By the age of fifteen Bobby's musical career was already under way. "I played saxophone in the high school band," remembers Bobby, "but I wanted to rock out. We were playing all the standard band pieces and I wanted to do 'Yakety Yak'. My brother Bill went out and bought a guitar and I saved up enough money from my paper route to eventually buy a new (but sun faded) thirty dollar Harmony guitar for myself. We used to go to all the country music shows that came through the area and then would come home after and do our own version of the show in the living room of our small home in Fargo."
News of the tragedy traveled fast. People at the local radio station in Moorhead, like everyone, were in a state of shock. The rest of the tour had arrived by bus from Clearlake after a cold and snowy all night drive. A decision was made to continue on with the show. The promoters asked for local talent to help fill in that sad night and as the curtain came up that evening, a new voice was introduced to the world. A "fifteen year old" voice that knew all the words to all the songs – Bobby Vee.
Their first paying gig was on Valentine's Day 1959. They drove 45 miles in zero degree weather in a heaterless '51 Oldsmobile to play on benches that had been pushed together to form a makeshift stage. In the middle of the show the benches pulled apart and the amps smashed to the floor. Not exactly the kind of impact they were looking for. The band made $60, which any musician can tell you was damn good for a first gig in those days. June 1st 1959, Bobby and the group went to Minneapolis, Minnesota to
record a song for Soma Records that Bobby had written called "Susie
Baby." By the end of the summer, "Susie Baby" had reached
number one on all the local stations in the upper mid-west and major
record companies were calling with interest in signing this new young
singer. Bobby Vee and the Shadows signed with Liberty Records in
the fall of '59 and the band continued on until 1963, when Bill left to
pursue interests closer to home. Following the record's success in Pittsburgh, "Devil or Angel" went on to reach the top ten in city after city. By the end of 1960 it peaked at number 6 in the Billboard charts, as well as reaching the top 20 on the R & B charts. Liberty Records exercised its option and signed Bobby to a five year contract. If "Susie Baby" served as Bobby Vee's entrance into the world of Billboards hot 100, then "Devil or Angel" was certainly the foundation for a string of hit records reaching the nations top 20 throughout the entire 60's era. Bobby's hits were not limited to America. By 1963 he had collected seven top ten hits in England as well as a Number 2 album called "Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets." In 1963, he shared the charts for forty weeks side-by-side with the Beatles. His tours took him to Japan, Australia and Europe as well as the United Kingdom, where he is still a yearly visitor. Bobby Vee's thirty plus year recording career has produced more than twenty-five albums, including a Gold Album from England for his 1981 "Singles Album" release. Back in the U.S., Billboard Magazine called him, "One of the top ten most consistent chart makers ever." Into the nineties, the beat goes on. With the continuing demand for product by classic oriented radio stations and collectors alike, EMI/Cema issued a twenty-five song re-mastered compact disc and cassette as part of the Legendary Masters series. Late in the year, a re-issue of his 1962 Christmas album was made available. To coincide with his sold out 1990 tour of England, Bobby issued a 17 song collectors edition cassette called "U.K. Tour '90," on his own Rockhouse Record label. The tape, an anthology of sorts, included new material recorded with his sons, as well as several previously unreleased songs from past years. In 1994 critics and collectors gave great reviews to
his "Last Of The Great 'Rhythm' Guitar Players" CD. As
testimony to Bobby's high energy show and continued popularity, the
annual readers poll by sixties music magazine The Beat Goes On
voted him: 1991 Best American Act; 1992 Best Live Performer; 1993
Favorite Male Singer; and in 1994 he was named Runner Up to Paul
McCartney in the category of Most Accomplished Performer. Notable songs include ---
For booking information, click HERE!
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Richard De La Font Agency,
Inc.
Bobby
Vee was born into a musical family in Fargo, North Dakota. His
father Sidney played the violin and piano, his uncle played sax, and
both of his two older brothers, Bill and Sidney, Jr., played
guitar.
Before long Bill had become an excellent guitar player
and began jamming with bass player Jim Stillman and drummer Bob Korum.
Bobby tried every angle imaginable to join the group sessions, but Bill
thought he was too young. "I kind of backed into the band. I used
to make all kinds of deals with my brother to come along and practice.
When he finally let me join him (if I would promise to keep quiet), I
was aware that they didn't know any of the songs lyrically and I just
happened to know them all. I was fifteen years old and my ears were
glued to the radio. It didn't take long before I started singing the
songs and they started rockin' along." Before long, Dick Dunkirk
took Stillman's place on bass guitar and the "Shadows" became
one of the top new bands in the area.
At this point, as the result of a tragic twist of fate, Bobby's story
begins to take on a bitter sweet flavor. The date was February 3, 1959.
A light plane carrying Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, The Big Bopper and 20
year old pilot Roger Peterson crashed in a snow covered Iowa field,
killing everyone on board. Only minutes earlier they had finished their
performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clearlake, Iowa and had rushed to
the airport in nearby Mason City to catch the charter plane that was to
bring them to their next engagement in Moorhead, Minnesota.
In the following thirty plus years Bobby would
go on to place thirty-eight songs in the Billboard top 100 charts, six
gold singles, fourteen top forty hits and two gold albums. But that
night, instead of a seat in the audience Bobby and his brother Bill
along with the "Shadows" took the stage in memory of three of
rock 'n' roll's brightest stars.
