Compilation producers: Cary E. Mansfield, Steve Blauner.

Includes liner notes by Paul Grein.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

To much of the world, Bobby Darin is simply the Sinatra-indebted showman who brought swing a generation forward with such hits as "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea." Looking a bit further, as THE VERY BEST OF BOBBY DARIN 1966-1969 does, it becomes apparent that Darin changed radically with the times. By the mid-'60s, he'd become a literate, socially conscious folk-rock troubadour. What's even more surprising is that he turned out to be a natural at it, such was his eclectic/chameleonic musical nature. He obviously gained a great deal of inspiration from contemporaneous folk-rocker Tim Hardin (this disc alone contains five Hardin covers), but he penned some fine tunes in the same vein himself. The reflective "The Girl That Stood Beside Me" and the bluesy "Long Line Rider" would not have been out of place on any vintage Hardin album. While Darin wrote plenty of great songs during this period that aren't included here, THE VERY BEST OF provides an excellent entry point into a seldom-considered chapter of this deceptively complex artist's story.