(* with The Johnny Mann Singers )
Chart entered : 20 June 1963
Chart peak : 21
Bobby's was one of the shortest chart spans ( though still not as short as Bill Haley's ). Here we did part company with the States where Bobby continued having hits, although rarely of any magnitude, for the rest of the decade.
This directly followed "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" which was, jointly with "More Than I Can Say", Bobby's biggest hit here so there was no indication this would be his last appearance. In America "Charms" was the A side but Liberty chose to reverse the order here. "Bobby Tomorrow " is a ( too ) brief and breezy Brill Building ditty about a procrastinating girlfriend with loud strings from Ernie Freeman and the usual double tracked vocals ( and still the odd Holly-ism ) from Bobby. The Johnny Mann Singers aren't very prominent to say they got a label credit. It's a routine effort which probably got to the right level in a rapidly fermenting chart.
His next single, "Stranger In Your Arms" from November 1963 was a decent song about a doomed relationship but it's smothered by Snuff Garrett's over-production. Bobby sounds like he's shouting to be heard over a bombastic theme to some epic Western. It wasn't the sort of thing with which to do battle with the Beatles. Bobby took the matter into his own hands with the next single "She's Sorry" , his own none too subtle re-write of She Loves You complete with "Yeahs" and "Whoos" and a non-Beatles element , a Del Shannon Musitron riff. It's of historical interest as the first American response to Merseybeat ( though it was only a B side in the States ) and good fun. It was released under the name "Bobby Vee and the Eligibles."
The phantom Eligibles had disappeared by the time of his next single "Hickory, Dick and Doc" ( number 52 in the States ) written by Dewayne Blackwell . Bill "Raunchy" Justis was on board for this one as arranger and he contributes a fantastic hypnotic guitar riff to this clever song with Bobby as one of three hapless suitors to the same girl. It's quite possibly his best single of all and definitely one that got away.
His next single in April 1965 appropriately titled "Keep On Trying" ( 85 in the States ) is an interesting meeting of minds, written by future disco mogul Van McCoy and arranged by George Martin. Not surprisingly it's strongly influenced by Motown and R & B and George throws the kitchen sink at the production with brass breaks and gospel backing vocals. Amidst all that Bobby handles the change in style with ease demonstrating just how underrated he is as a vocalist.
In September 1965 he released "True Love Never Runs Smooth" ( not released in the US where Gene Pitney had a big hit with it two years earlier ) a Bacharach David song with Johnnie Spence arranging. Bobby's version is pretty similar in tempo to Pitney's but he isn't in the same league as a singer. In any case he had to compete with a rival version by Petula Clark and they cancelled each other out.
In 1966 he was back with "Run Like The Devil" ( 124 in the States ). It was arranged by Jack Nitzsche so I'm guessing the famous Wrecking Crew might be the musicians here. It's big ,echoing and dramatic but unfortunately pretty tuneless.
Bobby's next three singles were all recorded with the Australian group The Strangers ."Look At Me Girl" was a cover of a local Texan hit by The Playboys of Edinburg and sounds a lot like The Monkees ( that's meant as a compliment ). " Like You've Never Seen Before" was on the same LP but not released until 1967 and sounds like The Seekers with Bobby standing in for Judith Durham. Bobby's next single "Come Back When You Grow Up" was a massive hit in the States reaching number 3 in 1967 , his last Top 30 entry there. It was written by Martha Sharp notable for Sandy Posey's Single Girl which puts an interesting slant on the song where Bobby is rejecting a girl for being too young and naïve. It's an understated little gem with some nice guitar work and a sensitive vocal.
"Beautiful People" ( 37 in the States ) is a lightly psychedelic pop ditty with some interesting bass playing on the track but it's a little over-ambitious in its structure. "Maybe Just Today" ( 46 in the States ) from 1968 is a very pleasant but lightweight easy listening number about living for the moment. "My Girl/ Hey Girl" ( 35 in the States ) is a mash up of the Smokey Robinson and Freddie Scott songs and not very good at all. "Do What You Gotta Do " ( 83 in the States ) is the Jimmy Webb song and sounds so Motown-ish that I assumed the Fou Tops version came first but in fact the reverse is true.
We're into 1969 now with "( I'm Into Looking For ) Someone To Love Me" ( 98 in the States ) and sounds very like late period Monkees with bongos, fuzz guitar and a weird slowed-down mid-section where Bobby hits a very wobbly note. "I'm Gonna Make It Up To You" was the B-side in the States. Bobby co wrote it and it's an uptempo brassy Northern Soul type song that's not particularly memorable.
His first release of the 70s was "Electric Trains And You" , also a B-side across the pond. It was written by Bobby Russell most famous for Bobby Goldsboro's Honey as is pretty evident from the start. It's not quite as mawkish as that, comparing the disappointment over a woman with not receiving a desired toy as a child. It's got plenty of charm of its own but probably suffered from coming out just afterwards.
"Sweet Sweetheart" was his last US hit ( 88 in 1970 ) and is a competent piece of big production country pop ( written by Goffin and King ) with Bobby trying and mostly succeeding to sound like Glen Campbell. It's disappointingly generic to my ears. It was his last single on Liberty in the UK.
Bobby's next move was to grow a beard and release an LP in his real name in a singer - songwriter vein. His ambivalent attitude to his past - he was still touring as Bobby Vee playing the hits - can be gleaned from the inclusion of a slowed -down acoustic version of "Take Good Care Of My Baby" released as a single on United Artists in March 1973. It's just dreary and not a good advert for the LP. When that tanked Bobby's recording career was almost over.
He re-surfaced at the beginning of 1976 on a small Irish label with a self-penned single "( I'm ) Lovin You" In 1978 United Artists released his version of Buddy Holly's "Well All Right" from his 1962 collaboration LP with The Crickets and in 1990 Bobby ( now sporting a dreadful Peter Swales comb-over ) reunited with them to record "Buddy Holly Medley" produced by his eldest son Jeff . It was released in 1992 on a minor label , his final single.
Bobby seemed content with the oldies circuit after that particularly as his children played in his touring band. His youngest son Robby is a minor attraction on the rockabilly revival circuit. In 2012 Bobby announced he was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. Last July he attended a Dylan gig in St Paul where Bob D announced that Bob V was the best bloke he'd ever been on stage with before playing "Suzie Baby" in tribute.
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