Buddy Holly (CD - 1958)

Personnel: Buddy Holly (vocals, guitar); Al Caiola, Donald Arnone, Niki Sullivan, George Barnes, Al Chernet (guitar); Sam Taylor (tenor saxophone); Norman Petty (piano, organ, celeste); Vi Petty, Ernest Hayes, C.W. Kendall, Jr. (piano); Joe B. Mauldin, Sanford Bach (bass); Panama Francis, Phillip Kraus, Jerry Allison (drums); The Helen Way Singers.

Producers: Norman Petty, Dick Jacobs, Bob Thiele.

Recorded at Norman Petty Studios, Clovis, New Mexico and Bell Sound Studios, New York, New York between 1957 & 1958. Originally released as Coral Records (57210). Includes liner notes by Bill Dahl.

This is part of "Rock 'N' Roll 50th Anniversary" series.

When Buddy Holly & the Crickets broke through nationally in 1957, they were marketed by Decca Records as two different acts whose records were released on two different Decca subsidiaries -- Brunswick for Crickets records, Coral for Holly records. But there was no real musical distinction between the two, except perhaps that the "Crickets" sides had more prominent backup vocals. Nevertheless, coming three months after The "Chirping" Crickets, this was the debut album credited to Buddy Holly. It featured Holly's Top Ten single "Peggy Sue" plus several songs that have turned out to be standards: "I'm Gonna Love You Too," "Listen to Me," "Everyday," "Words of Love," and "Rave On." The rest of the 12 tracks weren't as distinctive, though Holly's takes on such rock & roll hits as "Ready Teddy" and "You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)" provide an interesting contrast with the more familiar versions by Elvis Presley. This was the final new album featuring Holly to be released during his lifetime. Every subsequent album was an archival or posthumous collection. ~ William Ruhlmann

This 1958 release is one of the first indisputably great rock albums. Holly's range here still impresses; he's equally fluent with rockabilly (or at least, his own highly original take on it, as witness "Rave On" and "I'm Gonna Love You, Too"), R&B (a cover of Little Richard's "Ready Teddy" that has, as they used to say, the real gone spirit), and even a sort of riff-driven folk rock ("Words of Love") that presages power pop. Meanwhile, the instantly recognizable "Peggy Sue" (echo and hiccups) and "Everyday" (wistful melody, haunting celeste accompaniment) remain among the most perfectly crafted singles ever made. minimize