SHARIN' DARIN

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MACK THE KNIFE: THE BEST OF BOBBY DARIN -- VOL. 2
by Bobby Darin
released: 1991
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It strikes me that the individual human response to music is one of life's most intriguing mysteries. What is that unexplainable thing inside us that resonates to a certain combination of musical notes, or to the tonal quality of particular instruments, but not others? And why is this response not universal?
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For me, the melody of MY FAVORITE THINGS is so pretty, so clever, so addictive that I can't hear it once without it bouncing around inside my skull for the next several hours. And yet I know people who are apathetic about it. How can that be? We even find this mystery taking place between people who inhabit the same musical orbit. The "King Of Rock 'N' Roll" might have two devoted fans; the first who loves SUSPICIOUS MINDS and MEMORIES, but is not overly thrilled by HOUND DOG and IN THE GHETTO. The second fan's opinion is the complete reversal.
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Some might think that this is comparable to our myriad responses to food flavors, but in that example there is a physiological explanation -- something to do with chemical reactions in the glands, the taste buds. With music it's entirely intangible: some "it" within the inner being responds and makes the body move, the toes tap, the mind rejoice... or mourn.
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That "it" within me loves Bobby Darin's music, but "it" is selective. "It" doesn't care for Darin's pop hits, of which only a few appear on this collection. And although "it" really digs LAZY RIVER (which has one of the greatest, most energetic vocal performances ever) we play this album for the fabulously moving standard ballads -- some with Big Band arrangements. WAS THERE A CALL FOR ME; I GUESS I'M GOOD FOR NOTHING BUT THE BLUES; DON'T DREAM OF ANYBODY BUT ME; WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MADE; BLACK COFFEE; SKYLARK; and even CHRISTMAS AULD LANG SYNE -- these are the reasons you find me in this place. "It" likes 'em!
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There is a certain quality in Darin's voice that can be discerned on his ballads. It's an innate melancholia that can't be taught, nor faked. I have found this in the voices of only two other singers: the Jazz vocalist, Astrud Gilberto, and Karen Carpenter, who had it in spades! In fact, Karen had it so much so that it sometimes bled through even on her uptempo numbers like TOP OF THE WORLD and SING. It's a kind of faint whisper of an intense inner aloneness, or a vague remembrance of something; a wistful yearning for what has passed and can't be retrieved -- like a dream of something that glowed golden way back when, in the recesses of the mind. Hell, I don't know what it is, but "it" sure loves it!
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Anyway, that ("saudade") quality permeates so many of these recordings and that's why "it" makes me play them so often.
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If you know what I'm yakking about here, and if it appeals to your "it" too, then also obtain a used copy of the "out-of-print" album 'CLASSIC DARIN', if you can locate one at a reasonable price. That collection also contains many ballad tracks like WHERE LOVE HAS GONE; FLY ME TO THE MOON; A TASTE OF HONEY; SOFTLY, AS I LEAVE YOU; and SOMEWHERE, with Bobby's "blue" voice thang goin' on.
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According to his [link> 2004, July 13th Amazon.com review of this album, it seems that 'The-Big-Dong' doesn't have this same "it" inside of him. You think maybe I should go see if his priest can exorcise my "it", too?
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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