Recommendations of the Editorial team
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.
When I heard Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” for the first time, I was still a little boy. You may not know what it was like to be in 1957 or 58 nine years old. But I tell you that this song was a gift. All of this music somehow came out of nowhere – Memphis and Texas.
Buddy Holly – “Not Fade Away”:
I was in a band in the sixth grade and we played “Not Fade Away”. Only two chords, wonderful melody, beautiful message. I recently bought an iPod. And there they were again, the same songs that I have heard for the past 40 years. And they still sound as good as the first time.
It is a joke that he died at the age of 22. It tells you everything about how monster he was and how far his time ahead
Holly’s melodies and arrangements have strongly influenced the Beatles. When they came to America in 1964 and performed in the “Ed Sullivan Show”, John Lennon asked first: “Is that the stage on which Buddy Holly played?” Listen to the first three Beatles albums. Think the voices away – the rest is Buddy Holly. The same for the first two albums of the Rolling Stones.
Plate companies encourage young artists to copy. But nobody had pushed Holly in any direction. These were all just he and his instinct. The songs are great and some of them are only for a minute for 25 seconds. The magic that Buddy Holly radiated bordered a miracle. It is a joke that he died at the age of 22. It tells you everything about how monster he was and how far his time ahead.