Bobby Vee - Bobby Vee with Strings and Things

As with most rock & roll albums of the period, With Strings And Things is a mixed bag stylistically. Bobby Vee was a serious rock & roller, as exhibited on the exceptional rendition of Buddy Holly's "Love's Made a Fool of You" featured here, and the bluesy version of "Susie-Q." But as with most white rock & rollers at the turn of the '50s into the '60s, he was also expected to shoot for a more mature sound, and that's mostly where the strings and things enter into this recording, on a pumped-up, beat-driven rendition of "Baby Face" and pure teen pop versions of "Light Infatuation" and "Tears on My Pillow." They're not bad for what they are, and even that's not an insult -- cuts like that (especially the last one) you were supposed to dance to up close. Read More