TOMMY ROE- "BABY I LOVE YOU" ( W / LYRICS)

"Tommy Roe, born Thomas David Roe, on May 9, 1942, in Atlanta, Georgia, is an American pop music singer-songwriter. Roe, who is sometimes known as the "father of bubble-gum music." Over the course of his recording career, he sold more than 60 million records, including six Top 10 hits, and earned four Gold Records.

Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" (1962) and "Dizzy" (1969), critic Bill Dahl, who writes for the All Music website, states that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his career."

Roe was raised in Atlanta where he attended Brown High School. Influenced by the sounds of the late Buddy Holly, Roe developed a unique style that, combined with his all-American clean-cut image, made him a popular performer throughout the 1960s.

His first break came when, like Bobby Vee, he was asked to stand in for Buddy Holly one night, and a year later Roe recorded and released "Sheila" on the tiny Judd Records label in Atlanta. The record failed to attract any interest, but in 1962, Roe had signed a recording contract with ABC-Paramount Records who re-recorded and re-released the song. Roe then had a [Billboard] #1 hit record in the U.S. and Australia. Global sales finally qualified "Sheila" to be certified gold by the RIAA{1} in 1969.

The following year, 1963, scored a Top 10 hit with "Everybody," which reached #3. The critically acclaimed, "The Folk Singer," written by Merle Kilgore was also popular. However in March 1963, the U.K.'s music magazine, [NME,] reported that Roe and Chris Montez had been upstaged by both The Beatles and their fans on their 21 day long U.K. tour. The Beatles appeared in Northampton on 27 March 1963. Montez commented "Who are these guys, The Beatles? I try to keep up with the British scene, but I don't know their work." Following a more successful tour of the United Kingdom by his friend Roy Orbison, Roe toured there and then moved to England where he lived for several years.

In 1965, Roe and Jerry Lee Lewis combined with Orbison to create an album for the Pickwick International label. During the late 1960s, he had several more Top 40 hits, including 1966's, "Hooray for Hazel" (#6 in the U.S., #2 in Canada), and the self-penned, "Sweet Pea," (#8 in the U.S., #1 in Canada), which spent a little over 16 weeks in the U.S. Pop chart. Subsequent sales made this track his second million seller, with another belated gold disc award by RIAA in March 1969.

In 1969, his song, "Dizzy," went to #1 in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada. This trans-atlantic chart-topper sold two million copies by mid-April 1969, giving Roe his third gold disc.

His final Top 10 single, the co-penned, with Freddy Weller, "Jam Up Jelly Tight," was released in November 1969, and peaked at #8 in the U.S. with 14 weeks in the best-sellers. It also reached #5 in Canada. A big hit for the bubblegum devotees it sold a million copies by January 1970, generating the fourth gold record awarded by the RIAA.

A resident of Beverly Hills, California, Roe is married to Josette Banzet, an actress from France who won a [Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award] for her performance in the 1976 television mini-series, [Rich Man, Poor Man.]

In 1986, Roe was inducted into the [Georgia Music Hall of Fame] and his pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the [Rockabilly Hall of Fame.] Although his style of music declined in popularity with the music crowd of the 1970s, Roe maintained a following and continued to perform at a variety of concert venues, sometimes with 1960s nostalgia rock and rollers such as Freddy Cannon and Bobby Vee." (MP3 Lyrics)

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[rorigiles]

Logging in from Wellington, New Zealand. Tommy Roe is one of my all time favourite recording artists. This is not a bad track from Tommy but the Ronettes and Ramones versions are better. To be fair those versions have huge orchestral backings to them whereas Tommy was doing it solo. Great post though!

[rwells47]

@rorigiles- thanks for watching! Check out my youtube playlist- I have 64 Tommy Roe videos so far. Ron

[citybeat60]

Hey Ron, I didn't know Roe did this one. Another one of those tunes that used to be heard all the time, but are now forgotten (by me at least, lol). Thanks for this!

[rwells47]

@citybeat60- Alex,actually you probably heard the hit version by Andy Kim. This was done later by Tommy Roe. He does a very good job also!

[Planktontwo]

Remember this one quite well Ron, thank you for sharing it!

[rwells47]

@Planktontwo- you're welcome Lyndon!

[gallerigoetke]

Just love it :-)

[1BlubeTube]

I love seeing that abc label on the top of those 45s. That alone brings back so many memories.

[Johnnywasherefirst]

Thank you so much for posting this great tune!

[1BlubeTube]

This is his best.

[bingsfilms2009]

Baby, I love originally by the Ronettes.