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The best songwriters of all time (29): Buddy Holly
Chuck Berry described the teenage America, while the other great singer-songwriter of the fifties lived through with every fiber of his body. When Buddy Holly died in a plane crash at the age of 22 in 1959 at the age of 22, he had not even made records for two years.
But left a surprisingly extensive repertoire. On songs such as “That’ll be the day”, “Rave on”, “Everyday”, “Oh Boy”, “Peggy Sue” and “Not Fade Away”, his Kieksenders and the lively guitar with lyrics, which summed up the fear and hopes of American teenagers.
“That’ll be the day”:
After Holly first tried his luck as a country musician in Nashville, he moved back to Lubbock/Texas. With his new band, The Crickets, he drove from there to Clovis/New Mexico, where he recorded another version of “That’ll Be the Day” in the studio of producer Norman Petty (this time decaded a previous version), which this time climbed to the top of the billboard charts.
Even if Petty often appeared as a co-author at the credits, Holly was one of the first rock’n’roll singers who only wrote his material himself. And also had a significant impact on the Beatles and Stones in this regard.
The name “Beatles” was a summary of the “crickets”. And if you believe the legend, John Lennon only had a question when the Fab Four came to America for the first time and appeared there at the Ed Sullivan Show. “Is that the stage on which Buddy Holly played?”
John Mellencamp about Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly was a hillbilly from head to toe. I am very proud of that. So much of our musical heritage comes from rural areas. People always ask me: “Why do you stay in Indiana?” Why?
Because I have to. Almost every song, every sound we hear and which we emulate was created by a Hillbilly, born from the frustration, in a village where there is not much to do in the evening. This is one thing I love about Buddy Holly.
Buddy Holly was also one of the first big singer songwriters
Buddy Holly was also one of the first big singer songwriters. He wrote his own material, and in the end he also produced it. He came from the country and was able to address so many people in so many places. And he was one of the first to get away from the songs of the Tin Pan Alleley Fabrication and to communicate directly and honestly with his audience.