Me and Bobby D.: A Memoir

by Steve Karmen

Book Overview

Me and Bobby D. is the exciting coming-of-age story of two teenage boys from the Bronx - Steve Karmen and Walden Robert Cassotto - who meet in high school, play in the same band, and then form a singing act. The year is 1956, at the dawn of rock and roll, a crossroad in the entertainment business rarely written about. Cassotto changes his name to Bobby Darin, makes his first recording, and he and Karmen are booked on the road for their first job ever...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0634080261
• ISBN13: 9780634080265
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
• Length: 434 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

I'ts a Square Up

I can understand this memoir from the authors perspective. We all know Darin like everyone had his faults but his talent was unmeasureable. Steve had talent also but his forte was another area. Still an informative book on the very early years when Darin was trying to get off the bottom rung. I guess we would all be a little obnowious if we knew we only had a few years to make a mark, and what a mark it happened to be,

I like this book in spite of the sour grapes and credibility problems with timeline

I think this is one of the better bios of Bobby D (and Steve K, tho' I bought it for Bobby of course) in spite of some flaws. I liked that fact that, thanks to the level of detail and transcripts of conversations, Bobby Darin was a vivid presence in this book unlike in most bios of him. I also think it mostly rings true, since early BD was a very aggressive, confident, and determined individual who did not stumble into stardom but worked hard for it. Steve K is clearly jealous and bitter about Darin's success after leaving him behind, but he's also pretty honest about those emotions and acknowledging them earns him some credibility. In addition, Steve K is honest enough to include passages where Darin and Darin's manager tell Steve K up front early on that he is *only* accompanying Darin to a Detroit night club engangement to help Darin with *his* act and *his* career and to reduce Darin's nervousness at his first engagement. So Steve was warned immediately that he was just along for Bobby's ride, at Bobby's personal expense in fact, and those were terms he readily agreed to up front. As a result he forfits a lot of the justification for his bitterness. He was not mislead or lied to unless he lied to himself. So he shouldn't have been horribly shocked when that's exactly how events unfolded, tho' I doubt that he expected to be so completely dismissed from Bobby's life. (And I think the reason for his total dismissal was jealousy on Darin's part because Karmen was more classically handsome and thereby a bit of a threat to upstage the more charismatic Darin.) But mostly ringing true means that some rang false. Most significant is that Karmen's timeline sometimes doesn't jibe with reality, esp in the last chapter. For example he describes meeting with "Bob" Darin (Bobby's late life folk incarnation in which he spurned the show biz plastic tux and toupee in favor of denim and accustic guitars and protest songs) November of 1972 - a year before Darin's death. Sorry but that's impossible. "Bob" Darin was retired by 1970 at the latest - a full two years earlier. And by the time Karmen claims to have reunited with "Bob" Darin at the Desert Inn, Darin was again in tux and toupee and doing middle of the road material mixed with his beloved folk and R & B material. It's very distracting when he's describing a scenario that couldn't have taken place when and as described. Along the same lines, he claims that he basically never saw Darin from 1956 to 1973 (aside from attending Polly's funeral and a copa show), yet numerous accounts in other books, and his appearance in photos, have him in Darin's presence in the late 50's. I also share the scepticism of those who doubt he could remember hundreds of pages of verbatim converstation decades later. It's just a bit of a red flag, but I think he probably remembers the gist of it. And the conversation is so instrumental in bringing the characters to life that I'll give him the benefit of th

THE BEST show business biography !

This is THE BEST show business biography that I have EVER read !Not withstanding that this is about Bobby Darin, this book gives the BEST account of how a Star is created...and yes, it isn't all just "Chance", it involves delicate construction, and LOTS of hard work. For Bobby Darin fans, this is a treasure trove of information, that ONLY a Best Friend could share with us. The author's unvarnished account here is vividly written, so that the reader is "included", if you will, in this life-career, defining moment.ATTENTION TO THOSE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE DETAILED CONVERSATIONS and RECOLLECTIONS: We all have experienced personal, life defining "moments", where we had to make choices, that we have had to live with, the rest of our lives. They will be forever, etched into our consciousness, like a jackhammer into granite. To intimate, that the author could not state each word of a conversation, that was held decades ago, is a cheap shot and totally made without any foundation of fact or reality.The book is awesome ! It may change your life, too !Mr. Karmen's recollections are deeply, and personally felt. It's our privilege to relive them, with him.

Cuts through the glitz into real show business

"Me and Bobby D." is a wonderfully detailed account of two ambitious teenagers who sweated for and got a shot at the big time. It's a great read for anyone who loved "Almost Famous"Steve Karmen and Bobby Cassotto start as innocents with a faux Harry Belefonte act. But when Darin's talent, energy, and charisma are discovered by an agent, he quickly realizes there's no room for Karmen in his spotlight. So Darin moves on, almost immediately becoming a star on his own.Left behind, bruised by the severed friendship, Karmen must deal with his feelings of betrayal and terrible disappointment. The reader feels Karmen's pain but at the same time is amused by his travails to establish himself in show business. He eventually finds himself writing advertising jingles and clicks, gaining the reputation of "King of the Jingles".Karmen reaches his best form when he shares with us his dramatic reunion with Darin in Las Vegas. The final chapters are a sensitive and thorough weaving together of the writer's feelings. How splitting up with Darin caused him to go out on his own, leading to a full, financially successful, and loving life. Karmen portrays Darin's failing health with love and a sense of awe for how Bobby Cassotto, the boy, became Darin the entertainer.

Me and Bobby D... Forever (A+)

If your idea of an insightful biography is a book filled with real life events and real life dialog between two teenagers who breakout into the world beyond their youth for the first time, innocently sharing ALL of their thoughts and feelings as only teenage boys can, then this book is for you. If you expect more, there is more. You'll feel what it was like in the early days of rock 'n' roll as these two young men break into the music business. One finds the entry point on the road to stardom, and at the same time the other doesn't, and sadly has to head home to start all over again. And if you want even more, there is more! The author takes you through the years to the present day and what ended up happening to both of them as they both reached their own heights of success. One of the best, most honestly written stories I've ever read. A real keeper, and one to pass on to friends who you know are dying to read a true life adventure in the world of rock 'n' roll.