Customer Reviews

Bobby Vee - Greatest Hits

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Typical of most CDs on the Curb label, this is terribly limited in number of selections and poor in its choice of them. It's missing the single that brought Bobby to Liberty's attention after he took Buddy Holly's place on the Winter Dance Party tour after the tragic plane crash. "Suzie Baby," an example of Vee's best Holly-like work, was actually thought by some to be Buddy. A much better choice is "The Essential and Collectibel Bobby Vee," a 2-CD, 50-song import with "Suzie Baby," a top 100 hit in the US, all his American and British hits (from "More Than I Can Say" [#4 in the UK, #61 US], "Take Good Care of My Baby," "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes," [both Top 10 hits in the UK and US], "Please Don't Ask About Barbara" and "My Girl/Hey Girl," his last US chart hit [#35]. Besides the hits that are missing from the Curb compilation, "Essential and Collectible" includes some buried treasure. "A Forever Kind of Love" reached #13 in the UK but was inexplicable unreleased here. "It Might As Well Rain Until September," a cover of Carol King's early hit has echoes of "Take Good Care of My Baby," both Goffin/King compositons. Perhaps my favorite remastered "discoveries" is a Nashville produced cover of Well...Alright" that has a driving beat, 180 degrees out from Buddy's acoustic version, but as valid as Santana's or Blind Faith's renditions. If you're not quite ready for a 50-selection CD of Bobby Vee, try "The Essential Bobby Vee," another import, a budget price collection from EMI that features 20 tracks with virtually everything on the anemic Curb CD, plus "Someday," a pairing of Bobby with the Crickets that intentionally has a bit of "That'll Be The Day" in it. Bobby says he never imitated Buddy; he just sounds a little like him naturally, something he doesn't mind at all, since he admired him greatly. I think these wonderful two albums will make that perfectly clear.

Some of us experienced Bobby Vee's music as among the first pop/rock material we were exposed to.Songs like The Night Has a Thousand Eyes,Take Good Care of Her and Rubber Ball helped to carve a profile of my musical tastes in the early 60's and also led me to a nearly 30 year career in radio. How good those songs sounded on those antiquated AM car radios of the time....and how splendid they sound in today's modern CD players. We knew the Bobby Vee beat,the tremendous pop orchestration of the time and the lyrical innocence of the time were priceless.Little did we know how sensational those meories would sound today.

I purchased (or obtained somehow) the vinyl grand-daddy of this CD back when Bobby was popular. His likeness to Buddy Holly was somewhat uncanny. I, too, at times could also sound very much like Holly in my younger years. Both artists possessed the ability to do the uh-oh type change of notes which was popular at the time. Since our modern technology more or less prohibits the quality playing of the 45's and 33's, I don't often hear these great sounds from my hey-day.

Bobby Vee's fans will probably want this in their collections; but in truth this rather short, budget priced CD is better suited to the more casual fan. The quality of the sound is quite good and newcomers to Bobby Vee are going to love this!

The album starts off strong with the huge hit for Bobby entitled "Take Good Care Of My Baby." Bobby sings of how he hopes his former girlfriend's new boyfriend will take good care of her. Bobby sings this with all his heart and soul and the musical arrangement is spectacular, too.

"Run To Him" is another huge Bobby Vee hit; and I really like how they used Bobby's voice in certain parts to make it sound as if there were two Bobbys singing this song! In addition, the backup vocalists harmonize so sweetly and the arrangement makes good use of the strings. In addition, listen for "Come Back When You Grow Up." Bobby sings of a young woman he loves; but he thinks that she's a bit too immature for him. Bobby delivers this tender ballad with panache and the percussion enhances the natural beauty of this number.

"The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" has one of the most beautiful arrangements I've heard--ever. Bobby handles the tempo and subtle key changes like a pro. I really like "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" and I predict you'll like it, too.

"Devil Or Angel" is a romantic love ballad about Bobby's love for his woman; and "Stayin' In" is another great ballad with a `60s flavor to it. The album ends with "Be True To Yourself;" this passionate love ballad makes a strong finish for this album.

Bobby Vee fans will probably already have these tunes in their collections; but some diehard fans may like to have this anyway. This budget priced CD has only ten tracks but what a great ten tracks they are! Newcomers to Bobby's talents and casual fans of Bobby Vee will love this album.

These songs came from the time when I first began to really listen to music. Of course I had heard music and enjoyed it, but that was on my parents radio, and they chose the programs. Then, in the early sixties, came the greatest invention of the twentieth century-- the transistor radio. Suddenly kids could carry their own music with them everywhere they went and choose the stations they wanted. At the same time came the great television show, American Bandstand, which had to be the first show aimed directly at the teenager. and this was the time that Bobby Vee began recording, So naturally, his songs were some of the highlights of my happiest years.
this CD brings back those memories back full strength. Any child of the sixties should love this album. I do!!
These songs don't deserve the term "oldies". They are classics that hold up against anything being produced today.

Original recordings (at least to my ear), nicely engineered and remastered. A nice collection of great songs.