.

.

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Bobby Vee and The Shadows – The Early Rockin' Years

 


Bobby Vee's career began in the midst of tragedy. On February 3, 1959, "The Day the Music Died", three of the four headline acts in the line-up of the traveling Winter Dance Party, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper, were killed in the crash of a V-tailed 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane, along with the 21-year-old pilot, Roger Peterson. (Dion DiMucci, the fourth headliner, had opted to not travel on the plane.) It crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, en route to the next show on the tour itinerary, in Moorhead, Minnesota. Vee, then 15 years old, and a hastily assembled band of Fargo schoolboys (including his older brother Bill) calling themselves The Shadows, volunteered for and were given the job of filling in for Holly and his band at the Moorhead engagement. Their performance there was a success and started Vee's career as a popular singer.

In 1963, Vee released a tribute album on Liberty Records called I Remember Buddy Holly. In the liner notes, he recalled Holly's influence on him and the events surrounding Holly's death, describing how he had looked forward to attending the concert, how the local radio station put out a call for local talent to fill after the disaster, and how Vee's recently organized group, modelled on Holly's style, had to make up a name (The Shadows) on the spot.

Vee became a star, and he performed regularly at Winter Dance Party memorial concerts in Clear Lake. His three sons, all musicians, performed with him there.

This 20 track compilation was released in 1995 on ERA Records..

Tracklist:

Flyin' High

Suzie Baby

Lonely Love

Love Must Have Passed Me By

It's Too Late

Laurie

Remember The Day

That'll Be The Day

Susie Q

White Silver Sands

Butterfly

Party Doll

Bye Bye Love

Wishing

Leave Me Alone

What'll I Do

Toy Soldier

Loco

Card Shark

Mindreader


Bobby Vee And The Shadows

No comments: