Bobby Darin was, by any definition, a superstar - a chart-topping, multimillion-selling,
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, a Golden Globe-winning actor, visionary
entrepreneur, and committed political activist. Restless and daring, his refusal to be
constrained by genre, resulting in an endless string of top 10 hits, including "Splish Splash,"
"Queen of the Hop," "Dream Lover," "Beyond the Sea," and "If I Were a Carpenter."
While his public persona was all bright lights and glamour, Darin was driven and inspired by
the generational shifts and social upheaval of the 1960s. Despite his weakened health, Darin
devoted nearly all of his free time towards multiple causes, tirelessly campaigning for his
friend Robert F. Kennedy until his assassination in June 1968, after which Darin withdrew
from the spotlight and embarked on an unlikely personal journey. He swapped his crooner's
tuxedo for folk singer denim, his toupee for an outlaw mustache, a Beverly Hills mansion for a
secluded trailer at Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur. Commitment is grittier and more audacious than Darin's previous work. From the
counterculture anthem "Me and My Hohner" (with its ironic reference to "The Star-Spangled
Banner") and the soul-searching "Sausalito" to the wryly autobiographical "Distractions (Part
1)" and the tense funk of "Light Blue," the album's experimentation and free-wheeling
songcraft affirm Darin as a generational talent uniquely capable of crossing the borders of age
and politics.
