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By the time these two LP's were released, Bobby Vee was a well-known commodity in pop music, known for his string of cheesy early '60's hits like "Devil Or Angel" and "Take Good Care of My Baby", among others.
Fast-forward to 1968...Vee had a big 1967 hit with "Come Back When You Grow Up", his biggest hit in several years, and a markedly different sound from his earlier hits. This gave him a new lease on life with his longtime label, Liberty, and led to the two albums featured here.
By and large, what Bobby Vee does on these two albums is blue-eyed soul. Granted, he's not a master of that musical sub-genre a la Bill Medley, but he does deliver the goods here. Vee's voice had matured and deepened by this point and that certainly adds to the enjoyment of the tracks.
Hit-wise, there are three minor hits featured: Bobby's medley of "My Girl/Hey Girl" (the Temptations and Freddie Scott hits combined), "Beautiful People" (a competing version of the Kenny O'Dell hit) and "Maybe Just Today". These are all on the "Just Today" LP. The second album, "Do What You Gotta Do", is largely covers of Motown songs ("Beauty Is Only Skin Deep", "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", the Smokey Robinson song "I Like It Like That", to name a couple), along with the title track (a Jimmy Webb tune also recorded by the Four Tops and Al Wilson) and a big surprise--Vee's version of a Northern soul rarity, Virginia Blakely's "Let Nobody Love You". Where he dug that one up is anyone's guess, but it needs to be heard to be believed...lest anyone think Bobby Vee lacked any kind of soul, here's Exhibit A that he had some up his sleeve.
All in all, I would say this is a worthwhile purchase...docked one star because I don't care much for his take on "Beautiful People" (his version competed on the charts with the far better version by writer Kenny O'Dell, reaching #37 while O'Dell could go no higher than #38). He may have been slightly past his prime, but Bobby Vee could still make interesting music at this point.
Spitzenrezensionen aus anderen Ländern
Richard Kimble
A Pleasant Surprise!
Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 23. März 2013
Robert Reynolds
Bobby Vee
Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 10. Dezember 2018Paul H. Fackler
Three Stars
Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 23. August 2017