OK, so I’ve done a few Bobby Vee records in the past.
If you think that I’ve done too many then the bad news for you is there is still a few I have lying around I have yet to listen to.
Most people will dismiss Bobby Vee because of his era and genre but his music has enough in it to be interesting.
Seriously.
If for no other reason his music is consistently listenable.
OK, so it’s not always inspired or inventive but there is enough going on to make it easily on the ear as well as a time capsule of another time. And, of course, a time capsule located in the mainstream not on the fringe.
This album, apparently, forms a transition as Vee starts to move outside his comfort zone and tries other material not normally associated with him.
Here he tackles four Motown songs. This is a misstep ….Vee had just produced some perfectly pitched sunshine pop with the “Come Back When You grow Up” (1967) and some convincing pop in “Look at Me Girl” (1966). To tackle classic Motown this late in the piece is a little odd.
That’s the bad news in relation to the soul songs. The good news is that vee has the smarts not to try to “out-soul” the Motown acts, he sings the songs straight, with a healthy dose of white pop and it works because he doesn’t have to justify himself or his vocals.
The other bad news is the other tracks are largely weak.
A pity because Vee can sing and is convincing as a pop singer.
Tracks (best in italics)
- Maybe Just Today – (Martha Sharp) – a slight song. A pity as Vee is in good voice.
- Get Ready – (Smokey Robinson) – Vee swings on this one. He captures the funk without ever pretending he’s Afro-American.
- Medley: My Girl/Hey Girl – (Gerry Goffin / Carole King / Smokey Robinson / Ronald White) – good songs but the result is only so-so. It could be a lot worse though.
- Just Keep It Up – (Otis Blackwell) – Very catchy though not very Otis Blackwell. Blackwell wrote a lot of tracks for Elvis.
- The Girl I Left Behind Me – (Bayer / Sedaka) – a good pop song…also done by Neil Sedaka and the Monkees.
- The Way You Do the Things You Do – (Smokey Robinson / Robert Rogers) – More soul ….
- Nobody’s Home to Go Home To – (Carole Bayer Sager / Toni Wine) – dull
- Sealed With a Kiss -(Gary Geld / Chris Udell) – an update of the type of song that made him famous in the early 60s (it was a big hit for Bryan Hyland in 1962, and Gary Lewis and the Playboys had a top 40 with it in 1968)
- Tiffany Rings – (Garry Bonner / Alan Gordon) – pop schmaltz but well done
- Beautiful People – (Kenny O’Dell) – sunshine pop and a winner. Fluffy, happy and “groovy” …the world can’t be a bad place, can it?.
And …
Not the best Vee but…. I’m keeping it, because I have the others.
Chart Action
US
Singles
1968 Maybe Just Today The Billboard Hot 100 #46
1968 My Girl/Hey Girl The Billboard Hot 100 #35
1967 Beautiful People The Billboard Hot 100 #37
Album
1968 The Billboard 200 #187
Singles
Album
Sounds
Maybe Just Today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3zxdiXP_rY
Medley: My Girl/Hey Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGy0g_JZ04s
Just Keep It Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUGIQnfynrc
The Girl I Left Behind Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bSEfH5LFgk
Sealed With a Kiss
Attached
Bobby Vee – Sealed with a Kiss
Beautiful People
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VumQl9iMtrg
Others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD7MHgskNwg
Review
http://www.allmusic.com/album/just-today-mw0000856469
Bio
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bobby-vee-p5750/biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Vee
Website
Trivia
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