Search - Bobby Vinton :: Tell Me Why / Songs for Lonely Nights

A pair of Bobby Vinton albums fighting the British Invasion

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 06/17/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bobby Vinton was the crooner on the charts in the early Sixties and with his sentimental ballads was a throwback to the time before rock 'n' roll became the dominant musical form. In fact, when the Beatles exploded on the Billboard Charts in February 1964 it was Bobby Vinton's "There! I've Said it Again" that they bumped from the #1 spot with "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Of course it was 14 weeks and three Beatles songs later before anybody else took over the top spot again, and while Vinton did have his last #1 hit in December with "Mr. Lonely," the year ended with the Beatles' "I Feel Fine." Collected on this one CD are two albums from this period of Vinton's career, when he was selling albums but no longer enjoying the same sort of chart success. "Tell Me Why," released in 1964 made it to #31 while "Bobby Vinton Sings for Lonely Nights" came out a year later and only made it to #116. But you will still find three songs that made it to the Top 25 during the heights of the British Invasion: "Tell Me Why" (#13), "L-O-N-E-L-Y" (#22), and "Long Lonely Nights" (#17). None of these songs had the success of "Mr. Lonely," even if they obviously echoed the theme, but they are still examples of decent pop vocals from this period. Such songs never had the pathos of the celebrated saloon songs of Frank Sinatra, but Vinton was not playing in that ballpark. Still, "Tell Me Why/Sings for the Lonely Nights" is for the true Vinton aficionados since all three of the best songs are available on the original two-volume hits collection released in the Sixties (and the obvious starting point for the Vinton section of a music library)."