This video of Bobby Darin performing Midnight Special is a must see for everyone. Check out the Sonny Terry wannabee harmonica playing,the dad dancing,and the fantastic body slapping near the end. Sorry to all you Bobby Darin fans,but this is hilariously funny !!
I did say "have to give credit when credit is due", referring to the singing. I didn't say anything about the harmonica playing, preferring not to restate the obvious. The dancing was okay. No James Brown, but then who is? ---------- Ted Burke tburke4@san.rr.com
Last Edited by ted burke on Sep 15, 2015 2:29 PM
I agree 100% with you, ted. I had no idea Bobby Darin could sing like that. The harp was pretty bad--and in fact that makes it interesting, because there's a disconnect between his talents as a singer and his non-talents as a harp player. He moves well. Guy grew up in Spanish Harlem and there was a LOT of R&B around in those days. He's a legit R&B singer, not a novelty act or a joke. He moves well, too. Nice video. Opened my eyes, actually.
I went looking for some more and found the following. He does two songs indebted to Ray Charles, starting at the 15:29 point with a "What'd I Say" soundalike and then continuing with a sort of blues/country/gospel number. Ray is definitely a huge influence, but he does a more than creditable job.
Bobby Darin was quite popular when I was a teenager. He died early from a heart condition. Interesting life story in that he was raised by his Grandparents who he thought were his parents. Who he thought was his sister was actually his Mother. He wanted to marry Connie Francis, but her Father hated him and would allow Connie to have anything to do with him. He ended up marrying Sandra Dee. He had a lot of early rock and roll hits. He was a good entertainer along with being a good singer. ---------- Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
The video you posted, Adam, was a revelation and shows that we need to reconsider Bobby Darin as a talent. He was a musician in addition to being a fine singer, a multi-instrumentalist who played a fine guitar, vibes, drums, piano (and other instruments I'm sure) , all of which he played well. That vibes work he does on "Mojo" ain't too shabby. That makes his lack of ability on the harmonica puzzling. He had the good sense, instinct and training to stay within his expressive range and learned to sing credibly in a number of styles, like rock, pop, jazz, show tunes, folk,country, art songs. Her was versatile and he was good at what he did. An additional revelation was a the end of the video, where we see negotiating the choreography with grace and ease, a performer comfortable with the dancing, in his element, before an audience. Not Fred Astaire, but a song and dance man all the same. And, of course, a bitter sweet, Charles influenced reading of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water". If only he hadn't tortured that harmonica during the back up singer's solo moment. Thank you for posting, Adam. ---------- Ted Burke tburke4@san.rr.com
yeah Ted i agree with your summation of Bobbys talents. I think though, as it applies to Harmonica, that he had obviously had to spend years learning Vibes, Guitar etc but as a natural musician he probably picked up the rudiments of Harp fairly quickly and then never bothered to actually improve. There are a lot of examples of Rock and Pop stars doing that. Talented Guy for sure.
Bobby Darin isn´t an unsung talent by any means. Maybe he over-reached a bit, thinking he had it all covered. His attempts at being funny takes him no further than Frank Sinatra, and that hipster/coolness thing works no better than his harmonica playing. But he wrote a few good tunes and could deliver them, as well as others. (A not very interesting bio-pic was made a decade or so ago by Kevin Spacey.)
Highly recommend the Kevin Spacey movie. I thought it was a great bio-pic, full of imaginative surreal musical numbers.
Bobby became a teen idol, but he really wanted to be known as a jazz singer, so his life had some interesting artistic struggles for legitimacy. ---------- The Iceman
@Iceman: We´ll have to differ on the Bobby Darin movie. As general information I can say that I believe I have so far not seen a single one of those musician bio-pics that I liked.
Given the differing posts about the OP video I didn't know what to expect of the OP video, but I was pleasantly surprised! Admittedly, the harp was pretty poor, but unfortunately over the years I have heard many performers pick up a harp and "play" harp at a similar level. You can see why Bob Dylan and Neil Young were seen as being good players in some circles where good blues harp had not been heard.
We can't validly judge historical performances by today's standards, because there are differences in what worked with audiences then vs. today.
I liked the band, I liked the groove, and his vocals were solid. His dance moves are actually pretty good for a televised performance and fit that "song and dance" entertainment era, perhaps even being a little better than most. Darin clearly has the front man attitude showing in his performance. He is clearly a veteran of many stages and was given the room to cut loose on this show. The little body rhythm thing at the end and the vocal vamping are a little unusual for a televised performance of that era. He was really working it. My guess is that this was toward the end of his popularity. What show was this, in what year? It has a late '60s feel which was past his career prime time.
I never really paid much attention to Darin while I was growing up. I think his version of "Mack the Knife" is the only song I heard him sing on the radio.
Bobby Darin was a name I heard, but his popularity was a little before my generation's rock music and not as big a deal as Elvis or Johnny Cash who also were big in the '50s. Elvis and Johnny Cash were popular before I formed musical tastes, but they were big enough that I caught up on some of their music later. Not so with Darin. According to Wikipedia, all three were born in the early to mid '30s and had big careers in the '50s.
I don't recall seeing Darin on the shows my parents watched while I was growing up in the '50s, except perhaps once doing "Mack the Knife". Darin's popularity was after my parent's generation's music like the big bands, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin, and before my generation's music.
With regard to the song, Midnight Special, I perform it regularly using the CCR slow beginning, but the rumba beat once the band kicks in. I never had heard the Odetta version before! ----------
More proof that harmonica is hard to play well. It seems to me he studied some traditional American harmonica player (Sonny Terry?) to get as much as he gives here. It didn't bother me, but I am not a great harmonica player.
"Sold American!" LOL
Last Edited by Gnarly on Sep 16, 2015 8:17 AM
Put me in the pro- Bobby Darin group. He was good at what he was, an entertainer. Here is one of my favorites:http://youtu.be/2df7D1tjWWw
I really have trouble using this website,the spam blocker sux and like now, I copied the link from YouTube and yet it doesn't post the video. The song is called "Rainin' ". I hope you'll check it out. I love to hear PT Gazell play this.
Last Edited by Slobberslinger on Sep 16, 2015 9:27 AM
It ain't blues, but for the near perfect blend of voice and orchestra, listen to Darin in Nelson Riddle's arrangement of "somewhere beyond the sea". The man had talent, like his harp or not.... ---------- Phil Pennington
