The following is a review of all recordings released by Buddy Holly between
1956 and 1969.


1) Lubbock, Texas: Western And Bop

   
   
   
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   Every artist goes through phases: Picasso had his Blue Period, Ernst
   his Oneiric Period, and Buddy Holly had his Garage Band Period. While
   roughly half of the songs The Great Myopic One recorded in Clovis
   between 1954 and '56 were Buddy-Bob-and-Larry counry ballads, the
   others were rock tunes of a character guaranteed to burn the ears of
   every square within listening distance. These songs, cut in garage
   band trademark one-track mono, are about three things: rockin',
   dancin', and lovin' (not necessarily in that order) and are
   characterized by mostly unintelligible vocals and enough raw energy to
   light up Lubbock for a year. Young Buddy probably sweated off ten
   pounds recording "Good Rockin' Tonight."
   
    Brown-Eyed Handsome Man
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: February 1963 (Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
   In this classic Chuck Berry tune Our Hero relates the many exploits of
   mythical Brown-Eyed Handsome Men throughout the ages, which include
   winning a baseball game and being arrested for unemployment. Contains
   the famous "Tequila" chord segment.
   
   Bo Diddley
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: February 1963 (Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
   Bo Diddley implements his animal-trapping skills in order to appease
   his girlfriend, who remains unsatisfied. If you can understand all of
   the words, collect $200 and pass Go.
   
   Shake, Rattle, and Roll
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: May 1964 (Showcase, Coral Records)
   
    Bill Haley: "You wear those dresses with your hair done up so
   nice..."
   Buddy Holly: "You wear those dresses that the sun comes shining
   through..."
   
   And they said he was a NICE boy...
   
   Baby It's Love
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1954 or '55 (Clovis)First released: June 1965, UK (Holly In
   The Hills, Coral Records)
   
   Buddy and Bob are beset by symptoms of lovesickness straight from a
   Tex Avery cartoon--at least, until they actually marry the girl of
   their desires. After that, it's all pretty much downhill.
   
   Good Rockin' Tonight
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1969 (Giant, Coral Records)
   
   Dancing = sex. Am I wrong?
   
   Baby Let's Play House
   
   Recorded : 1955 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1965 (Holly In The Hills, Coral Records)
   
   Skips the dancing, goes straight for the sex.
   
   Have You Ever Been Lonely
   
   Recorded: 1955 or '56 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1969 (Giant, Coral Records)
   
   What on earth is Buddy saying at the very end of this song? Could it
   be "mother"?... "Yoda"?... "Rosebud"???
   
   Rip It Up
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: May 1964 (Showcase, Coral Records)
   
   This little ditty eulogizing the glories of Saturday night contains
   some prodigious use of the pentatonic, as well as Buddy doing a pretty
   decent howlin' Wolfman Jack impression. But are they going to rip it
   up at a "ball" or at a "bar" tonight? Images of wild-west saloon
   destruction (with Our Hero swinging from the chandeliers and breaking
   chairs over guys' heads) spring to mind.
   
    Honky Tonk
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: May 1964 (Showcase, Coral Records)
   
   Instrumental with occasional garbled, intriguing verbal interjections.
   At the beginning Buddy says something that sounds like "kitty" (?) and
   later belts out, "Aaaiiy." But oh, what guitar playing! The way to a
   man's heart may be through his stomach, but the way to mine runs
   directly through E flat major.
   
   Gone
   
   Recorded: 1955 or '56 (Clovis)
   First released: May 1964 (Showcase, Coral Records)
   
   Now you're gone.
   The sun, the moon, the stars in the sky
   Know the reason why I cry.
   I'm all alone.
   I know I'm wrong,
   Now you're gone.
   
   A beautiful and touching song. Its shortness and simplicity of
   instrumentation and vocal style give an honesty to the feelings
   described which is almost painful.
   
   Blue Suede Shoes
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: May 1964 (Showcase, Coral Records)
   
   Well you can burn my house,
   Steal my car,
   Drink my liquor from an old fruit jar,
   Do anything that you wanna do,
   But uh, uh honey lay offa my shoes!
   
   ...if only everyone were this easy to please!
   
    Soft Place In My Heart
   
   Writtten by: Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1955 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1965 (Holly In The Hills, Coral)
   
   A great two-step song. Slightly off-key and out of rhythm--you can
   almost smell the Lone Star Beer. Complete with Hank Williams steel
   guitar riffs accentuating the end of each stanza.
   
   You And I Are Through
   
   Written by: Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1954 or '55 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1965 (Holly In The Hills, Coral)
   
   Unlike most of Our Hero's swearin'-off-love songs, I get the feeling
   he really means it this time:
   
   You love me
   But I just don't care
   
   It doesn't get any clearer than that!
   
   Gotta Get You Near Me Blues
   
   Written by: Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1954 or '55 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1965 (Holly In The Hills, Coral Records)
   
   The lead singer of this piece is actually a guy named Bob, but during
   the bridge a youthful (but instantly recognizable) Buddy-voice emerges
   from behind the fiddle to wail something about bein' far away from the
   one that you love.
   
   Door To My Heart
   
   Writtten by: Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1954 or '55 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1965 (Holly In The Hills, Coral Records)
   
   Flower Of My Heart
   
   Writtten by: Bob Montgomery and Don Guess
   Recorded: 1954 or '55 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1965 (Holly In The Hills, Coral Records)
   
   I Gambled My Heart
   
    Writtten by: Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1954 or '55 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1965 (Holly In The Hills, Coral Records)
   
   Lots of things rhyme with "heart."
   
   Memories
   
   Writtten by: Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1954 or '55 (Clovis)
   First released: June 1965, UK (Holly In The Hills, Coral Records)
   
   You left me alone with memories.
   I tried to endure your endless cheatin',
   I loved you with my heart's every beatin'.
   But my hopes are gone like wind through the trees
   'Cause you left me alone with memories.
   
   I tried forgetting what you meant to me
   But now I realize I'm all alone.
   In my mind I really know that you are gone,
   But my foolish heart refuses to see
   'Cause you left me alone with memories.
   
   Our Hero experiences the Fifties versions of codependence and denial,
   but refuses to join a twelve-step program and lives unhappily ever
   after.
   
   Down The Line
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1955 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1965 (Holly In The Hills, Coral Records)
   
   "My baby is fast, my feet are slow, I gotta go"...taken out ofcontext,
   this is damn interesting.
   
    Queen Of The Ballroom
   
   Written by: Don Guess
   Recorded: 1954 or '55 (Clovis)
   First released: June 1965, UK (Holly In The Hills, Coral Records)
   
   Someone thought it would be cool to have a song in which the fiddle
   repeatedly plays "E-B-E-B-E-B-E-B" over and over AND OVER AND OVER
   again until you wish that the damn ambulance would turn off its siren
   already.
   
   Blue Monday
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1969 (Giant, Coral Records)
   
   Blue monday, oh, how I hate blue monday!
   Got to work like a slave all day
   Then comes tuesday, oh, hard tuesday.
   I'm so tired I ain't got time to play.
   Wednesday I (something that sounds like "got to feed my cow")
   My gal calls, gotta tell her that I'm out
   Thursday's a hard working day,
   And friday I get my pay.
   
   Things haven't changed much since 1956--Monday still sucks.
   
   Ain't Got No Home
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1969 (Giant, Coral Records)
   
   Buddy makes a lousy Girl, but he's a pretty good Frog.
   
   Holly Hop
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1956 (Clovis)
   First released: January 1969 (Giant, Coral Records)
   
   Listen closely and you'll hear The Big B. H. telling everyone to
   mambo, a la Lenny Bernstein conducting the "West Side Story"
   overture. Also the name of a particularly troublesome spaceship drive
   in a Red Dwarf episode. Coincidence? I DON'T THINK SO...
   
   
2) Nashville, Tennessee: Changing All Those Changes

   
   
   
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   Although I love all of Buddy Holly's songs, the ones he recorded in
   Nashville have always been my favorites. At this point his music still
   heavily bore the mark of rock-and-roll's parents, blues and country.
   Also, in 1956, young Buddy was still not quite established as a star.
   These tunes were cut pre-Crickets, pre-marriage, pre-record contract,
   and he sounds a little lean and a little hungry.
   
   Blue Days-Black Nights
   
   Recorded: 1/26/56
   First released: 4/16/56 (Decca Records)
   
   Buddy Holly's first release shows a clear indication of the young
   singer's talent, and he was proud enough of it to hand-tool the title
   into his homemade leather guitar cover (also decorated with his name,
   initials, and little eighth note and guitar silhouettes). This song is
   tightly constructed, with a clever guitar solo and Buddy's distinctive
   vocal style clearly evident--and there's such a lonely quality to his
   tale of blue days and black nights that you just can't help but feel
   sorry for him.
   
    Love Me
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and ? Parrish
   Recorded: 1/26/56
   First released: 4/16/56 (flip side to Blue Days, Black Nights, Decca
   Records)
   
   The following are the complete words to Love Me:
   
   Love me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love
   me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me,
   love me, love me, love me, love me,
   
   Just kidding. The phrases "if you love me" and "if you really love me"
   also appear in the song, presumably for variety.
   
   I'm Gonna Set My Foot Down
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1956
   First released: February 1963 (Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
   Unlike the somewhat resigned Midnight Shift, here Buddy has no doubts
   about his ability to straighten out his cheatin' wench of a
   girlfriend. In fact, he seems to be looking forward to the challenge.
   The best thing about this song, though, are the images conjured up by
   the lyrics:
   
   Well, you tell me this and you tell me that,
   How come your dog bites me instead of that other cat?
   
   I just can't help but see Buddy cursing his way down some chick's
   front walk, trying to shake a chihuahua off of his ankle.
   
    Baby Won't You Come Out Tonight
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1956
   First released: February 1963 (Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
   In this Buffalo Gals update Our Hero spends several minutes trying
   to convince his girl to come out and go dancing (and gets to say "Go,
   baby" a couple of hundred times). But by the authoritative way he
   sings the last verse, you understand that she never really had any
   power to resist.
   
    Changing All Those Changes
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1956 (Nashville)
   First released: February 1963 (Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
   Buddy makes a rare public apology for behaving like a schmuck, in
   hopes of winning back the recently departed object of his affections.
   But who couldn't forgive him when he starts out with such an
   endearing vocal stutter?
   
   Rock-A-Bye Rock
   
    Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1956 (Nashville)
   First released: February 1963 (Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
   In the language of rock-and-roll, dancing and love have always been
   inseparable concepts (recall the line in Don McLean's American Pie
   that goes,
   
   Well I know that you're in love with him,
   'Cause I saw you dancing in the gym...)
   
   Here Buddy Holly unearths the real truth about this relationship--it
   is the music itself and his girl's equal appreciation of it that ties
   them together:
   
   Well get out on the floor,
   And hold my hand so tight,
   I love you more and more
   When you dance with all your might.
   
    Dancing is not only a symbol of their romance but of their love of
   rock-and-roll, which to them is really the same thing.
   
    I Guess I Was Just A Fool
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1956 (Nashville)
   First released: May 1964 (Showcase, Coral Records)
   
   Buddy Holly had a knack for composing strangely epigrammatic titles
   which seem to imbue many of his songs with a weird fortune-cookie
   wisdom: It Doesn't Matter Anymore, That's What They Say, What To Do,
   and (my personal favorite) Love Is Strange. However, this one wins the
   grand prize.
   
    Don't Come Back Knockin'
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly, ? Parrish
   Recorded: 1/26/56 (Nashville)
   First released: November 1975, UK (The Buddy Holly Story, World
   Records)
   
   I like the way Our Hero describes his girlfriend's particular brand of
   unfaithfulness:
   
   Like a talent scout
   You want some love that's new...
   
   Girl On My Mind
   
   Written by: Don Guess
   Recorded: 7/22/56
   First released: 6/23/58 (Decca Records)
   
   Buddy attempts to do a slow-tempo Voice Thing in this sock-hop ballad,
   but just ends up sounding asthmatic.
   
   Ting-A-Ling
   
   Recorded: 7/22/56 (Nashville)
   First released: 6/23/58 (flip side to Girl On My Mind, Decca Records)
   
   I'm just a poor young boy
   And these girls 'bout to drive me wild,
   The way they rock and roll and hold me
   Ain't no jive.
   The way they laugh, the way they sing...
   
   The way they sing? Huh? Where exactly is the setting for this
   song--some demented USO? Were there a lot of hot back-up babes hanging
   around the Nashville studios in those days?
   
   It's Not My Fault
   
   Recorded: 1956 (Nashville)
   First released: April 1963 (Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
   An anthem for the '90s if I've ever heard one!
   
   Because I Love You
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1956 (Nashville)
   First released: February 1963 (Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
    Love Victim Buddy puts in another appearance here, making an
   emotionally exhausting soliloquy to his perhaps-lost love. Even the
   instrumentals have a slightly draggy quality that makes them sound as
   if they required a Herculean effort to play. But I always cringe when
   he gets to the line, "I'd rather die..."
   
   Modern Don Juan
   
   Written by: Don Guess and ? Neil
   Recorded: 11/15/56
   First released: 12/24/56 (Decca Records)
   
   I have to admit, the idea of Buddy as a twentieth-century Lothario is
   pretty amusing. Hey, I've always been attracted to guys with really
   big glasses, haven't you?
   
    You Are My One Desire
   
   Written by: Don Guess
   Recorded: 11/15/56
   First released: 12/24/56 (flip side to Modern Don Juan, Decca Records)
   
   Like James Earl Jones as the gum-chewing police detective in The
   Ambulance, Our Hero does the best he can with bad material. IMHO (and
   with apologies to the venerable Don Guess), the words to this song
   sound as if they were written by the same computer responsible for
   that lousy Houston Oilers fight song (that hasn't stopped me from
   listening to it about a thousand times, though).
   
   Midnight Shift
   
   Recorded: 1/25/56
   First released: April 1958 (That'll Be The Day, Decca Records)
   
   If she acts a little funny,
   Seems a little strange,
   Starts spending your money
   On brand-new things,
   Tells you that she wants to use the car,
   Never explains what she wants it for...
   
   This song is not really anthemic in the sense of Well...All Right.
   But in wearily chronicling the infidelities of Annies everywhere,
   Buddy has joined forces with every other mistreated guy throughout
   history to try and warn his brothers about the perils of bad wimmin.
   
    Rock Around With Ollie Vee
   
   Written by: Sonny Curtis
   Recorded: 7/22/56; 11/15/56
   First released: 9/2/57
   
   Who is Ollie Vee, and why is it necessary to bribe a cop in order to
   take her out? Is she in jail? Hideously underage?...Now do you
   understand why the protagonist in Bradley Denton's wonderfully weird
   novel, Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede, is named Oliver
   Vale?
   
   There are two versions of this song. One has a great sax ride, both
   make you wish you'd known Ollie Vee, whoever the hell she was.
   
   Lisa Saunders Boffa (bholly@polysci.umass.edu)
3) Clovis, New Mexico: Buddy Holly & The Crickets

   
   
   
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   These tunes, recorded by the Crickets in Clovis in 1957, are little
   gems which illustrate the genius of writer and producer Norman Petty.
   If Phil Spector's trademark style was the "wall of sound," Norm
   Petty's is best described as a sound vacuum. He knew exactly what
   the essential instrumental and vocal components of a song were and
   managed to eliminate everything superfluous which would only detract
   from the piece. The end results were tracks of simplicity and stunning
   clarity: when Buddy sings, it sounds as if he's standing right behind
   you (heck, you can almost see the studio if you close your eyes).
   
   Oh Boy!
   
   Recorded: 6/29/57
   First released: 10/27/57 (Brunswick Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 10
   
   A few years ago, a record club offered a CD titled (no kidding) "The
   Copulatin' Blues Compact Disc." It featured as cover art a cartoon man
   with eager eyes and a wide-open mouth, in which the words "Oh Boy"
   were inscribed in glowing white letters. 'Nuff said.
   
   That'll Be The Day
   
   Written by: Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly, and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 7/22/56; 2/25/57
   First released: 5/27/57 (Brunswick Records)
   Highest Billboad chart position: 3
   
   As everyone knows, the title of this song is taken from the movie The
   Searchers starring John Wayne. The Duke repeats this phrase ad
   nauseum while looking for some ever-elusive evil Indians who have
   kidnapped Natalie Wood.
   
   "So, Uncle Ethan, are you gonna give up now?"
   "That'll be the day!"
   
   As with Uncle Ethan himself, Buddy's great appeal in this song is his
   abundance of attitude. There is another, more bluesy recording of this
   tune (at one point, Buddy yells out, "Yes, you know it!") but I do not
   know if it was released B.C. (Before Crash) or only as a track on The
   Complete Buddy Holly.
   
    I'm Lookin' For Someone To Love
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 2/25/57
   First released: 5/27/57 (flip side to That'll Be The Day, Brunswick
   Records)
   
   Contains one of the weirdest verses in pre-psychidelic rock 'n' roll:
   
   Drunk man
   Streetcar
   Foot slips (THUD)
   There you are.
   Well, I'm a lookin' for someone to love...
   
   If I didn't know that this was in here because it was a favorite
   saying of Buddy Holly's mother, I would have guessed that Our Hero had
   bumped off his cheatin' ex-girlfriend (no wonder he's lookin' for
   someone...)
   
   Last Night
   
   Written by: Norman Petty and Jerry Allison
   Recorded: 3/12/57
   First released: March 1958, UK (The Chirping Crickets, Coral
   Records)
   
   Last night as I gazed
   through the mist in my eyes,
   I wanted you here
   To hold you so near.
   But silence tells me
   You didn't hear my plea.
   
   I missed you so much
   Since you left me.
   My heart ached apart
   Since you left me.
   Though I'm not wanted now,
   I still love you somehow...
   
   The saga of Buddy as Love Victim continues.
   
    Maybe Baby
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 9/27/57; 3/12/57
   First released: 2/12/58 (Brunswick Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 18
   
   Listen to the standard version (unfortunately co-opted by scum-sucking
   Yuppies for a stupid tire commercial--or was it diapers?), then listen
   to the other recording of this song (mixed in 1966), a
   guitar-twangin', foot-stompin', syncopated good time in which the
   lyrics definitely take a back seat to the rhythm. Chances are you'll
   like the second one better (how many of you prefer the Sid Vicious
   version of "My Way" from Sid and Nancy to Frank Sinatra's?)
   
    Peggy Sue
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 6/29/57
   First released: 9/20/57 (Coral Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 3
   
   Although undoubtedly one of his best, I've always secretly hated this
   song--why should Peggy Sue have all the luck?
   
   Actually, the original title (and words) to this song were "Cindy
   Lou", in reference to Buddy Holly's baby niece. However, Jerry Allison
   suggested a lyric change in honor of his girlfriend, Peggy Sue, and
   the rest is history. Now she's even more famous than Sharona.
   
   Everyday
   
   Recorded: 5/27/57
   First released: 9/20/57 (flip side to Peggy Sue, Coral Records)
   
   Tunes like this one are what give me the misguided impression that
   life was uncomplicated and pleasant during the '50s. No hidden agenda,
   no wah-wah pedals, no embarrassing sexual overtones--just a nice song
   about the feelings of a nice boy for his object d'affection.
   Sometimes, less is more.
   
   Mailman Bring Me No More Blues
   
   Recorded: 4/8/57
   First released: 6/20/57 (flip side to Words Of Love, Coral Records)
   
   Yesss! This is the song in which Our Hero perfects the Hiccuping /
   Sighing / Gasping Voice Thing, which after thirty-eight years still
   has the ability to drive women crazy. It was worth the price of the
   boxed CD set just to hear Buddy sing, "she wrote me...only one sad
   line, ah ah ahn...uh!"
   
    Words of Love
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 4/8/57
   First released: 6/20/57 (Coral Records)
   
   Hold me close and
   Tell me how you feel
   Tell me love is real
   
   Words of love you
   Whisper soft and true
   Darling, I love you
   
   Let me hear you say
   The words I want to hear
   Darling, when you're near
   
   Words of love you
   Whisper soft and true
   Darling, I love you
   
   One of the best. This song has a guitar melody so essential that it
   might as well be part of the lyrics. During the pause between verses,
   the guitar continues playing--and it seems as if the guitar is
   repeating the same request, just not with words. Also, Buddy singing
   with himself produces a very soothing and almost hypnotic effect, as
   if he's subliminally telling us to eat more Rice Krispies or vote
   Republican or something.
   
   Listen To Me
   
   Recorded: 6/29/57
   First released: 2/5/58 (flip side to I'm Gonna Love You Too, Coral
   Records)
   
   Ever watch a movie and have the eerie feeling that one of the actors
   is looking right at YOU? Not at the camera or even the fat guy two
   seats over, but at you and you alone? In the middle of this song, when
   Buddy speaks the words, "Listen to me...listen...listen...listen to
   me...," I have to stop mysef from replying, "I am!"
   
   Interestingly, after issuing this commandment, Our Hero fades back and
   lets his guitar do the talking. This song seems bigger-than-life for
   that reason: we are all listening to Buddy Holly's guitar, which
   represents the voice of rock 'n' roll:
   
   Listen to me,
   Hear what I say.
   
   Ultimately, who is wooing the girl here? The boy or the music? Perhaps
   the latter is more exciting.
   
   I'm Gonna Love You Too
   
   Written by: Joe Mauldin, Niki Sullivan, and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 6/29/57
   First released: 2/5/58 (Coral Records)
   
   At the very end of this song, a fifth cricket (this time of the insect
   variety) can be heard chirping inside an amplifier somewhere...in
   perfect rhythm! They should've signed him.
   
    Not Fade Away
   
   Recorded: 5/27/57
   First released: 10/27/57 (flip side to Oh Boy, Brunswick Records)
   
   This is an interesting song. Cool guitar riffs by The Great Myopic
   One, backup vocals consisting of the word "bop" repeated over and over
   again like some strange rock-and-roll mantra. But would someone please
   explain "My love is bigger than a Cadillac?"
   
   Ready Teddy
   
   Recorded: 1957
   First released: March 1958 (Buddy Holly, Coral Records)
   
   Like the identity of Miss Ollie Vee, this is one of those cryptic
   things that bug the hell out of me. At night I lie awake
   wondering...who is Teddy? Obviously, he's a guy whose name rhymes
   with "ready", and some Sominex is probably in order here.
   
   Tell Me How
   
   Written by: ? Hardin, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 1957
   First released: 2/12/58 (flip side to Maybe Baby, Brunswick Records)
   
   Play this song to any person. If they don't at least tap their toes,
   they are clinically dead. Buddy's excellent guitar solo in Tell Me How
   is the musical equivalent of John Travolta's Saturday Night Fever
   strut.
   
   Send Me Some Lovin'
   
   Recorded:1957
   First released: November 1957 (The Crirping Crickets, Brunswick
   Records)
   
   Another Voice Thing song. The verbal pelvic thrust Buddy adds to the
   words, "I can feel-UH! their touch..." would make Elvis blush.
   
    Take Your Time
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 2/58
   First released: 4/20/58 (flip side to Rave On, Coral Records)
   
   The song that aspiring roller-rink organists study everywhere.
   
   People say the reason Buddy Holly was able to pull off wearing the
   Specs To Top All Specs on stage is because he was a very confident,
   self-assured person. In Take Your Time, he definitely shows this side
   of his personality.
   
   Take your time,
   I can wait,
   For all the love I know will be mine
   If you take your time.
   
   Little Baby
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly, Norman Petty, and Joe Kendall
   Recorded: 1957
   First released: March 1958 (Buddy Holly, Coral Records)
   
   A similar attitude pervades Little Baby:
   
   In my heart you are the one,
   Look around and have your fun...
   
   However, Our Hero has a seemingly schizophrenic personality when it
   comes to male-female relationships. In a number of songs (for example,
   An Empty Cup) he emerges as a definite Love Victim, and in others
   (Love's Made A Fool Of You) he apparently has no control whatsoever
   over his fate. The average person can more likely relate to this
   confusing mix of emotions than, say, Surfer Girl...I think this is
   part of Buddy's appeal.
   
   Rave On
   
    Recorded: 1/26/58
   First released: 4/20/58 (Coral Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 39
   
   A recent question on the rec.music.oldies newsgroup was, "Which song
   has the most memorable opening?" Rave On is my nomination-- like a
   true Texan, Buddy manages to draw out his initial "well" into no less
   than seven syllables.
   
   Al Ross, the square narrator of NBC Records' "Music To Buy Time By"
   album, was not so enthralled:
   
   ...This first little gem features one of the rocking immortals, a real
   talent by the name of Buddy Holly. (plays disk) What'd he say? What?
   That was Buddy Holly with mood music for stealing hub caps.
   
   You've Got Love
   
   Written by: ? Wilson, Roy Orbison, and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 9/27/57
   First released: November 1957 (The Chirping Crickets, Brunswick
   Records)
   
   It was only recently that I realized many of the Buddy Holly songs
   I've been admiring for years were actually written by some of my other
   favorite rock-and-rollers! This has only made me like these songs even
   more. I can easily hear ole Roy yodeling his way through this one, but
   not to worry--Buddy does him proud.
   
   Valley of Tears
   
   Recorded: 1957
   First released: March 1958 (Buddy Holly, Coral Records)
   
   The Lubbock version of Heartbreak Hotel.
   
   Rock Me My Baby
   
   Recorded: 9/27/57
   First released: November 1957 (The Chirping Crickets, Brunswick
   Records)
   
   Bizarre, ultimately enjoyable attempt to combine a nursery rhyme
   ("Hickory Dickory Dock") with lyrics about...dancing? (See "Good
   Rockin' Tonight")
   

4) Clovis, New Mexico-And On To New York

   
   
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   
   
   Love, love, love...that's what these songs are about. A veritable
   Baskin-Robbins of amore in all of its pleasing and, more frequently,
   painful forms.
   
   Unrequited Love:
   
   Wishing
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1958
   First released: 7/29/63 (flip side to Brown Eyed Handsome Man, Coral
   Records)
   
   This Everly-esque ditty has a beautiful guitar solo by the Big B.H.
   soothing enough to be used as a Valium substitute.
   
   Moondreams
   
   Written by: Norman Petty
   Recorded: 10/21/58
   First released: March 1960 (The Buddy Holly Story, Volume 2, Coral
   Records)
   
   Nocturnal fantasies accentuated with trademark Anka muted tremolo
   violins. Contains the line, "Love can be our destination," which would
   make a great Southwest Airlines commercial.
   
   Lost Love:
   
   It Doesn't Matter Anymore
   
   Written by: Paul Anka
   Recorded: 10/21/58
   First released: 1/5/59 (Coral Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 13
   
   It is an eery coincidence that the final song released before Buddy
   Holly's death (and the one that would make its way up the charts in
   the following weeks) would be named It Doesn't Matter Anymore.
   Although more of a ballad than a dance party tune, is probably the
   most rockin' of the Buddy Holly songs featuring a string section.
   Somehow it's just not possible to achieve true garage-band splendor
   with violins (although the finale of Tchiakovsky's fourth symphony
   comes pretty close).
   
   Lonesome Tears
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1958
   First released: 9/12/58 (flip side to It's So Easy, Brunswick Records)
   
   Perhaps unwilling to descend all the way into true doo-wop pathos, the
   Great Myopic One hides some pretty serious pickin' underneath the
   vocals to this song.
   
    Come Back Baby
   
   Written by: Norman Petty and ? Neil
   Recorded: 9/58
   First released: May 1964 (Showcase, Coral Records)
   
   Although Buddy cuts a pretty pathetic figure here (crying all night,
   waiting by the phone), this song has a cheerfully bouncy sax solo that
   makes it seem like he's getting ready to go out dancing or something.
   
   It's Too Late
   
   Recorded: 1957
   First released: November 1957 (The Chirping Crickets, Brunswick
   Records)
   
   The absolute finality of the opening line of the bluesy It's Too Late
   is pure pop-tops and teardrops:
   
   It's too late,
   She's gone.
   
   However, after wailing his way through a Hank Williams tear-jerker of
   a chorus ("She's GONE! Yeaaah, she's gone!"), Our Hero optimistically
   crawls back to his object of affection for some more emotional abuse,
   begging her to
   
   ...tell me
   It's not too late.
   
   Some people never learn, do they?
   
   Raining In My Heart
   
   Written by: B. & F. Bryant
   Recorded: 10/21/58
   First released: 1/5/59 (flip side to It Doesn't Matter Anymore, Coral
   Records)
   
   Take away the vocals and trap set from the perkily orchestrated
   Raining In My Heart, and you'll have the string score to the first
   movement of a late Haydn symphony.
   
   Wronged Love:
   
   Reminiscing
   
   Written by: Sonny Curtis
   Recorded: 12/58
   First released: 8/20/62 (Coral Records)
   
   Buddy wastes no time getting down to business here, beginning with one
   of the classic rock-and-roll rhymes:
   
   I'm just sitting here
   Reminiscing,
   Wondering who
   you've been kissing.
   
   Another cool thing about this song is its use of a saxophone as a
   back-up singer substitute. The conversation that takes place between
   Buddy and the sax renders him sort of a Doctor Doolittle of reed
   instruments.
   
   An Empty Cup
   
   Written by: Norman Petty and Roy Orbison
   Recorded: 9/27/57
   First released: November 1957 (The Chirping Crickets, Brunswick
   Records)
   
   Our Hero, stood up at the drive-in, delivers a soliloquy in which he
   compares his lost love to an empty glass of soda:
   
    Just like this Coke,
   My love has gone.
   I've hit the bottom.
   Now I'm all alone.
   
   Only a bunch of Southerners could fully understand the connection
   between obsessive love and soft drink addiction. This song perfectly
   expresses my feelings upon drinking the last of the Dr. Pepper.
   
   Early In The Morning
   
   Written by: Bobby Darin and ? Harris
   Recorded: 6/19/58
   First released: 7/5/58 (Coral Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 31
   
   A truly rockin' song. The Great Myopic One covers a vocal range of at
   least two octaves while confidently telling his departing love that
   she will "miss him...early in the morning...one of these days" (you
   can almost picture the triumphal middle-finger salute at the departing
   cab). I'd give my right arm to see this performed live: Buddy doing
   his vocal acrobatics with the Beehive Brigade in tow, the sax player
   whipping things into an even greater frenzy with his awesome solo. It
   must have been a hell of a ride.
   
   Fulfilled Love:
   
   True Love Ways
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 10/21/58
   First released: March 1960 (The Buddy Holly Story, Volume 2, Coral
   Records)
   
   True Love Ways is arranged so lushly (saxophone, harp, trap set, and
   not one but two string sections) that it sounds like it was recorded
   underwater. It's a great song to listen to as you're trying to go to
   sleep--sweet dreams are virtually guaranteed.
   
   Now We're One
   
    Written by: Bobby Darin
   Recorded: 6/19/58
   First released: 7/5/58 (flip side to Early In The Morning, Coral
   Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 31
   
   An interesting choice to back Early In The Morning (perhaps a happier
   alternate reality?), this little ditty features female backup
   singers. I've always wondered if Buddy's Beehive Brigade was a couple
   of squeeky-clean June Cleaver lookalikes--this is a pretty
   squeeky-clean song--or a group of sexy Motownettes with big hair and
   floor-length fitted satin dresses. I hope it was the latter!
   
   Seriously, this song gives me the willies. Was life so anal retentive
   in the '50s that holding hands was scandalous?
   
    That's My Desire
   
   Recorded: 1/26/58
   First released: 5/20/56, UK (flip side to Maybe Baby, Coral Records)
   
   A hideous mental image springs to mind: Buddy (wearing turtleneck and
   wide-lapel jacket) in a cheap Italian restaurant with red checkered
   tablecloths and wine-bottle candles, dancing slowly with someone he
   refers to as Cherie while drinking Chianti and being serenaded by a
   bad violinist (playing Csardas, no doubt). It's sort of like trying to
   picture Donald Trump at a livestock auction.
   
   Heartbeat
   
   Written by: Bob Montgomery and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 1958
   First released: 11/5/58 (Coral Records)
   
   Who else but the Great Myopic One could make a guitar solo composed
   entirely of major thirds sound exciting?
   
    It's So Easy
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 1958
   First released: 9/12/58 (Brunswick Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 82
   
   The true genius of It's So Easy lies in the construction of the
   central guitar solo. Buddy incorporates a repeating whole-step (B-A)
   pattern into his ride, but each time plays it at a slightly different
   position in the song's rhythmic structure. This sort of distorts the
   perception of the downbeat in a really cool way.
   
   Well...All Right
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, Norman Petty, and Joe Mauldin
   Recorded: 2/58
   First released: 11/5/58 (flip side to Heartbeat, Coral Records)
   
   Despite its noncommital title, the anthemic Well...All Right sums up
   the response of an entire generation to its disapproving elders.
   
   Well...all right, so I'm going steady
   It's all right when people say
   That those foolish kids can't be ready
   For the love that comes their way.
   
   Well all right, well all right,
   We will live and love with all our might.
   Well all right, well all right,
   Our lifetime love will be all right.
   
   Neurotic (?) Love
   
   Look At Me
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 1957
   First released: March 1958 (Buddy Holly, Coral Records)
   
   One of three songs recorded with piano rides instead of the usual sax
   or guitar (the others are Think It Over and Fool's Paradise). It seems
   Our Hero has finally gotten a little tired of keeping his playgirl
   Significant Other in line.
   
   Think It Over
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty
   Recorded: 2/58
   First released: 5/27/58 (Brunswick Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 27
   
   This is a complex song in term of the feelings involved. When Buddy
   pleads with his girlfriend to
   
   Think it over, what you just said,
   Think it over in your pretty little head.
   Are you sure that I'm not the one?
   Is your love real or only fun?
   Think it over, think it over
   The lonely heart grows cold and old.
   
   Is he talking about his heart or hers?
   
   Fool's Paradise
   
   Recorded: 2/58
   First released: 5/27/58 (flip side to Think It Over, Brunswick
   Records)
   
   Another entry in the She Done Me Wrong category, this song again
   emphasizes the relationship between the concepts falling in love and
   fool. Do I sense a trend here?
   
   The Black Hole of Love
   
   Love's Made A Fool Of You
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly and Bob Montgomery
   Recorded: 1958
   First released: May 1964 (Showcase, Coral Records)
   Highest Billboard chart position: 13
   
   A recurring theme in many Buddy Holly songs is the idea that love can
   make otherwise normal guys act like complete doofballs. Seemingly
   helpless, Our Hero is sucked in over his own objections to a romantic
   black hole from which there is no escape:
   
    Love's made a fool of you,
   You do anything it wants you to...
   
   Interestingly, Buddy doesn't seem to lay any blame on women for
   turning his mind into Spam. He seems to regard it as a particularly
   stupid (but completely necessary) male evil.
   
   You're So Square
   
   Written by: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
   Recorded: 12/57
   First released: March 1958 (Buddy Holly, Coral Records)
   
   This song about Our Hero's hopeless attraction to a Lawrence Welkie is
   sort of ironic because after all ole Buddy, with his Bible Belt
   upbringing, was a bit of a square himself (in the words of Oliver
   Vale, he..."was the kind of boy who would offer to change your tire on
   a lonely stretch of road"). But that's why I love him.
   
 

5) New York, N.Y.: Planning For The Future

   
   
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   
   
   The songs from this period are a far cry from the Buddy Holly of
   Lubbock and Clovis. Was it success, or perhaps marriage that settled
   him down at the ripe old age of twenty-two? He sounds so...satisfied.
   Perhaps it is only fair that Our Hero was allowed to achieve a sort of
   musical middle age, because he sure as hell didn't get one in real
   life. Adieu, sweet Odysseus...
   
   That's What They Say
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1/59
   First released: March 1960 (The Buddy Holly Story, Volume 2, Coral
   Records)
   
    There comes a time for everybody
   When true love will come your way
   There comes a time for everybody
   That's what they tell me, that's what they say.
   
   I didn't hear them say a word
   Of when that time will be.
   I only know that what they say
   Has not come true for me.
   
   You just keep waiting
   And love will come your way
   That's what they tell me, that's what they say.
   
   I still can't decide if this song is depressing or not.
   
    Love Is Strange
   
   Recorded: 1/59
   First released: January 1969 (Giant, Coral Records)
   
   At first listen this tune sounds a lot like Dearest, but there's a
   catchy little guitar line hidden beneath the overeager violins and
   slightly flat synthesizer.
   
   Smokey Joe's Cafe
   
    Recorded: 1/59
   First released: January 1969 (Giant, Coral Records)
   
   Urban legend about a hapless diner patron who rubs knees with the
   wrong girl and is nearly dispatched with a cooking knife: "Eat up all
   your beans, boy, and clear right on out!"
   
   Slippin' & Slidin'
   
   Recorded: 1/59
   First released: February 1963 (Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
   Slippin' and Slidin' are fine, but peepin' and hidin' are probably
   things best left unadvertised.
   
   Learning The Game
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1/59
   First released: March 1960 (The Buddy Holly Story, Volume 2, Coral
   Records)
   
    Hearts that are broken and love that's untrue,
   These go with learning the game.
   When you love her but she doesn't love you,
   You're only learning the game.
   When she says that you're the only one she'll ever love,
   Then you find that you are not the one she's thinking of,
   Feeling so sad and you're all alone and blue...
   
   Geez, after listening to this I have no desire whatsoever to learn the
   game...I think I'll just have a root canal instead.
   
   Crying, Waiting, Hoping
   
    Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1/59
   First released: 7/20/59 (flip side to Peggy Sue Got Married, Coral
   Records)
   
   A cool song--The Big B. H. delivers both a great guitar solo and nice
   vocals. But it makes you just wanna grab him by the shoulders of that
   stupid striped jacket and yell, "BUDDY! SHE'S GONE! GET A LIFE!"
   
   You're The One
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, and ? Corbin
   Recorded: 12/58
   First released: May 1964 (Showcase, Coral Records)
   
   Primordial synthesized strings show off their ability to play slow
   major scales.
   
    What To Do
   
    Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1/59
   First released: March 1960 (The Buddy Holly Story, Volume 2, Coral
   Records)
   
    Record hops, soda shops, walks to school--wasn't The Great Myopic One
   a little old for this kind of stuff? In truth I've never paid much
   attention to the words to this song, because each time it comes on I'm
   instantly mesmerized by THE VOICE. Correct me if I'm wrong, ladies,
   but I say Ole Blue Eyes has nothing on my Buddy.
   
    That Makes It Tough
   
   Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1/59
   First released: March 1960 (The Buddy Holly Story, Volume 2, Coral
   Records)
   
    Da doo da de doo...Buddy is backed by the greatest, most sympathetic
   group of guys since Diner. And you know a song's gonna rock when it
   starts out with a five-seven chord.
   
   Peggy Sue Got Married
   
    Written by: Buddy Holly
   Recorded: 1/59
   First released: 7/20/59
   
   There is an epic narrative quality about the story of what happens to
   Peggy Sue that, along with the classic guitar ride, imbues this song
   with the quality of a treasured rock-and-roll fable.
   
    Dearest
   
    Recorded: 1/59
   First released:12/13/63, UK (Coral Records)
   
   The sugar content of this song is such that it should bear a warning
   label for diabetics. Otherwise it's ok.
   
   Wait 'Til The Sun Shines Nellie
   
   Recorded: 1/59
   First released: 8/20/62 (flip side to Reminiscing, Coral Records)
   
   For some reason Buddy decided to record this old favorite in the key
   of A flat, seriously botching my efforts to play along with him on
   guitar. But he imbues it with such a bouncy tempo that you JUST GOTTA
   DANCE!
   
   Lisa Saunders Boffa (bholly@polysci.umass.edu)