"Lonely for You" borrows a significant part of its melody from
Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe," but nevertheless became
Gary Stites' biggest hit and only Top 40 chart entry.
Stites' label, Carlton Records, followed up with a complete LP,
Lonely for You, in 1960, issued in mono and stereo editions. In addition to the hit title track, the album contains the minor hits "Starry Eyed" and "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," a cover of
Lloyd Price's 1952 R&B hit. The album tracks include the flip side of "Lonely for You" ("Shine That Ring") and a cover of
Faye Adams' 1953 R&B chart-topper, "Shake a Hand."
Stites proves himself adept at teen ballads ("Don't Wanna Say Goodbye"), rockers ("Chicken Shack"), and call-and-response party records ("Hey, Hey"), but doesn't establish much of a musical identity. He is a competent singer with a voice vaguely similar to
Johnny Tillotson, but is otherwise lacking a distinctive sound. Collectors with a fondness for the early-'60s "teen sound" will appreciate
Stites' well-executed recordings and formulaic songs, but it would be a stretch to argue that he created anything out of the ordinary. The Carlton tapes have been lost, so any reissues of
Stites' material will be mastered from vinyl. Buyers beware of a poor-quality "gray market" CD, also titled
Lonely for You, that contains 30 scratchy disc dubs.