Bobby Darin - The Lost Motown Masters (2018)

Bobby Darin joined Motown Records in 1970, inaugurating the final phase in a remarkable career that saw him transform from a rock-and-roll teen idol to a sophisticated swinger to a socially conscious folkie. Yet before his tragic death at the age of 37 in 1973, Darin only released one album and a handful of singles for Berry Gordy’s legendary label. A few posthumous recordings followed in 1974 and a live album in 1987, but the story stayed the same: that despite the best efforts of all, Darin’s music for Motown never lived up to the great potential of the pairing. Now, more than 45 years after the artist’s passing, the truth can be revealed. Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records’ Go Ahead and Back Up: The Lost Motown Masters lifts the curtain on the final years of Bobby Darin’s life with 24 never-before-released recordings directly from the Motown vaults, their existence largely unknown to even Darin’s most ardent collectors and biographers. These include a lost album produced by Bobby in the raw, stripped-down style of his stage shows of the period; a return to standards as only Bobby could have recorded; and an album’s worth of stunning, surprising tracks written and produced by Motown’s cream of the crop. Go Ahead and Back Up features newly-discovered, never-before-heard songs and productions by a Motown “Who’s Who” of Smokey Robinson (who shares the microphone on “Cindy”), Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, The Corporation (Berry Gordy, Fonce Mizell, Freddie Perren and Deke Richards), Jerry Marcellino and Mel Larson, and Mike Randall. The funky, soulful, and altogether exciting recordings on Go Ahead and Back Up finally give listeners a taste of where Bobby Darin might have been headed next. This ultimate collectors’ edition has been co-produced and annotated by Joe Marchese (Bobby Darin’s Another Song on My Mind: The Motown Years) and Andrew Skurow (Diana Ross and The Supremes’ Expanded Editions), while acclaimed engineer Kevin Reeves has mixed and mastered from the pristine original Motown tapes. A lavish 24-page booklet includes comprehensive liner notes and rare, never-before-published period photos. Thought you knew everything about Bobby Darin and The Motown Sound? Go Ahead and Back Up! This isn’t your mother’s Bobby Darin.