There are great musicians and singers that transcend musical genera and boundaries. But how about someone who started with a very silly novelty rock and roll song, but ended up a night club act and a Las Vegas star that rivaled Frank Sinatra doing jazz standards while still appealing to young teens and adult audiences at the same time.

Big band swing and rock and roll were not just worlds apart, but the two had zero respect for each other. Yet Bobby Darin was able to do just that. He moved back and forth between swing and rock and roll. But big band swing and rock and roll had moved on...

But 70 years later his music lives on with a smash Broadway play that brings the nightclub experience to a new audience.

Return to Vinyls podcast is about music: jazz, soul and the blues. From the classics era to today's artists who draw inspiration from the classics. It is also about the creative process and how artists deal with the obstacles that can get in the way of doing what they do best. Give us a listen.

It is not unusual for a song to come out and basically be ignored, but then it is plucked from obscurity and used in a movie or TV show. And all of the sudden it is everywhere. Downloads or streaming make that a pretty easy task. But what about back in the days when vinyl was the only choice?

What if Clint Eastwood, known for his great fondness for jazz, took one of those now forgotten songs two years later and used it in a feature film. That is exactly what happened with Roberta Flack’s "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and Eastwood’s directorial debut, the 1971 film "Play Misty for Me." The song became a number 1 hit and achieved the remarkable feat of becoming the Billboard Year-End top selling single of 1972. Something no sleeper hit had done before or since.

"Roberta Flack First Takes" has been released in a new mastering and pressing. Add to that her demo recordings made before that album, called "Roberta Flack Lost Takes." Together they show a star rising from the unknown and lighting up the music world. Both are now available on 180 gram vinyl and the music is amazing.

Miles Davis was a true jazz lovers — jazz musician. Well, if the criteria is that he was never very popular with mainstream music buyers. Unlike other jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck and Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis never had a hit record in spite of releasing 57 singles. He had just a few albums that charted in the top 100. So no, Miles Davis never crossed over into popular music circles.
Supposedly, you have to really know something about jazz to understand his music. Which is too bad because he did record a whole heck of a lot of accessible music. And he did create the best selling jazz album of all times. Sure there are all these categories when looking at Miles: Bebop, Cool Jazz, Hard Bop / Post Bop, Modal jazz, Jazz Rock / Fusion and orchestral / third wave music. But in the end they are just names. What matters is the music. And Miles Davis produced some truly great music. And amongst the best of the best is Kind of Blue, that five times platinum album.

In 1971 the African country of Ghana hosted a musical celebration called the “Soul to Soul Festival.” It is often referred to as the “Woodstock of Africa.” Although the festival was to honor the tenth anniversary of an independent Ghana, the Festival not only introduced American soul, R&B and modern jazz to the African continent, but the concert had a profound effect on the American musicians who played there that weekend; including jazz pianist and vocalist Les McCann, accompanied by saxophonist Eddie Harris. They had recently crossed over to success with a politically tinged soul music hit. And a young singer recently discovered by McCann, who was on the cusp of having her first major hit, Roberta Flack.

Both McCann’s and Flack’s unreleased early work has been issued in the past two years to glowing reviews from the music press. (More on Roberta Flack’s two early albums and her music in Season 2 Episode 12 coming soon) But along with fronting a very traditional modern jazz trio, McCann was starting to explore jazz mixed with soul and politics. With a concert at a Swiss jazz festival he turned the jazz world upside down and created an anthem of 1960s protest that is still relevant today.

Think you are not a fan of jazz, think Miles Davis has nothing to offer you? Davis, during his 45 plus year career, released at least 60 studio albums and 39 live albums, as well as 46 compilation albums, 27 box sets, and 4 soundtrack albums. He reinvented himself almost as often as he changed his socks (well at least every few years anyway). Starting in the 1940s there was a move away from big band swing with Be Bop. He then moved on to cool jazz - he was there for the birth of the cool. Then in 1959 he redefined jazz, moving from chord changes to modes - he was the guy who did it first.

But in the 1970s he moved again. This time to electric jazz or fusion - he was one of the creators. After a nearly seven year hiatus of not recording or performing he returned playing popular songs of the day including Cindy Lauper and Michael Jackson numbers. He even impressed the master of funk himself - Prince. Return to big bands - sure he did that too. Mix jazz and hip-hop. He was not just sampled but created his own hip hop inspired sounds. So there certainly must be something in there that you can swing to, bop to, rap to, grove to, or just lay back to. Yes because Miles at his best was often laid back and he could be downright mellow.

If you know anything about the American singer Nina Simone it is probably her deep rich voice singing jazz, blues, soul and popular songs. She often wrote and sang songs for, and about, the civil rights movement. But she also took old standards and popular songs of the day and managed to turn those into civil right anthems as well. But she never studied voice and she never really sang publicly until she turned professional and got her first gig playing piano in a casino-bar.

Her wish was to became a classical pianist. She started playing and studying piano at a very early age and her teacher set up concerts of Simone and saved the money in a fund for her to study music in college once she finished high school. But when she didn't get a scholarship to study music any further she turned to jazz and the blues.

Since Nina Simone from a very early age wanted to be a classical musician she would not have bothered to study voice in the same seriousness she took to playing the piano. Yet the only job she could get was as a singer. In the end she became much more well known for her voice than her piano playing. Which is a shame, because she was a first class pianist in any musical genera. But it would also be a shame to ignore her powerful voice which reflected the tumultuous era she emerged from.

Memphis based Stax recording star soul singer Johnnie Taylor is probably best remembered today for his R&B hits. But very few crossed over to top 40 radio. So unless you are an in-depth fan of Stax records hits from the 1960s or perhaps a follower of vintage disco you probably do not know much of his catalog of soul and blues and his dance disco hit. It is odd sometimes that artists are remembered for just one or two things when they had relatively successful lifetime careers. There is no doubt that Taylor was a talented singer. He was often compared to his friend Sam Cook and his label mate Otis Redding. Although success seemed to overlook him compared to the superstars of soul music his music is making a comeback and he is finally getting more of the attention he is so deserving of.

He did achieve a record industry milestone. He was the first artist to be verified for selling over two million copies of a single song. For an artist to achieve that kind of success must be appreciated for being in touch with the musical cultural zeitgeist of a time period. Let's be honest to have a hit is no small feat. And Johnnie Taylor may not be a household name outside of R&B, Blues and Soul music but he did have hits. Along with recording the first 2X Million seller Platinum record, he also had an R&B hit that did cross over and it is still played to this day. And when you hear it you very well might recognize it. It is one of many recordings he made before sliding out onto the discotheque dance floor. And that journey from the blues to disco is a great story.