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I Love You The Way You Are - Bobby Vinton
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Paul C View Drop Down
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Points: 10 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Paul C Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 November 2006 at 7:21am
Fred Bronson's The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits (which I'll acknowledge is at times more entertaining than accurate) claims that Vinton recorded 'Mr. Lonely' in 1962 at the same session that produced 'Roses Are Red'. (If Bronson's account is correct, then Vinton recorded the song first.) Bronson quotes Vinton as saying, "I'm driving in my car one day listening to the radio, and I hear 'Mr. Lonely' the way I wrote it and arranged it, but it wasn't my voice, it was his. So I called Epic Records and said , 'That's my song, it should be the follow-up to 'Roses Are Red'. And they said, 'Come on, you're not really a singer and he is. You're hot now, but this song could kick off a new artist.'" (Curiously, Bronson never mentions Greco by name, saying only "'Mr. Lonely' was not a hit for this unnamed artist." Greco was also not a 'new artist', as he had been recording for at least 15 years. I have the 78 of his only Top 40 hit, 1951's 'I Ran All The Way Home'.)

When Vinton needed one more song for his Greatest Hits album (he had 11 and needed one more), he chose 'Mr. Lonely', which then started getting airplay which forced its release as a single. What Bronson doesn't say is whether Vinton re-recorded the song for Greatest Hits or whether the original 1962 recording was used.
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jimct View Drop Down
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Points: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jimct Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 November 2006 at 2:15pm
Paul: Thanks for the additional info - some of it checks out. Vinton is, in fact, the "Mr. Lonely" co-writer (with someone named G. Allen), and it does in fact appear on his "Roses Are Red" LP, which debuted on Billboard on 8-4-62. The Greco 45 debuted on Billboard 7 weeks later, on 9-22-62, so it is logical that Vinton's version quite possibly existed first, especially since he co-wrote it. Bronson quotes Vinton as saying, "I heard Mr. Lonely on the radio the way I wrote and arranged it." That jives with statements Vinton also made during that live interview I heard. Why, then, is Robert Mersey listed as the arranger on both of the "Mr. Lonely" 45s? But, at least this close timeframe certainly makes it more reasonable that the session music track tapes were indeed available to be accessed for both the Vinton & Greco recordings, as opposed to a 2-year, '62-to-'64 gap. On Vinton's "Mr. Lonely" 45, it does clearly state that the song is included on the "Bobby Vinton's Greatest Hits" album. Both this LP and his 45 initially charted in October 1964. To address another point you make, Paul, not having the 1962 "Roses Are Red" LP, I cannot confirm whether or not that exact "Mr. Lonely" version again appeared on the Hits LP/45 release, or if it was re-recorded/remixed for 1964 inclusion. That Epic still didn't truly think of Vinton as a singer, even after "Roses Are Red" hit #1, is 100% consistent with the reference information I have. It appears Bronson was pretty accurate in this case. Thanks, Paul - you really helped to fill in some gaps. Man, this turned out to be a tough one to try to get to the bottom of!
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jimct View Drop Down
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Points: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jimct Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 December 2008 at 11:34pm
Originally posted by Todd Ireland Todd Ireland wrote:

As for Vinton's "I Love the Way You Are", it sadly appears that the only hope we may ever have of seeing the original hit recording on CD would be in the form of a "needle drop" (vinyl dub).
Todd, my commercial 45, confirmed as Diamond 121, has a listed time of (2:34), but an actual time of (2:48). I have just carefully listened to both my original 45, and the mono CD version I have just picked up on the import "The Golden Age Of American Popular Music, Volume 2" (Ace UK CDCHD 1191). This CD version also clocks in at exactly (2:48), and to my ears the two sources feature the exact same recording. Perhaps the Diamond 45 master was sold/released/archived by a UK major label in 1962, as was so often the case during these years. And, not surprisingly, the sound of the song on this CD is a million times better than what's found on my 45, so it looks like good news here, Todd!
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TomDiehl1 View Drop Down
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Points: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TomDiehl1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 December 2008 at 10:40am
Indeed there was a UK Stateside (Or maybe they were still using Top Rank at the time) pressing of the 45, the master of which was a direct copy of Diamond's master, so that was what was used for the ACE cd. Ditto goes for Ronnie Dove's Right Or Wrong on the same cd.

P.S. While they were able to access the tape in the UK vault while researching other tunes, the song itself was licensed from Bobby Vinton directly, rather than through some record company.

Edited by TomDiehl1
Live in stereo.
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