Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert "Bobby" Cassotto, May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was one of the most popular American big band performers and rock and roll teen idols of the late 1950s.
Darin is widely respected for being a multi-talented, versatile performer who conquered many music genres, including folk, country, pop, and jazz.
He was also an award-winning actor, songwriter and music business entrepreneur. His wish for a legacy was "to be remembered as a human being and as a great performer."Among his many other contributions, he became a Goodwill Ambassador for the American Heart Association.
Early years
Darin was born to a poor, working-class Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. His father disappeared a few months before he was born. It was the height of the Great Depression, and he once remarked that his crib was a cardboard box, later a dresser drawer. As a result, his mother had to accept Home Relief, which was what "Welfare" was referred to as in those days, to take care of her infant son. It was not until he was an adult that he learned that the woman he thought to be his sister Nina, 17 years his senior, was in fact his mother, and the woman he thought to be his mother was his grandmother. He went to his death without knowing the identity of his birth father.
Darin was frail as an infant and beginning at the age of eight, was stricken with multiple bouts of rheumatic fever. The illness left him with a seriously diseased heart. Overhearing a doctor tell his mother that he would be lucky to reach the age of 16, he lived with the constant knowledge that his life might be a short one. He was driven by his poverty and illness to make something of his life and, with his innate talent for music, by the time he was a teenager, he could play several instruments, including piano, drums and guitar. He later added harmonica and xylophone.
An outstanding student, with a genius-level IQ, Darin graduated from the prestigious Bronx High School of Science and then went on to attend Hunter College on a scholarship. Wanting a career in the New York theater, he left college to play small nightclubs around the city with a musical combo. In the resort area of the Catskill Mountains, he was both a bus boy and an entertainer.
As was common with ethnic minorities at the time, he changed his Italian name to one that sounded more "American". He chose the name "Bobby" because he had generally been called that as a child. He allegedly chose Darin because he had seen a malfunctioning electrical sign at a Chinese restaurant reading "DARIN DUCK" rather than "MANDARIN DUCK," and he thought the Darin looked good. Later, he said that the name was randomly picked out of the telephone book. Neither story has been verified.
Music career
In 1956, his agent negotiated a contract for him with Decca Records, where Bill Haley & His Comets had risen to fame. However, this was a time when rock and roll was still in its infancy and the number of capable record producers and arrangers in the field was extremely limited.
He left Decca to sign with Atlantic Records (ATCO), where he wrote and arranged music for himself and others. There, after three mediocre recordings, his career took off in 1958 when he wrote and recorded "Splish Splash"; it became an instant hit, selling more than a million copies.[6] "Splish Splash" was written with Radio DJ Murray Murray the K Kaufman, who bet that Darin could not write a song that started out with the words, "Splish Splash, I was takin' a bath", as suggested by Murray's mother. On a snow bound night in early 1958, Darin went in the studio alone and recorded a demo of "Splish Splash". They eventually shared writing credits with her. This was followed by more hits recorded in the same successful style.
In 1959, Bobby Darin recorded "Dream Lover", a ballad that became a multi-million seller.[7] With financial success came the ability to demand more so-called creative control. His next record, "Mack the Knife", was the classic standard from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera. Darin gave the tune a vamping jazz-pop interpretation, which he consciously modeled on the style of Frankie Laine.[8] The song went to #1 on the charts for nine weeks, sold over a million copies and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960. Darin was also voted the Grammy Award for Best New Artist that year. "Mack The Knife" has since been honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. He followed "Mack" with "Beyond the Sea a jazzy English-language version of Charles Trenet's French hit song, "La Mer."
Propelled by the success of "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea," Darin became a hot commodity. He set all-time attendance records at the famed Copacabana nightclub in NYC, where it was not unusual for fans to line up all the way around the block to get tickets when Darin was playing there. The Copacabana sold so many seats to Darin's shows that they had to fill the dance floor, normally part of the performance area, with extra seating. Darin also headlined at the major casinos in Las Vegas.
Darin was instrumental in bringing up new talent. Richard Pryor, Flip Wilson, and Wayne Newton opened his night club performances when they were virtually unknown. Early on, at the Copacabana, he insisted that black comic Nipsey Russell be his opening act. His request was grudgingly granted by Jules Podell, the Frank Costello (mob boss) manager of the Copacabana.
In the 1960s, Darin also owned and operated a highly successful music publishing and production company (TM Music/Trio) and signed Wayne Newton to TM, giving him a song that was originally sent to Darin to record. That record went on to become Newton's breakout hit, "Danke Schoen". He also was a mentor to Roger McGuinn, who worked for Darin at TM Music before going off to form The Byrds. Darin also produced football great Rosey Grier's 1964 LP, Soul City, and "Made in the Shade" for Jimmy Boyd.
In 1962, Darin also began to write and sing country music, with songs including "Things" (1962), "You're the Reason" and "18 Yellow Roses". He did well in that format.
Acting career
In addition to music, Darin became a motion picture actor. In 1960, he was the only actor ever to be contractually signed to five major Hollywood studios. He wrote music for several films and acted in them as well. In his first major film, Come September, a romantic comedy designed to capitalize on his popularity with the teenage and young adult audience, he met and co-starred with 18-year-old actress Sandra Dee. They fell in love and were married in 1960. They had one son, Dodd Mitchell Darin, in 1961, and divorced in 1967.
Asking to be taken seriously, he took on more meaningful movie roles, and in 1962, he won the Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Male Newcomer" for his role in Pressure Point.
In 1963, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a shell-shocked soldier in Captain Newman, M.D.. At the Cannes Film Festival, where his records—in particular "Beyond the Sea"—brought him a wide following, he won the French Film Critics Award for Best Actor.
Darin had been penciled in to star opposite Jackie Gleason in The Hustler, before Paul Newman's schedule suddenly allowed first choice Newman to step in.
Later years
Bobby Darin's late folk/protest period: compilation album, 2004.Produced by Jimmy ScaliaDarin's musical output became more "folky" as the 1960s progressed and he became more politically aware and active. In 1966, he had another big hit record, but this time it was with folksinger Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter", adding another style to his vast repertoire. The song secured Darin's return to the Top 10 after a four-year absence. He travelled with Robert Kennedy on the latter's presidential campaign, and was with Kennedy the night before Kennedy travelled to Los Angeles in 1968 and was assassinated. Darin was devastated with this news. Coming back, in 1969, he started another record company, Direction Records, putting out folk and protest music. He said of his first Direction Records album, "The purpose of Direction Records is to seek out statement-makers. The album is solely comprised of compositions designed to reflect my thoughts on the turbulent aspects of modern society." During this time, he was billed under the name "Bob Darin," grew a mustache, and stopped wearing a hairpiece. Within two years, however, all of these changes were discontinued.
At the beginning of the 1970s, he continued to act and to record, including several albums with Motown Records and a couple of films. In January 1971, he underwent his first heart surgery in an attempt to correct some of the heart damage he had lived with since childhood.
Darin married Andrea Yeager in June of 1973. In 1972, he starred in his own TV variety show on NBC, The Bobby Darin Amusement Company, which ran until his untimely death in 1973. He made TV guest appearances and also remained a top draw at Las Vegas, where due to his poor health, he was often administered oxygen after his performances.
In 1973, Darin's ill health took a fatal turn, when his mechanical heart valve clotted (a known risk of prosthetic heart valves). He died on December 20, 1973, following surgery to repair his heart valve. While the operation was in itself successful, Darin's overall health was very poor and his body functions were shutting down.
Shortly before his death, he divorced his second wife, Andrea. Those close to him have said that this was an attempt to distance her from the pain of his death.
Legacy
In 1990, singer Paul Anka made the speech for Darin's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Righteous Brothers refer to Darin in their song Rock and Roll Heaven, a tribute to late musicians. The duo also make a reference to Mack the Knife.
In 2000, actor Kevin Spacey, a lifelong fan of Darin, acquired the film rights to his story. Spacey directed and produced the film, and played Bobby Darin — as well as co-writing the script. The film is named after one of Darin's top hits, Beyond The Sea. With the consent of the Darin estate, Steve Blauner, and archivist Jimmy Scalia, the movie's opening was at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. In spite of strong studio promotion and positive critical reaction, box office results were disappointing. However, the movie spurred a renewed interest in Darin, which has resulted in the release of "never before heard, or seen" material. His pianist, Roger Kellaway, has recorded two albums of Darin's music as well.
On Monday, May 14, 2007, Bobby Darin was awarded a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. This tribute honors Darin for his contribution to making Las Vegas the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and acknowledges his reputation as one of the greatest entertainers of the Twentieth century. The sponsorship fee for this star was raised entirely by fan donations.
Source: Wikipedia