Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holly (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), professionally known as Buddy Holly, was an American musician and singer-songwriter who was a prominent figure in the rock and roll era in the mid-1950s.

Holly was born into a musical family; he learned to play guitar and would sing alongside his siblings. His style was influenced by gospel, country and rhythm and blues music and he would perform in his home town of Lubbock with his friends from high school.  He made his first appearance on television in 1952 and the following year formed a group called ”Buddy and Bob” with his friend Bob Montgomery.   In 1955 his group opened for Elvis Presley three times and the group’s music style began to change from country and western to rock and roll.  Later that year they opened for Bill Haley and His Comets.

Holly was signed to Decca Records, but unhappy with the sounds achieved by the producer there, he went to another producer, Norman Petty, in Clovis, New Mexico where he recorded a demo of “That’ll Be the Day”, plus other songs. Petty became the band’s manager and sent the demo to Brunswick Records which released it as a single credited to “The Crickets”: the new name of Holly’s band. In 1957 “That’ll Be the Day” topped the US “Best Sellers In Store” charts and the UK Singles Chart.  This was closely followed by another hit, “Peggy Sue”.

In 1958, Holly toured Australia and the UK.  In 1959 he formed a new band and embarked on a tour of the Midwestern U.S. After a show in Clear lake, Iowa, he chartered an airplane to travel to his next show in Moorhead, Minnesota.  Soon after take-off, the plane crashed; killing Holly, Ritchie Valens and the pilot.

Holly wrote, recorded and produced his own material throughout his short career.  He is often credited as the artist who defined the traditional rock and roll band line up of two guitars, bass and drums.  He was a major influence on artists including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Elton John. In 1986, he was one of the first artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Backing Tracks

 Bo Diddley

 Brown Eyed Handsome Man

 Early In The Morning

Everyday

 Heartbeat

 It Really Doesn’t Matter Anymore

It’s So Easy

 Listen To Me

 May Be Baby

 Not Fade Away

 Oh Boy

 Peggy Sue

 Peggy Sue Got Married

 Raining In My Heart

 Rave On

 Reminiscing

 That’ll Be The Day

 Think It Over

True Love Ways – Buddy Holly

 Wishing

 Words Of Love