Brief history of Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly’s career was cut short at the age of just 22 in a tragic plane crash. It is difficult to believe that he was only two years into his professional recording career, as by this time he had already recorded many classics which are still enjoyed by millions of music fans young and old today. Were it not for that tragic plane crash, who knows what Buddy would have gone on to achieve. Many of his close friends who are still with us belive that at the age of 72, Buddy Holly would still have been performing today. This is not beyond the realms of possibility given that two other popular acts of this era, The Everly Brothers and Simon and Garfunkel, were performing as recently as 2004.
Charles Hardin Holley was born on 7th September 1936 in Lubbock Texas. His stage name came from his nickname as a child “Buddy” and Holley became Holly after a printing error on one of his first records. Starting off his musical journey on the piano, it was not long before his quit this in favour of the guitar.
Buddy’s first musical project was a duo named Buddy and Bob, which he performed with his friend Bob Montgomery. He was later to form a band with three of his other friends, Jerry Allison, Niki Sullivan and Joe Maudlin and they were to become better known as the Crickets. Following the emergence of Elvis Presley, Buddy had decided that he wanted to pursue his career in rock and roll. Record labels had begun to notice the talent of the group, but were insistent that the group pursued their music in the style of country and western. First and foremost, Buddy was looking to get into the business for his love of music, rather than fame and fortune. Eventually the group’s persistence paid off when producer Norman Petty agreed to take on the group and they had a number one hit with That’ll Be The Day.
Although the success continued, the band and Buddy went their separate ways in 1958 as a result of disagreements. Buddy, with his new bride Maria Elena Santiago, moved to New York in order to continue his solo career. By this time, Buddy Holly and The Crickets were household names across the USA and in the United Kingdom and they had found success with hits such as Peggy Sue, Rave On and Oh Boy.
In 1959, Buddy embarked upon the Winter Dance Party as the headline act on a tour along with Richie Valens, JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Dion and The Belmonts to name but a few. Richie Valens, at just seventeen years of age, had found fame just seven months prior to the tour. His repertoire included his hit songs of Donna, Come On Let’s Go and La Bamba. JP Richardson had himself just found fame and was best known for his hit Chantilly Lace. The Winter of 1959 was bitterly cold and the musicians were plagued with heating problems on the tour bus and following a show at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Buddy decided to charter a plane to the next venue on the tour and Richie Valens and JP Richardson agreed to join him. Richie had “won” his seat on the aircraft in a coin toss with Tommy Allsup, who was in Buddy’s backing band. Shortly after the plane took off from Mason City Airport in the early hours of February 3rd 1959, it ran into difficulties and crashed, and three of the nations top rock and roll stars and their pilot Roger Peterson were killed. Don Maclean was later to refer to this as the day the music died, in his popular hit American Pie.
Following his death, Buddy’s music continued to live on and several of his songs continued to be released after his death. Many musical legends have listed Buddy Holly as one of their main influences, perhaps most notoriously the Beatles. Buddy’s career might have only lasted for 2 years, but Tuesday February 3rd 2009 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of his death and his influence remains strong today.