Bobby Vee and The Shadows – The Early Rockin' Years

 

Bobby Vee's career began in the midst of tragedy. On February 3, 1959, "The Day the Music Died", three of the four headline acts in the line-up of the traveling Winter Dance Party, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper, were killed in the crash of a V-tailed 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane, along with the 21-year-old pilot, Roger Peterson. (Dion DiMucci, the fourth headliner, had opted to not travel on the plane.) It crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, en route to the next show on the tour itinerary, in Moorhead, Minnesota. Vee, then 15 years old, and a hastily assembled band of Fargo schoolboys (including his older brother Bill) calling themselves The Shadows, volunteered for and were given the job of filling in for Holly and his band at the Moorhead engagement. Their performance there was a success and started 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, he recalled Holly's influence on him and the events surrounding Holly's death, describing how he had looked forward to attending the concert, how the local radio station put out a call for local talent to fill after the disaster, and how Vee's recently organized group, modelled on Holly's style, had to make up a name (The Shadows) on the spot.

Vee became a star, and he performed regularly at Winter Dance Party memorial concerts in Clear Lake. His three sons, all musicians, performed with him there.

This 20 track compilation was released in 1995 on ERA Records..

Tracklist:

Flyin' High

Suzie Baby

Lonely Love

Love Must Have Passed Me By

It's Too Late

Laurie

Remember The Day

That'll Be The Day

Susie Q

White Silver Sands

Butterfly

Party Doll

Bye Bye Love

Wishing

Leave Me Alone

What'll I Do

Toy Soldier

Loco

Card Shark

Mindreader

Bobby Vee And The Shadows

The Shadows...The Original Chart Hits 1960-1980...plus other classic tracks

The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) are an English instrumental rock group. They were Cliff Richard's backing band from 1958 to 1968 and on numerous reunion tours, including 2020. They have had 69 UK chart singles from the 1950s to the 2000s, 35 credited to the Shadows and 34 to Cliff Richard and the Shadows. The group, who were in the forefront of the UK beat-group boom, were the first backing band to emerge as stars. As pioneers of the four-member instrumental format, the band consisted of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums. Their range covers pop, rock, surf rock and ballads with a jazz influence.

The core members from 1958 to 2015 were Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch. Along with the Fender guitar, another cornerstone of the Shadows sound was the Vox amplifier. The Shadows, with Cliff Richard, dominated British popular music in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the years before the Beatles. The Shadows' number one hits included "Apache", "Kon-Tiki", "Wonderful Land", "Foot Tapper" and "Dance On!". Although these and most of their best-remembered hits were instrumentals, the group also recorded occasional vocal numbers, and hit the UK top ten with the group-sung "Don't Make My Baby Blue" in 1965. Two other vocal songs by the Shadows also made the charts. They disbanded in 1968, but reunited in the 1970s for further commercial success.

The Shadows are the fifth most successful act in the UK singles chart, behind Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Cliff Richard and Madonna. The Shadows and Cliff Richard & the Shadows each have had four No. 1 selling EPs.

The Shadows 1

The Shadows 2

 

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