Track Listing

1. Roses Are Red (My Love)
2. Rain, Rain Go Away
3. Over the Mountain, Across the Sea
4. Blue on Blue
5. Blue Velvet
6. There! I've Said It Again
7. My Heart Belongs to Only You
8. Tell Me Why
9. Mr. Lonely
10. Long Lonely Nights
11. L-O-N-E-L-Y
12. Satin Pillows
13. Coming Home Soldier
14. Please Love Me Forever
15. Just as Much as Ever
16. Take Good Care of My Baby
17. Halfway to Paradise
18. I Love How You Love Me
19. To Know You Is to Love You
20. Days of Sand and Shovels
21. My Elusive Dreams
22. No Arms Can Ever Hold You
23. I'll Make You My Baby
24. Every Day of My Life
25. Sealed With a Kiss

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8050 in Music
• Released on: 2003-10-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Customer Reviews

Best Vinton comp so far
For a decade between 1962 and 1972, Bobby Vinton's easy going, unpretentious pop tunes climbed the charts over and over. Even more remarkable was his seamless presence on the charts in spite of the British Invasion, a watershed event that spelled the demise of so many established American pop idols and teenage superstar wanna-bes. There have been numerous collections of Vinton' recordings over the CD era but given the magnitude of his charted tunes, no collection has yet done it all. This new entry from Varese Vintage, while not able to be comprehensive in only a single-disc collection, does it better than any of its predecessors. Most of his biggest hits from his stint with Epic Records are here with the notable exception of "Clinging Vine", a top-20 tune from 1964. And, possibly in an acknowledgement that his earlier Epic recordings have been the focus of reissues in the past, this collection gathers up more of his later, if lower-charting, hits including one track, "I'll Make You My Baby", that made it only to the very outside edge (101) of the top 100 in 1971. While this effort to bring some previously unavailable tracks to the market is a definite plus here, the major letdown is the omission of any of Vinton's work for the ABC label in the mid-70's after parting ways with Epic. While the biggest of his ABC recordings, "My Melody Of Love" is available on CD, his other recordings of that era still languish in the vaults. Consequently, calling this piece "All Time Greatest Hits" just doesn't ring true when Vinton's top-3 "My Melody..." is shunned. That being said, for what it does cover, this piece is the best to come along, even when compared to multi-disc Vinton sets that are currently available. Sound quality is first-rate, all tracks are in stereo, and the liner notes booklet provides a career retrospective, albeit restricted for the most part, to Vinton's Epic recording years. Until a comprehensive multi-disc collection comes along, this is the best collection available on this pop icon of the 60's and 70's. In spite of the missing "My Melody Of Love", for those seeking to add that one Vinton CD to their library, this piece offers, by far, the most bang for the buck.

Good, but not the originals.
This is a great collection of his hit songs, but they are not the original final cuts. They are likely rerecordings from a later date. Personally I'm going to go and look for the real "mcCoy." For those who have an "ear" for the exact sounds of those 50s & 60s hits we loved in our youth, you'll notice the difference. If you don't crave perfection, this CD will suffice. bougie62@hotmail.com

+1/2 -- Generous collection of heartbreak and romance
Vinton's best known hits from the early `60s have become icons not only on Oldies Radio, but in films, commercials and elsewhere. "Roses Are Red (My Love)," "Blue On Blue," "Blue Velvet," "There! I've Said It Again" and "Mr. Lonely" are just a few of the great songs to which Vinton lent heartbreak and romance. Like a select few who came just before and after (e.g., Johnny Mathis, Bobby Rydell, Wayne Newton), Vinton thrived as a crooner in the rock `n' roll era. Especially impressive is that his success spanned across the Beatle-led British Invasion of the U.S. charts.

In addition to the chart-toppers, Vinton recorded a deep catalog of lesser-known hits and album tracks. He found both artistic and commercial success in reworking `60s hits like The Paris' Sisters' "I Love How You Love Me" and Brian Hyland's "Sealed With a Kiss," drawing out their tempos to magnify their emotion. His lush rendition of Goffin & King's "Halfway to Paradise" added a dash of Roy Orbison styled drama to Tony Orlando's original. It's surprising to note that several of the songs most closely associated with Vinton were actually covers: "Blue Velvet" was recorded by Tony Bennett in the early-50s, and "There! I've Said It Again" was a hit for Vaughn Monroe in the mid-40s.

The generously selected 25-song track songlist includes thirteen of Vinton's fourteen Top-20 singles, and a total of twenty-three Top-40s. Also included are a few lesser known, but equally interesting tracks, including a sweet cover of Johnny & Joe's "Over the Mountain (Across the Sea)," a Nashville Sound take of "My Elusive Dream," the Bobby Goldsboro-esque "The Days of Sand and Shovels," and Vinton's own "L-O-N-E-L-Y." Vinton's stint in the army not only resulted in "Mr. Lonely," but also the 1966 sequel, "Coming Home Soldier."

This is a superb collection of Vinton's most productive years at Epic, and the most complete such greatest hits disc on the market today. All of his major singles are here, except for 1964's "Clinging Vine," and his 1974 comeback on ABC, "My Melody of Love." The latter may be a casualty of inter-label licensing, but the omission of the former is mysterious. Sound quality is excellent, with finely produced true stereo throughout.

4-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings.