This was Darin's follow-up release to the successful folk-incursion of 1966's If I Were A Carpenter song and album. Singer-songwriter Tim Hardin is represented here again ('Lady Came From Baltimore', 'Blacksheep Boy') - along with eclectic songs by Randy Newman, Gary Bonner/Turtles, John Sebastian and the Lovin' Spoonful, and Jagger-Richards. Darin, an old pro by this time in showbiz years, was a master at vocal nuance and arrangement. Darin even sings one of his own 'I Am'. Some of the renditions of these tunes are arguably definitve, and Darin smoothes out the Hardin eccentricities, synthesizing that vocal style into an easy-listening experience with a folk-wanderer's edge. And he evens that introspective anguish out with putting on an optimistic face, a la Sebastian. All in under 27 minutes!
This was actually Darin's second 'Folk phase' - an earlier one happening in 1962. But this 1966-67 period is more in a Post-Folk-Rock vein. And he's very at-home in it and would go in and out of this style for the rest of his career.
At any rate, this is one of the great early 1967, pre-Sgt. Pepper albums, and highly underrated and unregarded at that. I prefer this mix to the Stereo one. The vinyl this was ripped from could be cleaner, but it's clean enough. Hopefully one day it will be released on CD in its proper Mono form. Until then, Enjoy.
Released: May 1967
Tracks:
Side1
1 The Lady Came from Baltimore
2 Darling Be Home Soon
3 Bes' Friends
4 I Am
5 About You
6 I Think It's Gonna Rain Today
Side2
7 Whatever Happened to Happy
8 Black Sheep Boy
9 Hello Sunshine
10 Lady Fingers
11 Back Street Girl
@320
By Mono Snow
DL
