Bobbi Martin Albums

 Bobbi Martin was born in 1943 and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. In her career, Bobbi recorded six main studio albums while on the labels Coral, United Artists, & Buddha. I've listened to these albums as she is one of my favorite singers and decided to rank them for my own music analysis. 

The first album I chose here at the bottom was for the love of him, a country release on United Artists. The album includes a fun picture of Bobbi holding a piece of grass in a beautiful country filled setting. She had a wonderful photographer who knew what she was doing. Bobbi sings the title song, her hit "For the Love of Him," but also sings some good Vegas-style country songs like "You're Cheatin' Heart," "Crazy Arms," and "Here Comes My Baby" which were performed in her nightclub shows. "Long Line of Fools," is an original song (written by Roy Braham) that Bobbi sings with force. This album overall has a neat arrangement by Don Tweedy and is produced by former band leader, her producer Henry Jerome. (all her albums are produced by this guy)  

The next album I chose was an experimental one for Bobbi. It takes her into a Latin style but also includes funk elements as she was on Buddha Records. "Tomorrow," has Bobbi in a new light and is a unique album, but it doesn't capture her overall essence as a singer and so I place it here. "Tomorrow" is the title of her main single from the album, released in 1971. "Beautiful Beginnings" is a beautiful song along with "John F. Kennedy was his name" which she penned herself. The album also features a fun version of "Sentimental Journey." This album was worth some success but did not sell well in the market. 

Bobbi sang "Harper Valley PTA" before the hit country version was released. It includes many good songs; my favorites are paired together "You'll Cry Tomorrow" and "I Love Him." "I love him" was a perfect song for radio but was not able to chart. This album also includes many good country songs of the day like "Little Green Apples," "With Pen in Hand" "Misty Blue," and "He Called Me Baby." Bobbi wrote the b/s song for "I love him," "I Think of You." I love the serious look with the brown and green backdrop of this photo. It made the look 'iconic in my eyes!

The next album is "With Love." This album is a A/C version of "For the Love of Him." The album has a good arranger, his name is Lee Holdridge. Bobbi sings many songs of the year '70 like "Happy Heart," "Something," "Help Yourself," "Easy Come Easy Go," and "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Bobbi also sings original new songs like "Yesterday Is Crowding My World," & "Tell Him I Love Him," which are both fantastic. "Tell Him I Love Him," has a soft easy sound I love like that in Mr. Rogers, & "Yesterday is Crowding My World," would've made a promising single. The album cover is fantastic, one of her best, and she wrote the liner notes herself. 

The next is her debut album, " Don't Forget I Still Love You." It includes some great soft songs like "This Love of Mine," "Kiss Me Goodnight," "A Million Thanks to You." This album has covers of "We'll Sing in the Sunshine," "Everybody Loves Somebody," and my favorite "I Can't Stop Loving You." Owen Bradley gives a dreamy like arrangement to these songs that makes it one of my favorite albums to listen to. It just gives out downhome country vibes. 

The album I chose for number one is "I Love You So." I choose this because I think in songs like "One For My Baby,' & "Who Can I Turn To," she sounds her best. You can almost picture yourself in a Bobbi Martin concert on the Vegas strip. I also love the album cover; she looks radiant here. This was an album done just months before she recorded one of, if not her best song, "Don't Take It Out on Me." The album includes kind of a mesh pool of songs; she does great covers of pop rock songs, "I'm Telling You Now," and "It's Not Unusual" as well as old standards, "I Love You (for sentimental reasons) and "There Are Such Things." This would be a format that most stirred within her career. 

Overall, I always find things that I enjoy from each album of Bobbi's. Her career was often mixed with country western, pop standards, and the pop/rock or soul music of the day. Bobbi Martin could sing a wide variety of songs and she could sing them very well. To say she's underrated or in her flop era would be the definition of her career. She has a place among the great stars of Frank Sinatra & Judy Garland in her own right! The audience loves her music, and she had a great personality and great humor. She is missed by her fans and friends who still 'think of her' to this day. ~ Joey Sharp