Bobby Vee (1943-2016): Midwestern Idol

Cropped image of a photo I had taken of myself and singer Bobby Vee in July 2001 following a concert in Red Wing, Minnesota. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bobby Vee was the typical post-Elvis, pre-Beatles teen idol of the early 1960s, singing pop tunes about teenage love and loss.  He was also proof that a kid from the Upper Midwest really could hit the big time with guitar in hand, just as Bob Dylan and Prince would do later on.

Born Robert Velline in Fargo, North Dakota, he got his big break as a 15-year old on a February night in 1959.  Unfortunately, that also happened to be the night when Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were supposed to be playing at a ballroom in nearby Moorhead, Minnesota.  They never got there.  The plane that they went on crashed in a cornfield in northern Iowa following a show there, leaving no survivors.

Vee and his band, The Shadows, were the emergency replacements, having heeded the call from a local radio station asking for volunteers.  It must have been a heck of a show.  Soon afterwards, Vee was signed to Liberty Records.

From 1959-1970, Vee's songs were on the Billboard Hot 100 charts 38 times.  His biggest hit was "Take Good Care of My Baby", which was co-written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King.  It ran four weeks at Number One in the fall of 1961.  His other hits?  "Devil or Angel", "Suzie Baby", "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes", "Rubber Ball", "Run to Him", and "Come back When You Grow Up".

Vee's influence spread to The Beatles, who recorded two of his songs in their early years.  He also helped launch Dylan's career, having briefly employed him as a piano player for his band.  Dylan has also been credited for coming up with the name "Bobby Vee".

After his hitmaking days were over, Vee and his family resided in the town of St. Joseph, Minnesota, where he set up his own recording studio.  He continued to tour and record until he was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2011, followed by his retirement.  Vee died Monday at age 73.

Bobby Vee's career began on what Don McLean's "American Pie" would memorialize as "the day the music died", which is inaccurate.  As long as there is music, Buddy Holly will always be remembered.  And so will Bobby Vee, one of Holly's biggest fans.