That's All is an album by American singer Bobby Darin released in 1959 and arranged by Richard Wess. It was on the Billboard LP charts for 52 weeks and peaked at number seven. It also includes Darin's US No. 1 hit "Mack the Knife", which spent nine weeks at the top spot, and "Beyond the Sea", which was a Top 10 hit.[1] At the second Grammy Awards (and the first to be televised), Darin won Record of the Year and Best New Singer.[2]
Recording
The first of several successful collaborations between Bobby Darin and arranger/conductor Richard Wess, That's All launched the young singer from the realm of teen pop into the adult market, and comparisons with Frank Sinatra.[3] Publicist Harriet “Hesh” Wasser persuaded Wess to work with the twenty-two-year-old. Darin recorded "Mack the Knife" on December 19, 1958, and Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records, knew they had caught lightning in a bottle, later recalling:[4]
As we were cutting Mack the Knife on the first date, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind it would be a success. Everyone knew that this was going to be a number one record. Then I realized that having done the rock thing, Bobby was now going to have a big pop hit. We knew as we were cutting it, he’s going to become a major, major star. We were jumping up and down, and after the first take, I said, "You’ve got it! That’s it."
Billboard gave the album a postive results, saying "it features a wide-ranging group of ballads, including a good sprinking tunes"[8]
Music critic JT Griffith called That's All Darin's "most important record" in his Allmusic review, also writing it "broadened his appeal and secured his imortality [sic]... [It] might not be a new fan's first Darin purchase. However, it is an important release in the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's career. This LP proves that not every rocker suffers the 'sophomore slump'."[6] In an exploration of the evolution of "Mack the Knife", The Financial Times says:[9]
Bobby Darin took the song by the scruff of the neck and turned it into the swing classic widely known today. Unlike the Brecht-Weill original, which remains in the same key throughout, Darin’s version changes key, chromatically, no fewer than five times, ratcheting up the tension.
