My Heart Is An Open Book

Carl Dobkins Jr. was a purveyor of mild-mannered rock & roll similar to Johnny Tillotson or Ricky Nelson (with even less rockabilly fire) who managed four Billboard hits in 1959-60, the biggest of which was the Top Five "My Heart is an Open Book." His second-biggest hit, "Lucky Devil" (also recorded by Frank Ifield around the same time) peaked at number 25, and his career as a teen idol went downhill from there. Dobkin's Decca recordings, collected on this exhaustive 30-track import, are lighter-than-air confections that often breeze past without making much of an impression, and even his few hits aren't among the most memorable songs of the era. A few novelties ("Three Little Peggies," "Genie") bring welcome variety to the tone, which overall is one of teen-oriented light rock and high school balladry. My Heart is an Open Book offers innocuous fun for collectors, but is otherwise too slight so sustain interest. ~ Greg Adams