Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Buddy Holly" - New World

**Charles Hardin Holley**
	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

Revision as of 07:21, 23 March 2007

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.

File:BUDDY HOLLY CRICKETS.jpg

"The Crickets": Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, Joe Mauldin, and Niki Sullivan

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.

File:HollyStatue.JPG

Buddy Holly statue in Lubbock

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.

File:HollyGrave850909.JPG

Buddy Holly's gravestone

Legacy

Fan-made monument at crash site

References
ISBN 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

http://www.rockabillyhall.com/BuddyHolly.html

http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/buddyholly.txt

castegory:biography

Credits

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@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 ==Biography==
-Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, [[Texas]] to Lawrence Odell Holley and Ella Pauline Drake. The Holleys were a musical family and as a young boy, Holley learned to play the violin (his brothers oiled the strings so much that no one could hear him play), piano and guitar. In the fall of 1949, he met Bob Montgomery at Hutchinson Jr. High School. They shared a common interest in music and soon teamed up as the duo "Buddy and Bob". Initially influenced by [[Bluegrass music|bluegrass]] music, they sang harmony duets at local clubs and high school talent shows.
+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 turned to rock music after seeing [[Elvis Presley]] sing live in Lubbock in early 1955. A few months later, he appeared on the same bill with Presley, also in Lubbock. 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. Among the tracks recorded for Decca was an early version of "That'll Be The Day," later recorded with the Crickets.
+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.
-Back in Lubbock, Holly formed his own band, "The Crickets", and began making records at Norman Petty's studios in Clovis, New Mexico. Among the songs they recorded was what became the hit version of "That'll Be the Day", which took its title from a phrase that [[John Wayne]]'s character said repeatedly in the 1956 film, ''The Searchers''. Norman had music industry contacts, and believing that "That'll Be the Day" would be a hit single, he contacted publishers and labels. Coral Records, a subsidiary of Decca, signed Buddy Holly and The Crickets. This put Buddy in the unusual position of having two record contracts at the same time. Before "That'll Be The Day" had its nationwide release and became a smash hit, Holly played lead guitar on the hit-single "Starlight", recorded in April 1957, featuring Jack Huddle. The initial, unsuccessful version of "That'll Be The Day" played more slowly and about half an octave higher than the hit version.
+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.
 [[Image:BUDDY HOLLY CRICKETS.jpg|thumb|300px|"The Crickets":  Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, Joe Mauldin, and Niki Sullivan]]
 <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Buddyhollycrickets.jpg|thumb|left|"The Crickets": Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly and Joe Mauldin]] —>
-Holly's music was sophisticated for its day, including the use of [[musical instrument|instruments]] considered novel for rock and roll, such as the [[celesta]] (heard on "Everyday"). Holly was an influential lead and rhythm [[guitar|guitarist]], notably on songs such as "Peggy Sue" and "Not Fade Away". While Holly could pump out boy-loves-girl songs with the best of his contemporaries, other songs featured more sophisticated lyrics and more complex harmonies and melodies than had previously appeared in the genre.
-Many of his songs feature a unique vocal "hiccup" technique, a clipped "uh" sound used to emphasize certain words in any given song, especially the rockers. Other singers have used a similar technique, though less obviously and consistently. An example is the start of the raucous "Rave On":  "Weh-UH-eh-UH-ell, the little things you say and do, make me want to be with you-UH-ou...". Or this, from "That'll Be the Day": "Well, you give me all your lovin' and your UH-turtle dovin'..."
+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.
-Holly also managed to bridge some of the racial divide that marked rock, notably winning over an all-black audience when accidentally booked at New York's Apollo Theater (though, unlike the fictional movie biography, it took several performances for audiences to be convinced of his talents).
+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).
-After the release of several, highly successful songs, in March 1958, he and the Crickets toured the United Kingdom.  Contrary to popular belief, teenagers [[John Lennon]] and [[Paul McCartney]] did not attend a concert of Buddy Holly's; they later cited Holly as a primary influence (their band's name, [[The Beatles]], was later chosen partly in homage to Holly's Crickets). The Beatles did a cover version of "Words of Love" that was an almost perfect reproduction of Holly's version. [[The Rolling Stones]] covered "Not Fade Away."
+“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).
-The rock group, "The Hollies", were conventionally thought to have been named in homage, and various rock and roll histories have asserted this as fact. According to the band's website, [http://www.hollies.co.uk/goldmineintro.html] although the group admired Buddy Holly (and years later produced an album covering some of his songs), their name was inspired primarily by the sprigs of [[holly]] in evidence around [[Christmas]] of 1962, when they re-formed their previous band (the Deltas) and had to come up with a new name. The site also admits to a degree of uncertainty about that story, so it is possible that they have disavowed any reference to Holly in order to avoid legal or copyright issues.
+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).
-Holly's personal style, more controlled and cerebral than [[Elvis Presley|Elvis]]' and more youthful and innovative than the [[country music|country and western]] stars of his day, would have an influence on [[youth culture]] on both sides of the Atlantic for decades to come, reflected particularly in the [[New Wave music|New Wave]] movement in artists such as [[Elvis Costello]] and Marshall Crenshaw (who portrayed Holly in the Richie Valens biopic ''La Bamba''), and earlier in folk rock bands like The Byrds and The Turtles.
+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.
-He married Maria Elena Santiago on August 15 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.
-In 1959, Holly split with the Crickets and began a solo tour with other notable performers, including Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper". One audience member at the tour stop in Duluth, Minnesota was a young Bobby Zimmerman, who would later become better known as [[Bob Dylan]].
 [[Image:HollyStatue.JPG|thumb|left|250px|Buddy Holly statue in Lubbock]]
 == Death ==
-Following the February 2, 1959 performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, Buddy Holly chartered a Beechcraft Bonanza to take him and his new Crickets band (Tommy Allsup and Waylon Jennings) to Fargo, North Dakota. Richardson came down with the [[influenza|flu]] and didn't feel comfortable on the bus, so Jennings gave his plane seat to him. Valens had never flown on a small plane and requested Allsup's seat. They flipped a coin, Valens called heads and won the toss. The four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza took off into a blinding snow storm and crashed into Albert Juhl's corn field several miles after takeoff at 1:05 A.M. The crash killed Holly, Valens, Richardson, and the 21-year-old pilot, Roger Peterson, leaving Holly's pregnant bride, Maria Elena Holly, a widow (she miscarried soon after).
-Although the crash received a good deal of local coverage, it was displaced in the national news by an accident that occurred the same day in New York City, when American Airlines Flight 320 crashed during an instrument landing approach at LaGuardia Airport. In that crash, 65 died and 8 survived.
+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.
-[[Image:HollyGrave850909.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Buddy Holly's gravestone]]
+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's funeral services were held at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas, and his body was interred in the City of Lubbock Cemetery.
+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.
-Holly's headstone carries the correct spelling of his name, Buddy Holley.  It also features a carving of his Fender Stratocaster guitar.  Downtown Lubbock has a "walk of fame" with plaques to various area artists such as Mac Davis and Waylon Jennings, with a life-size statue of Buddy, playing his Fender guitar, as its centerpiece.
-The tragic plane crash inspired Mike Berry & The Outlaws' single ''Tribute To Buddy Holly'' (1961), and singer Don McLean's popular 1971 ballad "American Pie", and immortalized February 3 as "The Day the Music Died". Contrary to popular myth, "American Pie" was ''not'' the name of the ill-fated plane.
+[[Image:HollyGrave850909.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Buddy Holly's gravestone]]
-The Surf Ballroom, a popular and old-fashioned dance hall that dates to the height of Big Band Era, continues to put on shows, notably an annual Buddy Holly tribute on the anniversary of his last performances.
-== Tributes ==
+== Legacy ==
 [[Image:HollyMonument.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Fan-made monument at crash site]]
-The dramatic arc of Holly's life story inspired a Hollywood biography ''The Buddy Holly Story'', for which actor Gary Busey received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Holly, as well as successful Broadway and West End musicals documenting his career. The West End musical, ''Buddy'', ran for seven years.  The movie, while entertaining, received wide criticism from the rock community for its wild inaccuracies.  This led Paul McCartney to produce and host his own tribute to Holly, titled "The Real Buddy Holly Story."  This authoritative video includes interviews with Keith Richards, Phil and Don Everly, Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison, Holly's family, and McCartney himself, among others.
-Buddy Holly is considered one of the founding fathers of rock 'n roll and one of its most influential. Although his career was cut short, his body of work is considered one of the best in rock music history and his music would influence not only many of his recording contemporaries, but also the future direction music would take. As one of the capstones of rock 'n' roll, Buddy influenced groups for decades.
-==Discography==
-{{details|Buddy Holly discography}}
 ==References==

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