Bobby Vee was born into a musical family in Fargo, North Dakota. His father Sidney played the violin and piano, his uncle played sax, and both of his two older brothers, Bill and Sidney, Jr., played guitar.

By the age of fifteen Bobby's musical career was already under way. "I played saxophone in the high school band," remembers Bobby, "but I wanted to rock out. We were playing all the standard band pieces and I wanted to do 'Yakety Yak'. My brother Bill went out and bought a guitar and I saved up enough money from my paper route to eventually buy a new (but sun faded) thirty dollar Harmony guitar for myself. We used to go to all the country music shows that came through the area and then would come home after and do our own version of the show in the living room of our small home in Fargo."

Before long Bill had become an excellent guitar player and began jamming with bass player Jim Stillman and drummer Bob Korum. Bobby tried every angle imaginable to join the group sessions, but Bill thought he was too young. "I kind of backed into the band. I used to make all kinds of deals with my brother to come along and practice. When he finally let me join him (if I would promise to keep quiet), I was aware that they didn't know any of the songs lyrically and I just happened to know them all. I was fifteen years old and my ears were glued to the radio. It didn't take long before I started singing the songs and they started rockin' along." Before long, Dick Dunkirk took Stillman's place on bass guitar and the "Shadows" became one of the top new bands in the area.

At this point, as the result of a tragic twist of fate, Bobby's story begins to take on a bitter sweet flavor. The date was February 3, 1959. A light plane carrying Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, The Big Bopper and 20 year old pilot Roger Peterson crashed in a snow covered Iowa field, killing everyone on board. Only minutes earlier they had finished their performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clearlake, Iowa and had rushed to the airport in nearby Mason City to catch the charter plane that was to bring them to their next engagement in Moorhead, Minnesota.

News of the tragedy traveled fast. People at the local radio station in Moorhead, like everyone, were in a state of shock. The rest of the tour had arrived by bus from Clearlake after a cold and snowy all night drive. A decision was made to continue on with the show. The promoters asked for local talent to help fill in that sad night and as the curtain came up that evening, a new voice was introduced to the world. A "fifteen year old" voice that knew all the words to all the songs – Bobby Vee. 

In the following thirty plus years Bobby would go on to place thirty-eight songs in the Billboard top 100 charts, six gold singles, fourteen top forty hits and two gold albums. But that night, instead of a seat in the audience Bobby and his brother Bill along with the "Shadows" took the stage in memory of three of rock 'n' roll's brightest stars.

Their first paying gig was on Valentine's Day 1959. They drove 45 miles in zero degree weather in a heaterless '51 Oldsmobile to play on benches that had been pushed together to form a makeshift stage. In the middle of the show the benches pulled apart and the amps smashed to the floor. Not exactly the kind of impact they were looking for. The band made $60, which any musician can tell you was damn good for a first gig in those days.

June 1st 1959, Bobby and the group went to Minneapolis, Minnesota to record a song for Soma Records that Bobby had written called "Susie Baby." By the end of the summer, "Susie Baby" had reached number one on all the local stations in the upper mid-west and major record companies were calling with interest in signing this new young singer. Bobby Vee and the Shadows signed with Liberty Records in the fall of '59 and the band continued on until 1963, when Bill left to pursue interests closer to home.

Late 1960, after a couple of songs had barely inched their way into the national charts, it appeared that Liberty was losing faith when a radio station in Pittsburgh began playing the back side of what might have been Bobby's last single. The song was "Devil or Angel." It had been a R&B hit a few years earlier by a group called The Clovers and was a favorite of Snuffy Garrett, the young producer responsible for signing Bobby to Liberty. 

Notable songs include ---

• Take Good Care of My Baby 
• Devil or Angel
• Run to Him
• Rubber Ball
• Come Back When You Grow Up
• Night Has a Thousand Eyes
• Stayin' In
• Sharing You
• Punish Her 
• Please Don't Ask About Barbara

The Bobby Vee may be available for your next special event!

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