Buddy Holly: Rock’s Greatest Secret

It was a life too short. A career even shorter. There were no public memorials. No TV specials.

And yet in a mere 18 months, Buddy Holly had brought about a profound and monumental evolution to rock music; one that would become more and more obvious in the decades to follow until his name became as synonymous with great music as the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Elton John, and Bob Dylan.

This is how it happened.

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Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley on September 7th, 1936, in the town of Lubbock, Texas. He received the nickname Buddy from his mother, who thought the name Charles felt ‘too old’ for her little boy, while the variance in his surname came about due to it being misspelled in his contract.

The family, a troupe of six in all, were highly musical, with all except father Lawrence Odell (known as L.O.) able to sing or play an instrument. Holly, the youngest, began to learn the guitar under the tutelage of one of his three brother, but it was the piano and fiddle that he showed the most talent playing in those early days. Joining his siblings on stage, he acted the roll of the ringer; on one occasion, at a local talent show, they needed to have him play the violin. Brother Larry greased the strings so that it would not make any sound, and Holly simply pretended to play exuberantly. They won the competition.

As Holly hit double-digits, his parents quickly realised that as talented as their children were, Holly was very different. While the others were starting a tiling business, putting music aside as a casual hobby, their youngest had aspirations far bigger. In 1949, they helped him produce a home recording of My Two-Timin’ Woman, which put his prepubescent, but nevertheless sizeable vocal skills on display.

Over the following years, he collaborated with school friends and future career musicians like country singer Sonny Curtis, songwriter Bob Montgomery, and Jack Neal. The latter would join him to create the duo Buddy and Jack, performing on local television shows. At night, he would sit in his car and listen to radio stations only received when local transmissions had ceased so that he could hear the songs of those who would come to inspire him. Chief amongst these was Elvis Presley. “Without Elvis, none of us could have made it,” he declared.

It was fortuitous then that Holly’s first major performance saw him opening for Presley at three of his shows in 1955, mere months after graduating from high school. In October, Holly opened for Bill Haley & His Comets, where he was scouted by Nashville agent Eddie Crandall. Just over six months later, Holly and his band, the Three Tunes, were signed to Decca Records.

They entered the studio on January 26th, 1956, for the first recording session with producer Owen Bradley. While he started out hopeful, Holly eventually grew frustrated with his lack of creative control. He had a vision, one that would shape the very essence of what it meant to be a rock band, but no way of implementing it. His lack of enthusiasm, as well as the failure of his songs to gain any traction, saw him finally released from his contract on January 22nd, 1957.

Immediately after, Holly met with producer Norman Petty, who agreed to record a demo with him and the band, now renamed The Crickets in order to get around contract stipulations. Holly played lead guitar with Jerry Allison on drums, Joe B. Mauldin on bass, and Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar. Such an arrangement is common in rock bands now, but it wasn’t until Holly that its potential was fully realised. Together, they recorded That’ll Be the Day, and sent it to Brunswick Records. So impressed was the company that they released the demo without changes and signed Holly to a contract that give him full artistic and financial control of his work.

Over the next three months, the band toured nationally, and though they weren’t wholly well received, they certainly made an impression. By September, That’ll Be the Day had topped both the US and UK charts, with Peggy Sue following the next month by reaching #2 on the R&B chart.

Though he did not have the sex appeal of his regal idol, Holly’s iconic style drew such attention from fans that the band was billed as Buddy Holly and The Crickets. This style would later be adopted by the likes of The Beatles (who named their band in reference to The Crickets), Elton John, Mick Jagger, and scores of teenagers across the world.

By early 1958, Holly was touring internationally, including a 50 show run across 25 days in the UK. Upon returning to the US, they then joined the Big Beat Show for 41 events. Throughout, they continued to records new songs, both as a band and with Holly as a solo artist. His debut solo album, Buddy Holly, was released in February, and in April a collection of the band’s early recordings for Decca hit the shelves.

Later in the year, Holly began to break new territory, signing up for acting classes and produced two songs for DJ Waylon Jennings with the intent to move into the business side of the industry. Unfortunately, this was not to be. Conflicts over financial issues forced Holly back into the touring circuit by December, when he agreed to take part in the Winter Dance Party. It would be his final tour.

With 24 performances scheduled over 24 days across the Midwest, transport proved a logistical nightmare. As a result, Holly charted a four-seater plane to fly from Iowa to Minnesota on February 2nd, 1959. Ultimately, The Crickets gave up their seats on the plane to artists Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper.

The plane took off in poor weather conditions, captained by a pilot who was not certified to fly in such scenarios. Shortly after take off, the plane banked and crashed full throttle into a cornfield. All three passengers were thrown from the wreckage on impact; they died instantly.

News of Buddy Holly’s death was hardly a blip on the industry radar at the time. Yet today, we remember him as one of the single most influential artists in the history of rock and roll. His insight into what made great music was subtle, yet so on point that the genius behind it could only be realised after its influence had become clear over the decades.

In 1986, Holly was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of its ‘first class. It’s just one of many accreditations presented in his honour over time, and while they are certainly important, it’s hard to comprehend what kind of overwhelming force Holly could have become if given even just a few more years.