7. The "Chirping" Crickets - Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
What? No Peggy Sue? Bummer.
That came later. This is the debut album from Buddy Holly; the big track on this one was "That'll be the Day" a Billboard #1 in 1957. Also making a strong showing was "Oh Boy". The twangy voice and guitar sound are precursors to the country rock that came a little later. The ubiquitous background vocals are tight and add depth to the sound. As part of his legacy, Holly is credited with popularizing the lineup of guitars, bass and drums that we are so familiar with today.
The songs are classics, likely given a boost by the singers unfortunate, untimely death. As is well known, Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper were killed when their chartered plane crashed into an Iowa farmer's field en route to the following night's concert. The moment is immortalized in Don McLean's song American Pie. "The Day the Music Died". The symbolic end of innocence for America. The image of 1950's teens leaving the Surf Ballroom overjoyed at seeing three up and coming acts all together on stage, only to awake the next morning to find that their world had changed forever. Imagine a plane going down in 1992 with Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain on board. I'm not sure that is an accurate comparison, but it would have gotten people's attention, that much is certain.
The pilot of the charter had failed a recent IFR check ride, and was allegedly unused to the specific equipment on board the plane in use that night. Therefore, not surprisingly, once he lost spatial reference to the ground he became disoriented and the flight crashed shortly after departure.This is the same experience that is surmised to have caused the crash that killed JFK Jr. The plane only held the pilot and the three passengers; the rest of the musicians were aboard the hated bus, heading to Fargo; so the poor promoter in Iowa had to get up from the table where he was counting out the profits from the performance, and go to identify the bodies.
Apparently, Waylon Jennings was the bass player for the tour, and had been talked out of his seat on the plane by the Big Bopper, who had the flu from the wintry ride on the tour bus with no heat. Holly teased Jennings about not freezing to death on the bus, and Jennings told him he hoped the plane didn't crash. Ouch. Talk about wishing you could take some words back. Most importantly, if Jennings had gotten on the plane, we wouldn't have had the theme song from the Dukes of Hazzard. Close one.
The accident reports are readily available online, and it is some grisly reading. Apparently an instant death is a bonus in a small plane crash, severe head trauma seemed to be the recurring theme of the reports. Mr. Holly even had injuries to his scrotum. Man! I think anyone would be glad to be dead in that situation. Recently, in a bizarre end note to the crash, the son of the Big Bopper had his father exhumed, and examined to ensure that the crash was indeed the cause of his death. Apparently the body was found quite a distance from the wreckage and there was a handgun found nearby that belonged to Holly. Theories exist that he was trying to crawl away from the wreck. The examiner was certain the crash is what killed him, but it's an interesting angle. Maybe there was some shady business on the go? We'll never know for sure, but these events tend to get us jumping to conclusions.
One wonders if the trio of performers would have any relevance today if their flight had landed safely in Fargo. There are other artists that were involved with the beginnings of Rock and Roll that are rarely, if ever, played anymore. Would there have been Hollywood movies made if Buddy Holly and Richie Valens had gotten old? I'm guessing not. But being dead while one is relevant is an amazing marketing strategy. However, it has it's obvious downside. It's not for everyone.
The album itself takes about a half an hour to get through, the songs are all around two minutes in length. One thing that Holly did have going for him was the fact that he actually contributed to the songwriting. I believe this was the exception rather than the rule at the time. The songs are well crafted, and catchy. The Rolling Stones covered "Not Fade Away", and everybody knows "That'll Be the Day". I have to say though, that my favourite song on the album was "Maybe Baby". There is an episode of the Sopranos where Tony is singing that song. Ahh, Gandolfini again. The thread continues, as the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" was featured in the film True Romance. Around we go.
The album was ranked 421 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
That came later. This is the debut album from Buddy Holly; the big track on this one was "That'll be the Day" a Billboard #1 in 1957. Also making a strong showing was "Oh Boy". The twangy voice and guitar sound are precursors to the country rock that came a little later. The ubiquitous background vocals are tight and add depth to the sound. As part of his legacy, Holly is credited with popularizing the lineup of guitars, bass and drums that we are so familiar with today.
The songs are classics, likely given a boost by the singers unfortunate, untimely death. As is well known, Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper were killed when their chartered plane crashed into an Iowa farmer's field en route to the following night's concert. The moment is immortalized in Don McLean's song American Pie. "The Day the Music Died". The symbolic end of innocence for America. The image of 1950's teens leaving the Surf Ballroom overjoyed at seeing three up and coming acts all together on stage, only to awake the next morning to find that their world had changed forever. Imagine a plane going down in 1992 with Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain on board. I'm not sure that is an accurate comparison, but it would have gotten people's attention, that much is certain.
The pilot of the charter had failed a recent IFR check ride, and was allegedly unused to the specific equipment on board the plane in use that night. Therefore, not surprisingly, once he lost spatial reference to the ground he became disoriented and the flight crashed shortly after departure.This is the same experience that is surmised to have caused the crash that killed JFK Jr. The plane only held the pilot and the three passengers; the rest of the musicians were aboard the hated bus, heading to Fargo; so the poor promoter in Iowa had to get up from the table where he was counting out the profits from the performance, and go to identify the bodies.
Apparently, Waylon Jennings was the bass player for the tour, and had been talked out of his seat on the plane by the Big Bopper, who had the flu from the wintry ride on the tour bus with no heat. Holly teased Jennings about not freezing to death on the bus, and Jennings told him he hoped the plane didn't crash. Ouch. Talk about wishing you could take some words back. Most importantly, if Jennings had gotten on the plane, we wouldn't have had the theme song from the Dukes of Hazzard. Close one.
The accident reports are readily available online, and it is some grisly reading. Apparently an instant death is a bonus in a small plane crash, severe head trauma seemed to be the recurring theme of the reports. Mr. Holly even had injuries to his scrotum. Man! I think anyone would be glad to be dead in that situation. Recently, in a bizarre end note to the crash, the son of the Big Bopper had his father exhumed, and examined to ensure that the crash was indeed the cause of his death. Apparently the body was found quite a distance from the wreckage and there was a handgun found nearby that belonged to Holly. Theories exist that he was trying to crawl away from the wreck. The examiner was certain the crash is what killed him, but it's an interesting angle. Maybe there was some shady business on the go? We'll never know for sure, but these events tend to get us jumping to conclusions.
One wonders if the trio of performers would have any relevance today if their flight had landed safely in Fargo. There are other artists that were involved with the beginnings of Rock and Roll that are rarely, if ever, played anymore. Would there have been Hollywood movies made if Buddy Holly and Richie Valens had gotten old? I'm guessing not. But being dead while one is relevant is an amazing marketing strategy. However, it has it's obvious downside. It's not for everyone.
The album itself takes about a half an hour to get through, the songs are all around two minutes in length. One thing that Holly did have going for him was the fact that he actually contributed to the songwriting. I believe this was the exception rather than the rule at the time. The songs are well crafted, and catchy. The Rolling Stones covered "Not Fade Away", and everybody knows "That'll Be the Day". I have to say though, that my favourite song on the album was "Maybe Baby". There is an episode of the Sopranos where Tony is singing that song. Ahh, Gandolfini again. The thread continues, as the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" was featured in the film True Romance. Around we go.
The album was ranked 421 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Buy it here.
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