According to Billboard magazine, he had 38 American Hot 100 chart hits, 10 of which hit the Top 20.
Vee was born in Fargo, North Dakota, to Sydney Ronald Velline and Saima Cecilia Tapanila. His first single, "Suzie Baby," was written by Vee with a nod to Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" and recorded for the Minneapolis-based Soma Records in 1959; it drew enough attention and chart action to be purchased by Liberty Records, who signed him later that year. His followup single, a cover of Adam Faith's UK number-one "What Do You Want?", charted in the lower reaches of the Billboard pop chart in early 1960. His fourth release, a revival of the Clovers' doo-wop ballad "Devil or Angel", brought him into the big time with U.S. buyers. His next single, "Rubber Ball", made him an international star.
Vee's 1961 summer release "Take Good Care of My Baby" went to number one on the Billboard U.S. listings and number three in the UK Singles Chart. Known primarily as a performer of Brill Building pop material, he went on to record a string of international hits in the 1960s, including "Devil or Angel" (U.S. number six), "Rubber Ball" (1961, U.S. number six, Australia number one), "More Than I Can Say" (1961, U.K. number four), "Run to Him" (1961, U.S. number two), "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (1963, U.S. number three), and "Come Back When You Grow Up" (U.S. number three). When Vee recorded "Come Back When You Grow Up" in 1967, he was joined by a band called the Strangers. He also recorded, in 1961, a version of the song "Lollipop", originally by Ronald & Ruby, which also became a success.
Vee was also a pioneer in the music video genre, appearing in several musical films, as well as in the Scopitone series of early film-and-music jukebox recordings.
He received the North Dakota Roughrider Award in 1999.
He is mentioned in the film No Direction Home regarding his brief musical association with Bob Dylan and Dylan's suggestion that he was "Bobby Vee" after Vee's regional hit.
The Very Best of Bobby Vee, released by EMI/UK on May 12, 2008, charted in the UK top five. On January 17, 2011, EMI/UK released Rarities, a double-CD package with 61 tracks, many of which were previously unreleased. Others included were alternate takes and first-time stereo releases as well as tracks from the album Bobby Vee Live on Tour minus the "canned" audience.
On March 28, 2011, he became the 235th inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In 2014 he was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame.
Vee's career began amid tragedy. On February 3, 1959, "The Day the Music Died", three of the four headline acts in the lineup of the traveling Winter Dance Party—Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper—were killed, along with the 21-year-old pilot, Roger Peterson, in the crash of a V-tailed 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane (Dion, the second headliner, opted not to travel on the plane). It crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, en route to the next show on the tour itinerary in Moorhead, Minnesota. Velline, then aged 15, and a hastily assembled band of Fargo schoolboys calling themselves the Shadows volunteered for and were given the unenviable job of filling in for Holly and his band at the Moorhead engagement. Their performance there was a success, setting in motion a chain of events that led to 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, Vee recalled Holly's influence on him and the events surrounding Holly's death:
Like so many other people, I became a Buddy Holly fan the very first time I heard him sing. I've been a fan ever since and I guess I always will be. I remember a few years ago when Buddy was scheduled to appear at a dance in my home town of Fargo, North Dakota. It was going to be a big event for the whole town, but even more so for me. I was anxiously looking forward to seeing Buddy in action.
The day he was to arrive disaster struck, taking Buddy's life, along with the lives of two other fine singers, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. The shocking news spread through Fargo very quickly. The local radio station broadcast a plea for local talent to entertain at the scheduled dance. About a week before this, I had just organized a vocal and instrumental group of five guys. Our style was modelled after Buddy's approach and we had been rehearsing with Buddy's hits in mind. When we heard the radio plea for talent, we went in and volunteered. We hadn't even named the group up to that time, so we gave ourselves a name on the spot, calling ourselves The Shadows. We appeared at the dance and were grateful to be enthusiastically accepted. Soon afterwards, I made my first record. It was called "Suzie Baby" and I was pretty lucky with it; it was a fair-sized hit.
For some time now, I have wanted to make an album in tribute to Buddy, but I wasn't sure it was the proper thing to do. However, during the past year, I have received many requests to do such an album. These requests came not only from my fans and from DJs, but also from Buddy's loyal following---still a large group of devoted fans. It.... gave me the confidence to do the album. From "Suzie Baby" to this present album, I have made many records, but I have never forgotten Buddy Holly and his influence on my singing style and my career.
Vee went on to become a bona fide star and regularly performed at the Winter Dance Party memorial concerts in Clear Lake. His sons are all musicians and have performed with him there.
Early in Vee's career, a musician named Elston Gunnn [sic] briefly toured with the band. "Gunnn", whose birth name was Robert Allen Zimmerman, later went on to fame as Bob Dylan.
Dylan's autobiography, Chronicles, Volume One, mentions Vee and provides complimentary details about their friendship, both professional and personal.
In a concert at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota, on July 10, 2013, Dylan said he had been on the stage with many stars, but that none of them were as meaningful as Vee. He said Vee was in the audience and then played Vee's hit "Suzie Baby" with emotion. Dylan said (in an audio recording of the concert),
Thank you everyone, thank you friends. I left here a while back, and since that time, I've played all over the world, with all kinds of people. And everybody from Mick Jagger to Madonna. And everybody in there in between. I've been on the stage with most of those people. But the most meaningful person I've ever been on the stage with, was a man who is here tonight, who used to sing a song called "Suzie Baby". I want to say that Bobby Vee is actually here tonight. Maybe you can show your appreciation with just a round of applause. So, we're gonna try to do this song, like I've done it with him before once or twice.
Vee and Karen Bergen were engaged July 1, 1963, and married December 28, 1963. They had four children: Jeffery Robert Velline (b. Jan 3, 1965), Thomas Paul Velline (b. October 25, 1966), Robert Bryon Velline (b. August 4, 1967), and Jennifer Joanne Velline (b. May 31, 1972). Karen died of kidney failure on August 3, 2015.
On April 29, 2012, Vee announced on his website that a year prior he had been diagnosed with an early stage of Alzheimer's disease and consequently would withdraw from the music business.
On October 24, 2016, Vee died in Rogers, Minnesota, from complications of early onset Alzheimer's disease.
Baby Face
Bobby Vee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm raving 'bout my baby now
Pretty little dimples here and dimples there
Don't want to live without her
I love her goodness knows
I wrote a song about her and here's the way it goes
Baby face, you've got the cutest little baby face
My poor heart is jumpin', you sure have started somethin'
Baby face, I'm up in heaven when I'm in your fond embrace
I didn't need a shove, 'cause I just fell in love
With your pretty baby face
When you were a baby not so long ago
You must have been the cutest thing
I can picture you at ev'ry baby show
Just winnin' ev'ry ribbon with your sweet baby way
Say, honest I ain't fibbin', you'd win 'em all today
Baby face, you've got the cutest little baby face
There's not another one could take your place, Baby face
My poor heart is jumpin', you sure have started somethin'
Baby face, I'm up in heaven when I'm in your fond embrace
I didn't need a shove, 'cause I just fell in love
With your pretty baby face
In Bobby Vee's "Baby Face," the singer is completely smitten with his significant other's physical features. He lists off her "rosy cheeks and turned up nose and curly hair" and "pretty little dimples" that he can't live without. Even as a baby, the singer imagines that his lover was the cutest thing around, winning every ribbon and award at baby shows. The song's chorus is dedicated to the titular feature that the singer adores so much: her "cutest little baby face." He can't imagine anyone else taking her place in his heart because he's completely head-over-heels for her.
As a whole, the song conveys a simplistic and innocent view of love. The singer might not be able to pinpoint exactly why he loves his girlfriend's face so much, but it's an intrinsic part of his feelings for her. The choice to include the reference to her being the cutest thing at baby shows, too, adds an endearing touch to the lyrics. The song is straightforward in its adoration, keeping to the theme of praising the little details that make love so captivating.
Line by Line Meaning
Rosy cheeks and turned up nose and curly hair
My baby has beautiful rosy cheeks, a cute turned up nose and curly hair
I'm raving 'bout my baby now
I am talking excitedly about my baby right now
Pretty little dimples here and dimples there
My baby has adorable dimples all over
Don't want to live without her
I cannot imagine living without my baby
I love her goodness knows
I definitely and truly love my baby
I wrote a song about her and here's the way it goes
I am singing a song that I wrote about my baby
Baby face, you've got the cutest little baby face
My baby has the most adorable face
There's not another one could take your place, Baby face
No one can replace my baby
My poor heart is jumpin', you sure have started somethin'
My heart beats fast because my baby has made me feel something amazing
Baby face, I'm up in heaven when I'm in your fond embrace
I feel like I am in heaven when I am holding my baby in my arms
I didn't need a shove, 'cause I just fell in love
I fell in love with my baby naturally without being forced
With your pretty baby face
My baby's face is really pretty
When you were a baby not so long ago
My baby was a baby just some time ago
You must have been the cutest thing
My baby must have been the cutest baby ever
I can picture you at ev'ry baby show
I can imagine my baby winning every baby show
Just winnin' ev'ry ribbon with your sweet baby way
My baby has a sweet way of winning every award
Say, honest I ain't fibbin', you'd win 'em all today
I am being honest, my baby would still win every single award today
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: Harry Akst, Benny Davis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
CarlDuke
Silly, but lots of fun doing a wild version of a Jolson classic.
Peter1999
this is ART
Barry I. Grauman
Exclusively seen on "film jukeboxes" in Europe (similar to the "Soundies" produced in the U.S. during the '40s, with more accent towards feminine "pulchritude"). This was originally released in 1966.
Allen Marsh
Shot on what looks like the most dismal June Gloom day of the year. Looks like those girls were freezing.
Richard Woods
Never liked Bobby Vee, but the girls are great!
Dejael Long
Bobby Vee had a baby face in this video! This tune was recorded in 1960, released in 1961, and this Scopitone music video (on damaged 16mm film) was made in 1965, filmed on Malibu Beach, California.
Joe Sampson
@ShaggyDawg it got to #2 in Australia.
aris95
This is really bizarre i'm sure 1965 this was out of fashion. But now we can watch Bobby Vee and the girls in colour because of the very late making of this media clip
ausfan100
That's INCORRECT, Vee recorded 'Baby Face' at a 6 song recording session which took place at United on March 17, 1961. The song was a #4 hit for him on the Australian Top 40 charts that same year.
Colin Sanders
it only got to #119 on Billboard