Great Performances: Bobby Darin sings Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin"

Bobby Darin sings a kickin' contemporary version of the Cole Porter classic "I've Got You Under My Skin"...

Great Performances: Bobby Darin sings "Cry Me A River"

Bobby Darin's devastating rendition of "Cry Me A River," from the Seeing Is Believing DVD...

Great Musicians: Guitarist Al Caiola

Johnny Mathis: Open Fire Two Guitars on CD

Al Caiola is a prolific session musician and solo recording artist who has been laying down great licks since the 1940s. His playing can be heard on the historic Johnny Mathis LP Open Fire Two Guitars (Columbia C-1270, 1959), as well as on recordings by Sarah Vaughan (Sarah Vaughan In Hi-Fi [Columbia CL 745-M, 1956]), Bobby Darin (That's All [Atco 33-104, March 1959]), Tony Bennett (Who Can I Turn To [Columbia CS-9085, 1964), and many early Frank Sinatra recordings.

Caiola also worked as a conductor and arranger for United Artists Records in the late '40s and early '50s. He released his first solo album, Deep in a Dream, on the Savoy label in 1955. His solo career didn't really take off, however, until the 1960s, with a series of UA albums mixing covers of movie and TV themes, current hits, and Caiola's own original compositions. Caiola scored top 40 hits with his versions of the themes from Bonanza and The Magnificent Seven.

While all this was going on, the tireless and multi-talented Caiola was also serving as conductor and arranger for producer Ethel Gabriel's Living groups series (Living Strings, Living Voices, etc.) on RCA's budget label, Camden.

In 1985, Caiola accompanied Frank Sinatra on his European Tour, as lead guitarist, and continues to work today, most notably backing up Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme.

Great Songwriters: Harry Warren

Composer Harry Warren has written some of the most enduring melodies in American pop music. His 1938 collaboration with Johnny Mercer, "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," is an excellent example. Originally sung by Dick Powell in the Warner Brothers picture Hard to Get, this sweet and romantic little ditty became a rockin' rhythm number for Bobby Darin in 1961, and a funky finger-snapper for Mercer himself in 1974. Both versions retain the warm spirit of Warren's original melody, and both versions bring an instant smile to the listener.

Other timeless Warren compositions include "I Only Have Eyes for You," "That's Amore," "The More I See You," and the Oscar-nominated "An Affair to Remember" (from the 1957 motion picture of the same name). Between 1931 and 1957, Warren received 11 Oscar nominations, 3 wins, authored over 250 songs for all four major studios (Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, MGM, and Paramount), and hit the number 1 spot on the charts 21 times. While Warren also wrote successfully for Broadway (Billy Rose's 1930 musical revue, Sweet and Low), his true fame is as the man who wrote the soundtrack to Hollywood.

Born Salvatore Anthony Guaragna on December 24th, 1893 in Brooklyn, New York, Warren was something of a jack-of-all-trades in his early years. He taught himself to play several instruments, including the drums, the accordion and the piano, and he sang in the church choir. At the age of 16, he quit high school to take a job playing drums in a traveling circus. At various times he also worked as a stagehand for a Vaudeville theater, as a prop man and offstage piano player for Vitagraph Studios, and as an actor in silent films, playing small roles, often as a messenger boy.

His big break came in 1922, when he co-authored "Rose of The Rio Grande," with lyricists Edgar Leslie and Ross Gorman. Previous to this, Warren had been trying to write both music and lyrics, but none of those compositions managed to capture the attention of music publishers. This one did, and was in fact his first published song, setting him on a lifelong path of collaboration with various lyricists. These included Al Dubin ("About a Quarter to Nine"), Leo Robin ("The Lady In The Tutti-Frutti Hat"), the abovementioned Johnny Mercer ("The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe"), and Mack Gordon ("Chattanooga Choo-Choo"). Warren's collaboration with Gordon resulted in the first Gold record ever awarded, for Glenn Miller's 1941 recording of "Chattanooga Choo Choo."

Warren's most enduring work of all can be seen in the musical extravaganza 42nd Street, which began life as a hit motion picture for Warner Brothers in 1933, and has since re-emerged as a hit Broadway show, with productions in 1980 (a 9-year run) and 2001 (a 4-year run). The Harry Warren/Al Dubin classics from this show include the title song, "Shuffle Off To Buffalo," and "You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me."

Great Arrangers: Richard Wess

Personal details about arranger/conductor Richard Wess, such as his date and place of birth, seem to be virtually impossible to find. Luckily, his work is far easier to track down, and it speaks for itself.

As the man behind Bobby Darin's 1959 breakthrough LP That's All, Wess helped vault the young singer into worldwide fame, with mega-hits such as "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea."

Wess' earliest work as an arranger and conductor appears to be on the 1957 Sallie Blair album, Squeeze Me (Bethlehem BCP 6009). Blair was a vocalist of great wit and personality, not unlike Bobby Darin. Her rendition of "Almost Like Being In Love" features an exciting Darinesque vocal flourish as she launches into the refrain. Finger-snaps reminiscent of Darin's can be heard on her swingin' version of "Ain't (S)He Sweet." These tracks, and several others on the album, feature Wess playing piano and celeste. Band members Joe Cabot, Al DeRisi, Frank Rehak, Chauncey Welsch, Romeo Penque, Jerry Sanfino, and Joe Soldo would later appear as part of the Richard Wess Orchestra for Darin's That's All LP.

Wess also had an album of his own in 1957, the intriguingly titled Music She Digs the Most (MGM E-3491). Once again, Wess played piano, and his bandmates included saxophonist Al Cohn and guitarist Mundell Lowe (another That's All player). The disc was a nice collection of standards, including "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," "Give Me The Simple Life," and "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To."

Bobby Darin's close friend and publicist, Harriet "Hesh" Wasser, is credited with bringing Darin and Wess together in 1958 for their collaboration on That's All. The result was a defining moment for Darin, earning him respect with the adult audience and making him the first rock n' roll artist in history to successfully cross over into standards.

Wess and Darin would team up for several other fine LPs, including This is Darin (Atco 33-115, January 1960), From Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie (Capitol 2194, November 1964), and Bobby Darin Sings the Shadow of Your Smile (Atlantic 8121, April 1966). The result was always magical.

In addition to his work with Darin, Wess also served as conductor and arranger for Chris Connor (Witchcraft [Atlantic LP 8032, 1959]), Ruth Brown (Late Date With Ruth Brown [Atlantic LP 1308, January 27, 1959]), Connie Francis (Songs to a Swinging Band [MGM SE-3893, 1960]), Sammy Davis Jr. (The Goin's Great [Reprise R-6339, 1969]), and many others.