Tim Hardin--Simple Song of Freedom (1969)

       As a songwriter, Tim Hardin's career was defined his first two albums in 1966 and 67. Several of his songs, "If I Were A Carpenter", "Reason to Believe" and "Hang On To A Dream" have been a part of the musical lexicon almost from the time they were first recorded. However, what has not been stressed was his abilities as an interpreter of outside material as well. The several albums he released in the early 70's showed someone who's phrasing could take a song and make it his own. His life however was also defined by heroin, which was a constant companion throughout much of his life (most seem to think he developed it during a stint in Vietnam in 1959), and would finally take it in 1980 at the age of 39.
     His only chart success was a cover of Bobby Darin's, "Simple Song of Freedom", which was ironic considering that it was Hardin's, "If I Were a Carpenter" which re-ignited Darin's career in 1967. The song reached #50 in the fall of 1969, perhaps spurred on by Hardin's performance at Woodstock just several weeks before.

 

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The Sunday Morning Vault: Bobby Darin--Mack the Knife (1959)

     Although not always successful, it would not be a stretch to call Bobby Darin one of the most versatile performers (if you define it through quantity) in the modern era. From teen pop to Frank Sinatra style crooning, folk rock, rock, and even a bit of Motown, Darin squeezed a lot of material in his 37 years on this planet. Not all of these attempts were successful, but if you take the time to look at his body of work, he accomplished much more than you would expect.
     Almost 40 years after his death he is defined though "Mack the Knife", which is probably why so many see him as just a night club act. "Mack" was written by the team of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht for their musical drama, "Die Dreigroschenoper" or as it's known in English, "The Threepenny Opera" in 1928.
     Gifford Cochran and Jerrold Krimsky wrote the English lyrics for it's Broadway debut in 1933, which failed badly. It fared better in the early 50's off-Broadway adaptation written by Marc Blitzstein. This is the version that we all know and Darin recorded in 1959. Louie Armstrong did the first swing version in 1956. Interestingly enough, the name Lotte Lenya which is found in the song belonged to Kurt Weill's widow who was at Armstrong's recording. As a bit of a tribute to it's original author, he spontaneously added her to the names in the song.
     Darin recorded the song and it was released as a single. Despite it's being an increasingly popular song in Darin's nightclub act, he was hesitant about it's release. There were those (Dick Clark among them) who thought that it's association with an opera would cause it not to sell well to teenagers. Darin, who already had three top 10 hits previous ("Splish Spash", "Queen of the Hop" and "Dream Lover") and was seen as a bit of a teen idol, was not sure about putting out a song about a murderer. The final decision was made by Ahmet Ertegun from Atlantic Records and Darin soon had his only number 1 hit.
     For those who are not aware of his full career, you might be interested to take a further look beyond here. He had a total of 21 top 40 hits with 9 of those being in the top ten. Although none of them were quite like the most swinging song about murder ever....

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Bobby Darin--Mack the Knife (1959)

     Today Bobby Darin would have been 75....

      The story of Mack the Knife has it's origins in Britain and Germany. It was composed by Kurt Weill and Bertoit Brecht for their drama "Die Dreigroachenoper" or in English, "The Threepenny Opera", and premiered in Berlin in 1928.
  
      The opera is based on the deadly Mackie Messer who himself was patterned after the highwayman Macheath in John Gay's, The Begger's Opera. The opera was translated into English in 1933, but was a flop on Broadway (although it did achieve some success off-Broadway). The first swing version was done by  Louis Armstrong in 1956. Interestingly enough the jazz great's use of the name Lottie Lenya was a total improv in honor of Weill's widow who was in the studio at the time of Armstrong's recording. This also became a part of Darin's version.

      One more story before we hear the song. Before choosing it, Dick Clark advised Darin not to record it since he thought that it being from an opera would turn off teen fans (obviously he didn't have a problem with the subject matter). Clark liked to laughingly refer to this story for years afterward....

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