Bobby Darin and Neil Young

"I used to be pissed off at Bobby Darin because he changed styles so much. Now I look at him and think he was a fucking genius." – Neil Young

Seeing some of the previews of the new film Beyond The Sea with Kevin Spacey's uncannily superb performance as Bobby Darin got me thinking about Neil's quote in a 1988 Rolling Stone interview.

Then I recalled Neil had made some comments about Bobby Darin in Jimmy McDonough's biography Shakey. Some innaresting comments by Neil Young on Bobby Darin:

YOUNG: "Bobby Darin. He was pretty funky back then ... innaresting guy. Actually, his first song came out when I was in Pickering - "Queen of the Hop." I appreciated what he was doing. It wasn't that I ever got washed away with the message, although "Queen of the Hop" was pretty cool, you could see a picture with that one. `Dream Lover" was good, too. Y'know when he did the Tim Hardin song "If I Were a Carpenter "? Another completely different sound.

"Mack the Knife " was cool, too. But it was almost a distraction, 'cause it was such a radical change you were goin ', "Wait a minute. Jesus Christ. This is really good, but who the fuck - is this the same guy? What the hell happened? "

That's the first artist I can remember where you're goin', "Well, shit - he just changed. He's completely different. And he's really into it. Doesn't sound like he's not there."

"Dream Lover," "Mack the Knife," "If I Were a Carpenter," "Queen of the Hop," "Splish Splash "- tell me about those records, Mr. Darin. Did you write those all the same day?

He just changed so much. Just kinda went from one place to another. So it's hard to tell who Bobby Darin really was."

Not sure if Bobby Darin's impression explains the Geffen years but here's some more on Neil's musical influences.