Remembering Buddy Holly (Rise and Fall of Rock)

Buddy Holly greatly influenced the Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. Buddy once said in 1957, "Without Elvis, none of us would be here." In the mid 70's, before his own death, Elvis said, "Looking back over the last 20 years, I guess the guy I've admired most in rock and roll is Buddy Holly." Now, that's respect. In his book, "Rock 'n' Roll: The 100 Best Singles," Paul Williams wrote, "It only fully became rock and roll when Buddy Holly started singing it." Dick Clark (American Bandstand) remarked: "Elvis was the King of Rock 'n' Roll, but Buddy Holly was the undisputed father of Rock music." And Dick Clark was right. Holly went from violin to piano to steel guitar before switching to the standard acoustic model at age 11. At the age of 22, somehow Holly got the idea that he could do everything himself. Producing, working in different genres, exploring new compositive tecniques, a complete break from the norm at the time. Yes, Holly's ideas predated the Beach Boys and The Beatles, considerably, even to the point where he wanted to be his own George Martin. Buddy Holly was an intelligent dreamer with the proof that his songwriting was getting better. His quality output was also growing. Because of all of that, I see no reason that Buddy couldn't have met at least half of his big dreams if he was given more living years. Source: Remembering Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly had an optimistic, gentle self-mocking hiccup in his voice. He was as popular with the boys as Elvis Presley was with the girls, but for different reasons. Buddy Holly was the most influential rock star of his time, possibly of all time. Sunday, February 3, will mark the 60th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death in the crash of a chartered Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft near Clear Lake, Iowa. Consider how few new rock artists of comparable staying power or cultural significance have emerged since the '50s or the 90's alt-rock surge. “There is no figurehead band you could point to,” says critic Steven Hyden, host of the ­podcast Celebration Rock: “a band that comes from nowhere and takes over the culture, that’s ­unquestionably over. If a band like that came out, there would be no infrastructure to support it.” In the past “Rock & Roll era,” there was more space for eccentrics to skew the establishment game than today. —"Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars - 1955/1994" (2017) by David Hepworth

Buddy Holly & The Crickets never counted on their good looks to win them fans: “Buddy didn't really appeal to girls as far as a teen idol sort of thing,” said Jerry Allison. Not that girls didn't dig Buddy Holly, they even screamed. But compared to Elvis, Eddie Cochran or Dion, he simply couln't lay on his sex-appeal the same way. “It seemed like the boys liked us better,” continues Allison: “They were fans because of the music, not because of good looks, emotions or whatever.” Mrs. Holley (Buddy's mom) confirmed this aspect too: Around 90% of the letters she had received since Buddy's death were from males, even though females make up a large majority of the record-buying audience.

Joe B. Mauldin explains: “To be honest, I don't ever remember seeing Buddy hustling girls or sleeping with a girl during the tours. I think Buddy had enough on his mind... And as for drugs, no, absolutely no, for any of us. I didn't even know what marijuana was, until years later.” Nikki Sullivan: “Buddy was a star, and he knew it, he didn't mind anybody else sharing the stardom with him.” His marriage with Maria Elena Santiago was not kept a secret either, it just was not publicized. “They wanted to introduce me as The Crickets' secretary. But Buddy always introduced me as his wife, so it's not true to say our marriage was secret. We just didn't feel like broadcasting the news.” —"Remembering Buddy: The Definitive Biography Of Buddy Holly" (2001) by John Goldrosen