Rocks (CD) – Bobby Darin

‘Splish Splash’ wasn’t the beginning for Bobby Darin, nor was it just a flirtation with Rock ‘N’ Roll. Raised in a Manhattan tenement, Walden Robert Cassotto found a way to escape: through his music. Forming a band in high school, he first played Pop hits of the early ’50s and standards; then he moved to Calypso and Folk before becoming one of Rock ‘N’ Roll’s pioneers, cutting records reminiscent of Elvis Presley, Fats Domino and Little Richard, and writing what became one of Buddy Holly’s biggest hits: ‘Early in the Morning’. This collection draws from sessions originally released on Decca, Atco, Brunswick and Capitol; and recorded in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles. In addition to hits like ‘Splish Splash’, ‘Dream Lover’ and ‘Early in the Morning’, the album includes ‘She’s Tantastic’, originally issued as a tanning cream promotion, and ‘Clementine’, a swinging Big Band precursor to Sinatra’s ‘Old MacDonald’. If ‘Mack the Knife’ is the beginning and end of Bobby Darin to you, you’re in for a big surprise. 36 tracks. Bear Family. 2008.

Track List

1. Bullmoose (Original 45 Version)
2. Splish Splash
3. Mighty Mighty Man
4. Judy Don’t Be Moody
5. I Want You with Me
6. Pretty Betty
7. Early in the Morning
8. Plain Jane
9. Queen of the Hop
10. I Ain’t Sharin’ Sharon
11. Wear My Ring
12. Pity Miss Kitty
13. I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store)
14. You Know How
15. Dream Lover
16. Hush Somebody’s Calling My Name
17. Now We’re One
18. Keep a Walkin’
19. Don’t Call My Name
20. All the Way Home
21. Brand New House
22. She’s Tanfastic
23. Oo-Ee Train
24. Multiplication
25. You’re Mine
26. Sorrow Tomorrow
27. So Mean
28. Bullmoose (LP Version)
29. Ruby Baby
30. Since You’ve Been Gone
31. Rock Island Line
32. Silly Willie
33. Queen of the Hop (Alternate Take)
34. Splish Splash (Alternate Take)
35. Plain Jane (Alternate Take)
36. Clementine