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.
Yesterday and You
Bobby Vee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And listen to the jukebox play
Remindin' me of yesterday and you
Each moment was a valentine
You promised you'd be always mine
And I believed the words you said were true
I see your face, it's everywhere
Remindin' me of things we used to do
I wonder what your heart is sayin'
When you hear a jukebox playin'
The song that brings me yesterday and you
I wonder what your heart is sayin'
When you hear a jukebox playin'
The song that brings me yesterday and you
I sit alone in this cafe
I see your face, it's everywhere
The above lyrics are from the song "Yesterday and You," originally performed by Bobby Vee in 1972. The song is about the pain and nostalgia of lost love. The singer is sitting alone in a cafe, listening to the jukebox play songs that remind him of his past relationship. Each moment with his former partner was like a valentine, and she promised to always be his. However, those promises turned out to be false, and now he is left alone with the memories.
Throughout the song, the singer wonders what his former partner is doing and feeling when she hears the same songs. The memories are everywhere, and even when he closes his eyes, he can't escape them. The song speaks to the universal experience of heartbreak and the inability to let go of the past.
Overall, "Yesterday and You" is a melancholy yet relatable song about lost love and the pain that comes with it. The lyrics and melody work together to create a sense of longing and heartbreak that resonates with many listeners.
Line by Line Meaning
I sit alone in this cafe
I am sitting all by myself in this café.
And listen to the jukebox play
I can hear the jukebox playing music.
Remindin' me of yesterday and you
The music is taking me back to the past, the days when you and I were together.
Each moment was a valentine
Each moment that we spent together felt like Valentine's Day - loving and special.
You promised you'd be always mine
You promised me that you would always be mine and by my side.
And I believed the words you said were true
I trusted and believed every word you said to me.
I see your face, it's everywhere
I am reminded of your face, it seems like it's all around me.
I close my eyes, but you're still there
Even when I close my eyes, I can't seem to escape the memory of you.
Remindin' me of things we used to do
The memories of you remind me of all the things we used to do together.
I wonder what your heart is sayin'
I am curious about what you are feeling in your heart.
When you hear a jukebox playin'
When you hear music playing from a jukebox.
The song that brings me yesterday and you
The song that takes me back to the memories of you and me, the past.
I wonder what your heart is sayin'
I am still curious about what you are feeling in your heart.
When you hear a jukebox playin'
When you hear music playing from a jukebox.
The song that brings me yesterday and you
The song that takes me back to the memories of you and me, the past.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ROSS BAGDASARIAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Robin McGlasson
Great song!!!!
Condy Love
I love this
Daniel Burns
this song only went to #55 on the pop charts in 1963!!!
Shaheen J. Dibai
“Hey, Bobby? If you don’t mind, we’re gonna turn you into Wayne Newton now. Thanks.”
James Marshall
Like it. Sinatra should have taken a shot at it.
Jeff Missinne
Bobby Vee felt the same way. When Ross Bagdasarian (David Seville) offered him the song, he thought "Me?? You should be pitching this to Sinatra!"
Leah Sincelejo
Writer by Ross Sipan Bagdasarian (original creator of the Chipmunks before his son Ross Dickran Bagdasarian took it over)
mrob75
This was Bobby’s “Mack the Knife”.