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.
Lavender Blue
Bobby Vee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lavender green
If I were king, dilly, dilly
I'd need a queen
Who told me so, dilly, dilly
Who told me so?
I told myself, dilly, dilly
If your dilly, dilly heart
Feels a dilly, dilly way
And if you'll answer "yes"
In a pretty little church
On a dilly, dilly day
You'll be wed in a dilly, dilly dress of
Lavender blue, dilly, dilly
Lavender green
Then I'll be king, dilly, dilly
And you'll be my queen
The song firstly expresses a fanciful desire for a queen by the hypothetical king. The use of "dilly, dilly" is a playful refrain, adding an extra layer of whimsy to the lyrics. There's a childlike quality to the song, and the desire for a queen feels more like an innocent dream. However, the lyrics also suggest that the singer is not waiting for someone else to tell him what he wants, but instead he's empowered to make his own decisions. The refrain "Who told me so" that follows "If I were king, dilly, dilly, I'd need a queen" indicates that the singer is confident and assertive in his desires.
The song ultimately is a love song, encouraging the listener to embrace their feelings and pursue their beloved. The imagery of a "pretty little church" and a "dilly, dilly day" adds a romantic and idyllic quality to the whole affair. The lavender blue color mentioned multiple times throughout the song adds to the romanticism and whimsy. Overall, Lavender Blue is a lighthearted and joyful song about love and the power of following your heart.
Line by Line Meaning
Lavender blue, dilly, dilly
The singer is admiring the color lavender, using a childish nonsense phrase to add rhythm to the song.
Lavender green
The singer expresses his admiration for the color lavender again, except this time, he's referring to its greenish tint.
If I were king, dilly, dilly
The singer is expressing a hypothetical thought, wondering what he would do if he were king.
I'd need a queen
The singer acknowledges the inherent duty of a king to have a queen by his side.
Who told me so, dilly, dilly
The singer is asking who gave him the authority to think that he needs to have a queen as a king.
Who told me so?
The singer is questioning the traditional royal expectations of having a queen to be by the king's side.
I told myself, dilly, dilly
The singer realizes that no one has the authority to tell him how to feel, and that he is the only one who can decide who he wants as his queen.
I told me so
The singer is proud of himself for recognizing this fact.
If your dilly, dilly heart
The singer is addressing someone whose heart is feeling a certain way but is hesitant to express it.
Feels a dilly, dilly way
The singer is recognizing the importance of feeling a certain way, regardless of what others might say.
And if you'll answer "yes"
The singer is acknowledging the importance of following one's heart and being honest about one's feelings.
In a pretty little church
The singer is signaling that this hypothetical situation involves a traditional wedding ceremony.
On a dilly, dilly day
The singer is once again adding a playful and nonsensical phrase to express the joyfulness of the occasion.
You'll be wed in a dilly, dilly dress of
The singer is acknowledging the importance of dressing up for this special occasion, again using a playful phrase.
Lavender blue, dilly, dilly
The singer's choice of dress color further emphasizes his admiration for the color lavender.
Lavender green
The same idea as before - the singer loves lavender and all its variations.
Then I'll be king, dilly, dilly
The singer is expressing his excitement for this hypothetical situation - he will feel like a king with his queen by his side.
And you'll be my queen
The singer is acknowledging that the person addressed earlier will be the one he chooses to be his queen, once more emphasizing the power of following one's heart.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Eliot Daniel, Larry Morey
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
barrygioportmorien1
I don't think I ever heard Bobby's version before. Great version.RIP Bobby.
frankie3919
My dad and I have always danced to Lavender Blue since before I could even walk. I'm now 30 and we still dance to it if we're at his house and it comes on my daughter's CDs. We even danced to it at my wedding. Love you Daddy!
John Morris
"Lavender's Blue" (known today as "Lavender Blue") is a 17th century English folk song and nursery rhyme that was modernized by composer Eliot Daniel and lyricist Larry Morey for the 1949 Disney movie “So Dear to My Heart.” Sammy Turner’s version was released in 1959. Eliot Daniel wrote—among many other famous pieces—the theme for the TV program “I Love Lucy.” Larry Morey wrote the lyrics to some of the most successful songs in Disney films of the 1930s and 1940s, which included the 1937 Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” which included "Heigh-Ho," "Some Day My Prince Will Come,” an "Whistle While You Work,” as well as for adapting Felix Salten's book “Bambi, A Life in the Woods” into the 1942 Disney animated film "Bambi."
raincoatriver
I'm a Bobby Vee fan, but Sammy Turner owns this song.
VealParmigiana
Good version of this song. My favorite is Dinah Shore's version and my second favorite is Burl Ives' version.
Peter
this is cool :) i use to play this to my eldest when i was pregnant with him, he likes the song now apparently :) they dont make it like this anymore.
Nancy Pasquale
such a tender sound..he was such a super nice guy, glad I got to meet and hang out with him and his sons
Leandro Leoderio
Linda!!!
dboyfff
I by far like this 50's version...
bob linka
very good covers made bobby Vee of the rockin classics