Bobby Darin

Turing to another American songwritter/singer legend, this post will focus on the short life of Bobby Darin. Perhaps best know for his songs "Splish Splash", "Mack The Knife" and "Beyond The Sea", Darin was a talented lyricist, instrumentalist and actor who's life was cut short at the age of 37.

Darin's life is somewhat of a bizarre thing. Born and raised in New York by his maternal grandmother who he thought as his birth mother. In a twist worthy of any good movie, it's later reveled that the woman he though to be his sister was in fact his Mother. The identity of Darin's father was never revealed to anyone other than Darin. His early music career saw him teaming up with Don Kirshner to write songs that didn't really go anywhere. Kirshner of course went out to manager bands and have his own TV show. Darin then began songwriting for singer Connie Francis, a move that wouldn't last long, as Darin soon left Decca Records for Atlantic's Atco imprint, where under the guidance of Ahmet Ertegun, Darin would get his first hit in "Splish Splash". Over the next few years Darin would continue to record and make hits. In addition he owned and operated a publishing company with Doris Day's son. Darin would go onto to sign Wayne Newton and give him his break into music.

In addition to being a singer songwriter, Darin was also an actor. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work in TV and Movies. As the years progressed Darin's sound in music changed into a more Jazzy/Folk sound. He also become more involved with politics. As a supporter of Robert F. Kennedy, Darin was at the hotel the night RFK was assassinated . The act had a profound impact on him causing him to go into seclusion for years. Poor health was something that plagued Bobby for years. As a child he had Rheumatic Fever, so much that in '71 he had heart surgery. Later in '73 after failing to take antibiotics for a dental visit, he had a bout of sepsis. This lead to another surgery to repair the heart. Shortly after surgery though Darin passed. Unlike many big names of his day, there was no funeral, instead his body was donated to science.

Darin's legacy continues to live on. A biopic that was finally brought to life in '04 by Kevin Spacey, showed the singers career in a new light. Darin's music also lives on in several commercials as well. But for the time enjoy a classic Greatest Hits sampling of an amazing American singer.

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