Search - Bobby Vinton :: Take Good Care of My Baby / I Love How You Love Me

A pair of easy listening albums from Bobby Vinton in 1968

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 04/13/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Bobby Vinton was on his way to being THE crooner of the Sixties and when 1964 began he had his third #1 hit with "There! I've Said it Again!" The next thing he knew the Beatles exploded on the American music scene and took over the Billboard charts for the next fourteen weeks with three different songs. From that point on Vinton had just a final #1 hit ("Mr. Lonely") as the face of pop music was changed forever. Combined on this CD are a pair of albums from 1968 and what would be the later period of Vinton's career.



"Take Good Care of My Baby" only made it to #164 on the Billboard album chart. The title track, written by Goffin-King, is a remake of Bobby Vee's 1961 #1 hit (Vinton's version cracked the Top 35) and the other choice songs are his "Serenade of the Bells" and "To Be Alone," both of which are representative musically of the album as a whole. However, while Vinton is pleasant enough to listen to, this is not an album you would need to pick up if you wanted to go beyond a decent collection of his hits, because most of these songs, such as "To Think You've Chosen Me" and "Little Barefoot Boy" are just okay.



"I Love How You Love Me" followed "Take Good Care of My Baby" in 1968 on the Epic label and provides more of the same but has a few more recognizable tunes with "If I Didn't Care," "For Once in My Life," and "Save the Last Dance for Me." There is also another Goffin-King song, "Halfway to Paradise." The song that clearly suggests Vinton's time is passing is his cover of "Those Were the Days," the Mary Hopkins hit. Still, fans of his romantic tenor voice will find that both of these albums are fine as easy listening music. It is just that their popularity is not going to extend beyond Bobby Vinton's true fans."