Buddy Holly

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture by Dennis Russell

As a songwriter, performer, and musician, Buddy Holly remains one of the most influential rock 'n' roll entertainers of all time. Artists such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Elton John, and Bruce Springsteen have all acknowledged Holly's influence on their music. His career was painfully short, lasting from September 1957--when "That'll Be the Day" became a chart-topping hit--to February 3, 1959--when Holly died in a tragic plane crash in Iowa. But, as Holly biographer Philip Norman has pointed out, in that short period of time, "he created a blueprint for enlightened rock stardom that every modern newcomer with any pretense at self-respect still aspires to follow."

Holly's musical legend is replete with many firsts. He was the first rock performer to insist on artistic control over his material. He was the first to write his own songs, and the first to arrange them and supervise his own studio sessions. He was the first to master the technical aspects of the recording business, achieving effects with echo, double-tracking, and overdubbing. He was the first rocker to eschew the "pretty boy" looks of most performers of the 1950s, adopting a more bookwormish look complete with black horn-rim glasses. In addition, he was the first rock performer capable of attracting a faithful male audience as much as a female one. Holly was only twenty-two years old when he died, but he left behind a legacy of songs that have steadily grown in stature and influence, making him one of the genuine legends of popular music.

Born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, Holly's musical influences included country and western music and rhythm and blues. At age five, Holly made his first appearance on stage, joining his brothers Larry and Travis in a talent contest that won them five dollars. During his childhood, Holly took lessons to play the guitar, violin, and piano, and taught himself boogie-woogie rhythms on the piano. At age twelve, he entertained friends with Hank Williams' songs, and in 1949 formed the Buddy and Bob bluegrass duo, with friend Bob Montgomery. During this period, Holly learned to play the banjo and the mandolin, and in 1949 he made his first recording--a song titled "My Two Timin' Woman"--on a home tape recorder. By 1952, Buddy and Bob had become a sensation in Lubbock, and they recorded two songs in Holly's home that year and another in 1953. Also in 1953, they performed on KDAV radio, added Larry Welborn on bass, and were given their own program, The Buddy and Bob Show. KDAV disc jockey "Hipockets" Duncan became the trio's manager, landing them shows in the West Texas area. The trio added fiddler Sonny Curtis and steel guitarist Don Guess to the group in 1954, and together they made recordings in the Lubbock and Wichita Falls studios. That year the group added drummer Jerry Allison and opened Texas concerts for Bill Haley and his Comets and Elvis Presley. Holly was intrigued by Presley's rock 'n' roll style, but continued to play country music.

Holly's group landed its first recording contract in December 1955 with Decca records. The band, now minus Montgomery, recorded four songs in a Nashville studio on January 26, 1956. From that session, Decca released "Blue Days, Black Nights," backed with "Love Me," under the name of Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes. However, by September 1956, Holly left Decca because of the label's insistence that he continue playing country music, and due to the loss of his band members because of differences with Decca's session men. In late 1956, Holly, Allison, and Welborn traveled to Clovis, New Mexico, where they recorded two songs at a local studio. After returning to Lubbock, Holly formed the Crickets with Allison and Wiki Sullivan, who played rhythm guitar. On February 25, 1957, they returned to Clovis and recorded the classic "That'll Be the Day," trading their country stylings for a definitive rock 'n' roll sound. Numerous record companies rejected the song until it was released by Brunswick Records in May 1957. With Clovis studio owner Norman Petty now their manager and Joe B. Mauldin having joined the group as bassist, "That'll Be the Day" received heavy promotion and reached number one by September 1957.

On the heels of the release of "That'll Be the Day," Buddy Holly and the Crickets spent three months touring the United States, playing such venues as the Apollo Theater in New York and Howard Theater in Washington, D.C. Holly's band recorded an impressive body of work in 1957, including such classics as "Words of Love," "Maybe Baby," "Not Fade Away," "Everybody," "Oh Boy," and the legendary "Peggy Sue." Holly was very experimental in the studio, and used a variety of new production techniques, including overdubbing vocals and double-tracking guitar parts. "Peggy Sue" reached number three on the charts in the United States and "Oh Boy" number ten during 1957. The group closed out this watershed year by appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show, an appearance they repeated in January 1958.