Two of a Kind

Two of a Kind is an album by American singer Bobby Darin and singer/composer Johnny Mercer, released in 1961. It was arranged and conducted by Billy May. The LP was recorded over four dates in August 1960, with several songs recorded on more than one occasion, and three songs not released on the album at all. In 2017, the Omnivore label released an extended version of the album, containing five alternate takes and two of the previously unreleased songs. "Back in Your Own Back Yard" remains unreleased. Most of the songs recorded were of a novelty nature, although a couple of songs co-authored by Mercer were also included, but even these are not the jazz standards for which Mercer is probably best remembered. The title song was a Johnny Mercer composition that Darin contributed extra lyrics to, prompting Mercer to give him a full co-author credit. Darin would revive some of the songs from the album later in his career. "Ace in the Hole" was re-recorded by him for the unreleased-at-the-time The Curtain Falls live album, recorded in Las Vegas in 1963. A solo studio version of the song was recorded in late 1965, but it went unreleased at the time and is now thought to be lost.

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