The REAL Buddy Holly Story

[Stuco]

I'd never seen this before but I'm watching it now and it's definately a must see if your a fan. The Buddy Holly Story (movie) was great but it had lots of inaccuracies and this documentary clears the record. Here's the first segment:

[Jackson]

I have it on DVD. The Buddy Holly Story is so terrible, the story's wrong, the acting is wrong, I hate the way people always depict Buddy as a gangly nerd, the instruments are wrong, the clothes are wrong, it's overrated for sure.

The REAL Buddy Holly Story on the other hand is a solid documentary with some just amazing footage. It's easy to take for granted now with You Tube, but it used to be so hard to find the old TV clips of the 50s rockers.

I just love watching Buddy play those furious down strokes.

[yark14]

That is awesome. Thanks so much!

The crash site is here in my home state of Iowa. I've never been there yet. However, I plan on moving out of state in a few month and visiting Clear Lake this spring is near the top of my list of things to do before I move.

[Jackson]

You should go to the Buddy Holly Center if you ever swing into Lubbock, it's real cool. The giant eyeglasses are a hoot. Just don't get lost trying to find his grave, it can be hard to find. You can't just drive down 31st Street.

[Groovey Records]

A labor of True Love Ways for Paul.

MPL owns the entire Buddy Holly catalogue.

Thank you for sharing this great Doc

[Agave_Blue]

<------ Born in Lubbock.


Great post. Watched the whole thing on You Tube. Thanks for the link.

[rand z]

i met an old high school friend of jerry allisons last saturday. grew up in lubbock and graduated from lubbock high school 1955.

he said he knew buddy but, like most of their classmates, not all that well. apparently buddy kept to himself, quite a bit.

he also said that the buddy and the crickets used to practice in a local pizza shop, and that lubbock was a pretty wild place due to the ushering in of rock n roll. they all listened to rhythm n blues music, via black performers, much to the dismay of many parents. and, they also used to drag race and carry on a lot around the area. he told me his parents thought that all of the kids were going to h*

i learned all of this due to picking up on his accent... a texas accent. i think he said he was 71 years old (vietnam vet too). he also knew waylon, but not that well because waylon was from a town outside of lubbock and another school district.

it was interesting for me to talk to someone who knew these peeps, lubbock and the time period.

rand z

btw, i have no way to confirm anything he related to me except that his stories made sense in the context of the time period and characters.



os

[Eric Karonen]

When I was old enough to drink in bars, all the bands I saw covered Holly and Berry .. you couldn't beat the vibe, ie, the origins of good old rock and roll.

[Dave Hopping]

It was always a gas playing Holly/Crickets material,and even more fun throwing the Holly/Crickets instro from "It's So Easy" into the mix when lady singers would do the Ronstadt cover of that song.

INFO REQUEST:
Anybody know who played the solos on the Crickets version? I've heard it was Buddy himself,but I've also heard it was Sonny Curtis.

[BoogerRooger]

In the late '50s and early '60s all the bands in the UK, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones etc. wanted to sound like Buddy.

I read that the Beatles chose their name because they wanted an insect name after The Crickets.

Complete genius and hugely influential. A real shame he died so young.

[Stuco]

Thanks for all the great responses guys. Randy Z, what a cool story! BoogerRooger, I have also heard same thing about how the Beatles picked their name.

I have a couple questions for people who know more about Buddy Holly and who were around at the time.

1. I often read about how the people Lubbock basically shunned Buddy and the Crickets until years after he died. Is this true and if so, can you explain why? It's obvious why they now praise thier most famous son but that early period is what I'm interested in hearing about.

2. For those of you who were alive and rock n roll fans before and after Buddy died, what kind of impact did his death have on rock n roll and on you and people you knew at the time? Did he become suddenly even more popular or was he already a major figure in music as a whole (like Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis)? I realize that Rock was just another genre at the time rather than the prominant music form it became a few years later. How did he rank in popularity among the other pioneers of the time?

[Scott S]

Watching it now. Great stuff.

[Groovey Records]

I watched the whole ten this morning, loved it.

But they never covered why Niki Sullivan left the band

[diffeecult]

Originally Posted by Dave Hopping

It was always a gas playing Holly/Crickets material,and even more fun throwing the Holly/Crickets instro from "It's So Easy" into the mix when lady singers would do the Ronstadt cover of that song.

INFO REQUEST:
Anybody know who played the solos on the Crickets version? I've heard it was Buddy himself,but I've also heard it was Sonny Curtis.

It may have been Tommy Allsup.

[Groovey Records]

Is it possible the NY recordings would have Mickey Baker?

[RodeoTex]

I ran across this thread last night around midnight and it kept me up until 2 this morning. I'd seen almost none of that video.

Thanks for posting this Stuco.

[Agarn]

Thanks for sharing. watched all ten parts and loved it. the Sonny Curtis portions are terrific.

Speaking of Sonny, and in case you didn't know, he wrote this memorable theme song:

[Stuco]

And this one!

[maxout]

If you ever find yourself in lubbock texas and you need a guitar pick and the stores are closed go visit buddys grave. People have been leaveing picks there for years. I run into travis his brother ever once in a while he still makes and sells guitars.

[RodeoTex]

I forgot mention that a clip about Buddy's '58 Chevy was found in a junk yard, its still around. Watch for it in the related videos sidebar. Kinda cool.

[Dave Hopping]

Originally Posted by Stuco

Thanks for all the great responses guys. Randy Z, what a cool story! BoogerRooger, I have also heard same thing about how the Beatles picked their name.

I have a couple questions for people who know more about Buddy Holly and who were around at the time.

1. I often read about how the people Lubbock basically shunned Buddy and the Crickets until years after he died. Is this true and if so, can you explain why? It's obvious why they now praise thier most famous son but that early period is what I'm interested in hearing about.

2. For those of you who were alive and rock n roll fans before and after Buddy died, what kind of impact did his death have on rock n roll and on you and people you knew at the time? Did he become suddenly even more popular or was he already a major figure in music as a whole (like Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis)? I realize that Rock was just another genre at the time rather than the prominant music form it became a few years later. How did he rank in popularity among the other pioneers of the time?

Rock and roll didn't change a whole lot because of Buddy Holly's death.The event was certainly all over the news because Holly,Valens,and J.P. all died at once and all 3 had hits on the charts at the time.Holly's "It doesn't matter anymore" got quite a bounce after his death,but that tune didn't break any new ground musically,the way the Norman Petty-produced material did ( I heard a deejay refer to "That'll be the day" as music of the future when it came out).
But I think that the perception of rockers as cultural icons whose untimely demise deeply shocks the entire society did not begin until after the Kennedy/King asasssinations.JFK was the first "rock star" president,and his brother would have been the second.After those events,rockers began to have a certain gravitas and the deaths of Hendrix,Joplin,Morrison,Lennon,et.al.were reacted to much as were those of the Kennedys and MLK.
As always,JMHO.And YMMV.

[gmann]

I'm a huge Buddy Holly fan and FWIW I think Gary Busey did a horrible job in the movie. The only good thing about it really is that it raised Buddy's profile quite a bit. Busey was nominated for an Oscar for goshsakes! This was also around the time Linda Ronstadt had a couple of hits with Buddy remakes too. As for Rock & Roll changing after Buddy died, well it did. This was not a direct result of Buddy's death along with Valens and The Big Bopper so much as other factors that were in play att. Jerry Lee Lewis was shunned as the marriage to his 13/14 yr old cousin became knowledgable. Elvis had been drafted a few yrs earlier and when he got out he didn't come back to R & R he went to Hollywood. Carl Perkins nearly died in a car wreck and his career never really regained momentum. Little Richard quit R & R and became an evangelist. Chuck Berry went to jail for violating the Mann Act (transporting an underage girl across state lines for immoral purposes) Conway Twitty went country as did Johnny Cash and Rockabilly just kinda died on the vine. This paved the way for all the early '60s guys like Fabian, Bobby V, Bobby Rydell and a whole bunch of other lame, cookie cutter type singers who wore sweaters and and had pin up good looks. Rock & Roll was a waste land until late Dec '63 when a band fm England of all places started getting some airplay. By the time they hit the Sullivan Show it was all over. Like 'em or not, this was when Rock & Roll changed and never looked back. Of course these new guys knew their Rock & Roll, talked about Buddy in interviews and played and recorded his songs as well as those of Carl, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Buddy definately cast a long shadow and his influence is still being felt today. Buddy Holly lives!

[telemethis]

Thanks a lot to the OP and for everyone's input. I'm amazed at how young he left us and at how much of an influence he has on other's music. His catalog is outstanding to say the least...

[Jackson]

I've never bought the whole "the Beatles saved rock 'n' roll" line. You have to ignore the Beach Boys, Del Shannon, the instrumental bands, Phil Spector and the bad ass girl groups, the birth of soul, the first punk rockers like the Sonics and so on. I think American rock 'n' roll was doing just fine, the first generation was just making way for the second generation when the Beatles hit.

[Stuco]

Originally Posted by RodeoTex

I forgot mention that a clip about Buddy's '58 Chevy was found in a junk yard, its still around. Watch for it in the related videos sidebar. Kinda cool.

Very cool story. Although, from looking around on the interenet, there is some doubt as to whether this is really Buddy's car. I don't know whether it is or not, just thought I'd put that out there.