Live at the Copa

AMG Review of Live at the Copa

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

Anyone who had only known of Bobby Vinton through his hit singles of the early and mid-'60s, "Roses Are Red (My Love)," "Blue Velvet," "There! I've Said It Again," and the like, was in for a surprise upon encountering this live album, recorded on June 2-3, 1966, at the Copacabana nightclub in New York. Accompanied by the Dixieland band the Village Stompers (who were given time to perform their 1963 hit "Washington Square") and the house orchestra, Vinton bore very little resemblance to the soft, teary allad singer of his chart records. Instead, he was Mr. Show Biz, rousing the crowd by calling for singalongs, telling jokes, performing old standards and show tunes. This was a boisterous club set in an old-fashioned style showcasing an extroverted crowd pleaser. He did perform some of his hits, most of them in a medley, but he was just as likely to sing the 1922 novelty "The Sheik of Araby" (the opener) or the 1937 Andrews Sisters hit "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" (the encore). At the time the album was recorded, Vinton's early success as a singles artist appeared to be fading, and he may have been signaling that he was ready to make a transition into being an all-around adult entertainer instead of a teen idol. As it turned out, he got a second wind on the singles chart, but Live at the Copa nevertheless pointed a direction he would follow in later years, and it revealed a side of his talent that his allad hits had not hinted at.