," or quiet and subtle in his tribute to Bob Dylan, "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight."

"Save the Country," his stirring opener, sounds like a big Vegas show-stopper, with the Jeannie Thomas Singers in the background and what sounds like a huge band, though it actually consists of four musicians--Billy Aikens on piano and keyboards, Tommy Amato on drums, Terry Kellman on guitar, and his conductor/arranger Quitman Dennis on bass. Beginning with a gospel/revival sound, Darin then switches to an intimate a capella presentation in which he declares, "We can build a world on love," before taking the song to a wild conclusion. "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher" also has a powerful gospel/rock sound, and as Darin puts more and more energy into the song, and you begin to think he cannot possibly get more any more impassioned, he does, while never missing a note.

His tributes to other musician/composers--James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" and Bob Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"--by contrast, sound folky and intimate, beginning quietly, almost a capella, with Darin accompanied by guitar, sounding confidential and personal.

The "Beatles Medley," an incredible, seven-minute tribute depending primarily on "Hey, Jude," reflects his extraordinary talent with ballads, sung almost without accompaniment, with notes held so long that it difficult to imagine any health problems or his constant need for oxygen, backstage. "Hi-De-Ho," Cab Calloway's trademark song, is also one of the many high points. Bluesy, with a Darin harmonica solo and the sound of tambourines, he takes the song into the realm of hard rock and roll, an unbelievable performance.

Darin's easy, natural ability with every kind of music of the day--gospel, folk, ballads, wild rock--and his power with each of them, reveal a versatility that singers like Sinatra never achieved (though this is in no way a criticism of Sinatra). His maturity and ability to pace himself without showing any kind of strain is miraculous, considering his health problems. Consistently good, this Darin live performance features some of his best-ever presentations and arrangements. n Mary Whipple

This is just one of Darin's finest CDs. I KNOW that it is a shame that he didn't live longer. If he had, he would have made a drastic addition to today's "music." It is music that can't even touch his renditions of yesteryear. Others have tried, and failed, ignominiously, to copy his inimitable style. Yes. The entertainment industry lost a giant when he died. He was a giant in his addition to not only the music industry, but to other things, as well. He WILL be missed, believe me! As far as this Darinite is concerned, is, as I stated, one, if not the BEST,
of his CDs that was ever released. I was, as was, also, stated, fortunate to get it when I did.

Dick Dettrey

I love this album, and it stands on it's own as a quality recording by a wonderful performer regardless of his physical condition. But I do have to second Barry Pasini's remarks that take issue with Lawrence's statement that Bobby's voice was past its prime.

As Barry pointed out this concert was recorded just before Bobby's first heart surgery. This is very literally true. Directly after finishing his last show of his Desert Inn engangement, Bobby left through the back door of the casino and climbed into a station wagon equiped with a bed. It drove him directly to a hospital in LA for open heart surgery (after spending just a few hours with his young son since Darin didn't expect to survive).

Bobby was in no condition to even perform at this point but felt it was essential to his career to keep this engangement, and he therefore insisted on doing it in spite of what his doctors told him. He could barely even breath or stand up by this time due to extensive heart damage from childhood rhuematic fever, and survived only by gasping oxygen backstage and by frequent cardio-conversion procedures to try to shock his defective heart into beating like a normal one.

So his voice was fine, but he was deathly ill. After his successful surgery he was again able to meet the physical demands of performing, albeit briefly until his death. And we can hear in subsequent performances how very fine his voice really was.

His voice quality was tied directly to his health and not to declining abilities. Regardless, his talent shines thru in this album in spite of everything. And people needn't even know this back story to enjoy it and to marvel at this exceptional performer.

This is a Motown recording of Bobby Darin in 1971 performing live at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. It is currently out of print but is scheduled for re-release in January 2005 with bonus tracks added, it is likely being re-released to capitalize on the biopic Kevin Spacey motion picture "Beyond the Sea" that is being released by Lions Gate films in November 2004. The movie tells the amazing and tragic story of this most talented and versitile performer named Bobby Darin. This CD is one of the last released audio recordings of his live Las Vegas shows. He covers Jackie Wilson's "higher and higher," James Taylor's "Fire and Rain," Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools," and more including the obligatory "Mack the Knife." Worth purchasing.

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