The substantial Capitol Years is as close to a re-release as there is for some of Bobby Darin's Capitol Records LPs. The three-CD set includes nine of 12 songs from the otherwise out of print Oh! Look at Me Now, nine of 11 from You're the Reason I'm Living, eight of 11 from Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie, eight of 12 from 18 Yellow Roses, and nine of 11 from Venice Blue. The remaining 19 songs are a fascinating collection of rarities, including "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" and "Blowin' in the Wind" by Bob Dylan, "La Bamba" from the obscure album Earthy!, and many more. Unless you master old vinyl onto CD yourself, the Capitol Years set will go a long way towards completing the missing Bobby Darin in your collection. And, though missing a small number of tracks from quite a few LPs, it will be a better value to buy this collection than the individual albums. (The completist fans will still appreciate the hunt for rare vinyl to fill out these out-of-printers.) Put Capitol Years and The Unreleased Capitol Sides in your changer and you will have hours and hours of rare Bobby Darin music. The only obvious criticism of Capitol Years is that since only diehards will invest in this three-CD set, why not make it a four-CD set with the full albums? But, the rare tracks at the end of the set are very welcome.
© JT Griffith /TiVo