Bobby Vinton, Mr. Lonely | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 100th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Mr. Lonely” by Bobby Vinton. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 100^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Mr. Lonely” performed by Bobby Vinton.

“Lonely, I’m Mr. Lonely / I have nobody for my own.” “Mr. Lonely” by Bobby Vinton was originally recorded in 1962. It didn’t become a hit until 1964 – let that sink in.  Although “Mr. Lonely” appeared on his 1962 album, Roses Are Red, it was not released as a single [Roses Are Red is an album that is difficult to come by in the U.S.]. That was not the choice of Vinton but rather, the record label.  That always seems to happen frequently… Vinton penned the eventual, beloved classic with Gene Allan. In 1964, reprised on the album, Mr. Lonely, “Mr. Lonely” reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1964. It marked the fourth and final no. 1 hit for Vinton.  Record labels – listen and have faith more faith in your artists! Buddy Greco, who released “Mr. Lonely” as a single before Vinton in ‘62, peaked modestly at no. 64. Yikes!

“Mr. Lonely” is one of Vinton’s best hits. The theme is straightforward. Bobby is lonely.  Why is he so lonely? “Now I’m a soldier, a lonely soldier,” he sings, adding, “Away from home through no wish of my own.” He misses home while completing service in the U.S. Army.  He sings about loneliness and longing for home expressively with his smooth tenor and ripe falsetto.  He’s backed by an orchestra which only sweetens this sincere, thoughtful ballad.  “Letters, never a letter / I get no letters  in the mail,” he sings in the second verse, adding, “I’ve been forgotten.” Aww, so sad 😭.  His sadness through song resonated in the 1960s and endures today. “Mr. Lonely” didn’t get its just due early on, but eventually earned the success it deserved initially.

Bobby Vinton // Roses Are Red // Salt & Pepper // 1962

Bobby Vinton, Mr. Lonely: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 100 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Salt & Pepper; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]