Bobby Darin: Beyond the Song

The spotlight shines on Bobby Darin once again, thanks to the Spacey movie, Beyond The Sea. Bobby has been introduced to a whole new generation of fans - and long overdue. There has been so little out in the media about Bobby over the last 3 decades that Beyond The Song is invaluable in bringing this huge talent back into focus. Beyond The Song highlights the incredible multi-talented gifts that Bobby possessed. This documentary gives us insight into his complex character as well. Bobby grew up in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies...he was only 37 when he died ! Anyone who is not already a Darin Fan will become one after seeing this movie.

I love this documentary. It's thoughtful and unintentionally funny in spots, but overall a great success story about a gifted Hunter College drop out turned early teen rock star turned swaggering rat packer hated by Sinatra. BOBBY DARIN:

LIVE AT THE COPA is a TRUE ROCK CONCERT from 1961! Buy it now!

Listening to Tony Orlando gushing near tears over his pal Darin makes you

wonder where he got the crocodile tears. Moments like Darin Jr. describing how the 1968 assassination of RFK affected Darin so much the singer stopped

wearing his toupee in public! Shudders! Or how Bobby Darin adopted working

class duds, and folk guitar, and began calling himself "Bob Darin". And then reality hits Bobby and us the viewer like a Greek tragedy: the secret behind

Darin's mother is revealed! A real oedipal twist. Clips include the young

teenage Darin on a Jackie Gleason musical variety show reading the lines right off the palm of his hand as he sings his heart out are legendary.

Bobby Darin: Beyond The Song is the definitive Bobby Darin documentary. Produced with the cooperation of the Darin estate, the film employs never-before-seen footage of Darin on and off stage, thousands of personal photographs, and interviews with Darin intimates and contemporaries. The story of Bobby Darin's life truly has to be seen to be believed, and this film is the place to start if you're interested.

This is a great start to learning more about the multi-talented, very underrated, somewhat forgotten, Bobby Darin, who achieved more in his short life than many who live twice as long. The older concert footage is particularly exciting to those of us who are just a little too young (or who were growing up in Europe, as I did) to have had the pleasure of seeing Bobby Darin live in concert in the late 50s, early 60s. The recent resurgence of interest in his music, acting, and other performances (in part due to the release of the Kevin Spacey movie and concert tours) is testament to the extraordinary body of work that is Bobby' legacy.