Buddy Holly
| Charles Hardin Holley | |
| 250px | |
| Born | September 7 1936 Lubbock, Texas, USA |
|---|---|
| Died | February 3 1959 near Mason City, Iowa, USA |
| Occupation | Singer and songwriter |
| Spouse(s) | Maria Elena Holly |
Buddy Holly (September 7 1936 – February 3 1959), was the stage name of Charles Hardin Holley, American singer, songwriter, and pioneer of early Rock and Roll. Although his career spanned only a few short years, Holly’s remarkable innovation in the young genre was an enormous influence on the generations of rock musicians that would follow him.
Biography
Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas to Lawrence Odell Holley and Ella Pauline Drake, the youngest of four boys. The Holleys were a musical family and as a young boy, Holly learned to play the violin, piano and steel guitar to varying degrees, before settling on the acoustic guitar. While attending Hutchinson Jr. High School, he met Bob Montgomery, with whom he shared a common interest in music. Forming bands with other young musicians in the area, they performed together at whatever local venues they could find, eventually earning their own Sunday night show on local radio station, KDAV, the first all-country radio station in the country.
Holly initially played fairly straightforward country music but incorporated more and more R&B elements into his music as time went on; he was already moving towards the synthesis of musical styles that would define early rock and roll when he attended an Elvis Prestley concert in Lubbock in early 1955. By all accounts, the event made a huge impact on Holly, who was taken with Elvis’ charisma and particularly with his energetic, exciting new sound.
By this point, Holly and Montgomery were being chosen by KDAV to open for touring acts who came into town. Holly's transition to rock was finalized when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets at a local rock show organized by Eddie Crandall, who was also the manager for Marty Robbins. As a result of this performance, Holly was offered a contract with Decca Records to work alone, which he accepted. According to the Amburn book (p.45), his public name changed from "Holley" to "Holly" on February 8, 1956, when he signed the Decca contract.
In 1956, Holly recorded a dozen tracks or so of country music for Decca in Nashville, backed by studio musicians. The music was, despite several quality tracks, generally uninspired, and an ill-fit for Holly, whose musical trajectory already lay outside of the confines of traditional country music. Unsurprisingly, the sessions and the singles that resulted from them were unsuccessful.
Undeterred, Holly returned to Lubbock to refocus his efforts. He formed his own backing band, "The Crickets", and began making records at the studio of musician and record producer Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico. Among the songs they recorded was what became the hit version of "That'll Be the Day" (whose title was inspired by a John Wayne line from The Searchers). Perry became Holly’s producer and manager, signing him to Coral Records under Holly’s name. He had music industry contacts, and believing that "That'll Be the Day" would be a hit single, he contacted publishers and labels. Brunswick Records, ironically a subsidiary of Decca, signed The Crickets, and released “That’ll Be the Day” (in order to avoid potential trouble with Decca, which owned the rights to the song under Holly’s name).
“That’ll Be the Day” was released in June 1957, and after a slow start, became Buddy’s first major hit (reaching #1 on the pop charts and #2 on the R&B charts by September). To this day it is arguably his signature song. The song is undeniably rock and roll, highlighted by Holly’s always charismatic, hiccuping vocals, and an inspired instrumental performance that draws equally from country harmony and R&B strut (and even showcases a lively guitar solo from Holly).
Holly and the Crickets toured around the country throughout the second half of 1957 in support of their hit record. Meanwhile, several successful follow-up singles were released, including “Oh Boy” and “Peggy Sue”. The latter was particularly notable for its drumbeat, a continuous rumble played completely in “paradiddles” (a type of drum sticking pattern).
In early 1958, Holly went overseas, touring in Australia and the United Kingdom, where he was especially popular, and was to be enormously influential on a generation of budding musicians, John Lennon and Paul McCartney included. Back in the United States, he continued to have success releasing records both under his own name and with the Crickets, and stayed extremely busy touring and recording throughout the year.
1958 was an eventful year in Holly’s personal life as well. During a June trip to visit his music publisher in New York, Holly met Maria Elena Santiago. He proposed the day he met her, and was married in August.
By this time Holly had become more familiar with the workings of the music industry. Suspicious of manager Norman Perry’s financial dealings, and determined to take more control over his business concerns, Holly split with Perry in November. The rest of the Crickets elected to retain Perry as their manager, leaving Holly to work solely as a solo act. He moved to Greenwich Village in New York City with Maria, and began preparations for the next phase of his career.
Death
Holly’s musicianship and style had continued to develop at a remarkable rate through the end of 1958, perhaps ahead of the tastes of his listeners. His later singles weren’t selling as well as earlier hits, and though his break with Perry gave him additional creative freedom, it perhaps produced financial pressure as well.
As a way to generate some income in that transitional time, Holly formed a new backing group and committed to a three-week tour of the Midwest dubbed the “Winter Dance Party.” Accompanying him on the tour were young Latino rocker Ritchie Valens, disc jockey J.P. Richardson (better known as the Big Bopper), and doo-wop trio Dion and the Belmonts.
Holly and company had battled subzero temperatures and transportation problems for more than a week when they rolled into Clear Lake, Iowa on February 2nd and played a show at the Surf Ballroom. Frustrated by issues with the tour bus, Holly chartered a small plane to fly him and his bandmates to the next venue shortly after the show. However, after a little prodding and a coin toss, bassist Waylon Jennings and guitarist Tommy Allsup surrendered their seats to Richardson and Valens. Less than five minutes after take off, no more than six miles northwest of Clear Lake, their plane crashed into a barren field, killing pilot and all three passengers instantly.
Legacy
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Buddy Holly: A Biography, by Ellis Amburn, St. Martin's - Griffin, 1995 ISBN 0-312-14557-8
External links
- Official Web Site
- Buddy Holly Online
- International Buddy Site
- Find A Grave Entry
- Day the Music Died; Info on crash, Coroner's Report etc.
- Geocaching - nearly 100 photos of crash site and logs of visits
- Buddy Holly at Last.fm
- Buddy Holly at MusicBrainz
- The Buddy Holly Recordings by Terry R. Shaw
- Buddy Holly Picture Gallery 100 photos, including childhood and wedding images
- Entry at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website
- Buddy Holly at Rollingstone
castegory:biography
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