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As Long as I'm Singing: The Bobby Darin Collection

Bobby Darin - As Long as I'm Singing: The Bobby Darin Collection Audio CD

A fair review of the Bobby Darin "As Long as I'm Singing: The Bobby Darin Collection" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Bobby Darin reviews here, or go back to the Bobby Darin tabs.

Band: Bobby Darin
Title: As Long as I'm Singing: The Bobby Darin Collection
Rating:

Release Date: 1995-11-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Early in the Morning - Bobby Darin, 2: Splish Splash 3: Queen of the Hop 4: Don't Call My Name 5: All the Way Home 6: Lost Love 7: Plain Jane 8: Dream Lover [#][Demo Version] 9: Dream Lover 10: Bullmoose 11: Somebody to Love 12: I Got a Woman [Live] 13: You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby 14: Irresistible You 15: Multiplication 16: What'd I Say 17: Right Time 18: If a Man Answers 19: Treat My Baby Good 20: When I Get Home 21: We Didn't Ask to Be Brought Here 22: Funny What Love Can Do 23: She Knows 24: Easy Rider [#] 25: Everywhere I Go [#] 26: Sail Away 27: Mack the Knife 28: Beyond the Sea 29: That's the Way Love Is 30: That's All 31: Clementine 32: Gal That Got Away 33: Black Coffee 34: Guys and Dolls 35: Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey 36: Minnie the Moocher 37: Easy Living 38: I Found a New Baby 39: It's You or No One 40: Milord 41: Two of a Kind - Bobby Darin, Billy May, Johnny Mercer 42: Artificial Flowers 43: Lazy River 44: It Had to Be You 45: How About You 46: Nature Boy 47: Baby Face 48: As Long as I'm Singing 49: Oh! Look at Me Now 50: Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square 51: Party's Over 52: This Isn't Heaven 53: My Funny Valentine [Live][#] 54: You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You [Live][#] 55: Hello, Dolly! 56: Once in a Lifetime 57: Look at Me 58: Charade 59: Sunday in New York 60: Somewhere 61: There Ain't No Sweet Gal That's Worth the Salt of My Tears 62: Silver Dollar 63: Lover, Come Back to Me 64: Rainin' 65: Shadow of Your Smile 66: Mame 67: Don't Rain on My Parade 68: Beautiful Things 69: Curtain Falls [Live][#] 70: Things 71: You're the Reason I'm Living 72: (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle 73: Sally Was a Good Old Girl 74: Eighteen Yellow Roses 75: Walking in the Shadow of Love 76: Work Song 77: I'm On My Way Great God [Live][#] 78: Blowin' in the Wind 79: If I Were a Carpenter 80: Girl That Stood Beside Me 81: Reason to Believe 82: Lovin' You 83: Lady Came from Baltimore 84: I Am 85: Darling Be Home Soon 86: Backstreet Girl 87: I'm Going to Love You [#] 88: Long Time Movin' [#] 89: Long Line Rider 90: In Memoriam 91: Me and Mr. Hohner 92: Song for a Dollar 93: Sweet Reasons 94: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight [Live][#] 95: Simple Song of Freedom [#][Demo Version] 96: Simple Song of Freedom [Live][#]

"A must have retrospective"
I initially reviewed this collection in 2001-Three years later,the Darin biopic "Beyond The Sea" was released-In my opinion,Kevin Spacey was the right choice to play Darin-As far as this box set is concerned,it covers all the bases-Darin excelled in everything he did-He could sing rock & roll,standards,country,& folk-He was a great interpreter of other people's material-Listen to his covers of Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman" & John Sebastian's "Darlin'Be Home Soon"-The accompanying booklet is chock full of testimonials from folks such as Dodd Darin,Bobby's son,Dick Clark,& Roger Mc Guinn of The Byrds-This is a definite must have.

Wonderful
Even my 14 year old son enjoys listening!. Catchy tunes from a bygone era.

A Very Good Collection, But Lacking In Many Aspects.
Now, don't me wrong, almost every cut on this boxed set is quite excellent. This collection of Bobby Darin's best is great, but I can't help but feel it somewhat lacking. But even so, I can't help but think it could've executed in a much better fashion.

First of all, I don't like the sequencing of the cds. I understand they did it to reprsent Bobby's versatility as an artist, but it comes off as a bit of a hodge-podge. Had I been in charge of putting together this collection, I would've put it together in chronological order, as I feel it would give a better sense of Bobby's growth as an artist over time rather than breaking the recordings up based on genres. It makes for a very incongrous listen.

Secondly, while many if not most of the recordings here are essential, A LOT of great recordings are missing. Bobby's classic renditions of standards such as "More," "On The Street Where You Live," "The Good Life," "The Good Life," "I Got Rhythm," "Moon River," "Call Me Irresponsible," "Goodbye Charlie," "Softly As I Leave You," "Venice Blue," and many others? These are some of Bobby's best and most beloved recordings, but unfortunately did not make the cut.

Also, and I know I will be flamed endless this, but I think a lot of the stuff on the fourth disc could've been extracted to make room for more worthwhile material. Sure, there's some great songs present such as the hit singles "Things," "You're The Reason I'm Living," "18 Yellow Roses," and "If I Were A Carpenter," as well as album tracks like "The Work Song," "Sally Was A Good Girl," "I'm On My Way, Great God", "Simple Song Of Freedom," and his covers of "Reason To Believe" and "Blowin' In The Wind," a lot of these recordings come off as a bit pretentious as if Bobby were seeing "Look at me, I'm versatile!," which he didn't need to do because everyone knew he was already. People will of course disagree with me, but I can think of many more worthwhile recordings that could've been added.

That being said, this is still a very worthwhile collection by one of music's greatest and most underrated pioneers. The packaging is excellent to boot as is the great booklet. I recommend this, even if it is flawed.

Almost the whole deal
I guess I'm just a compulsive listener of this great entertainer. I keep this 4 CD boxed collection in my car, Obviously it is not everything of Darin but a great selection, and it is with me to & from work.

CLASSIC "MUST-HAVE" COLLECTION (...but see note)*

There NEVER was another "lounge singer" like Bobby was, period! He had it all, from great "swing" style, to "blues", "classic rock", and "weepies" (if you will)!

*(note)
My only comment on this box is this. By FAR AND AWAY one of the finest box sets ever produced about any singer! ALL of Bobby's Best is in here. . . . (I bought it hoping that the song "Here I Am" was included in it. . . it is not). . . But, if you do a search here at Amazon for "You're The Reason I'm Living/I Wanna Be Around", it will take you to this wonderful double album, containing "Here I Am", plus many more GREATS that will "fill out" this box! Trust Me on THIS ONE, folks! You're gonna love this box (and the noted separate album(s). ~operabruin.

You can see a complete list of all Bobby Darin discography, or go back to the Bobby Darin tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.