One of my friends went to the US hired a car and drove to Lubbock on a pilgrimage. He got to jam with a guy who had played with Buddy. I will be green for ever about that.
One of my regrets is that I never got to meet him. I was booked to play the Clovis Fest along with The Crickets many years back. We both got canned in favor of an Elvis impersonator.
Merci beaucoup for this. Buddy Holly and the Crickets were probably my introduction to music. I was too young to remember Buddy, but I'm sure my older siblings were playing him next to my cradle,
Your life has spanned from Buddy Holly and also the Sun Records gang through to the 70s, an era that will never be equaled. Music now is all derivative and corporate driven. For that span of time it was young people throwing the book out of the window. I feel proud and lucky to have lived that time.
I met Buddy and the Crickets on their trip to the UK in March 1958, they played my local cinema the Gaumont State. A few years later I met the Crickets again and with some time with Sonny Curtis he showed me how James Burton played the middle eight to "Hello Mary Lou"- great memories.
J P thanks for this… I’m a huge Buddy fan and I’ve read just about everything ever written about him but there were some nuggets in here that I did not know… Thanks and would be great to meet you someday.
Thanks very much! I try to consult as many sources as I can, and then tie all the threads together. I’m out in Southern California and play with my band frequently. We’ve always got a lot of Buddy Holly material in every set. Thanks again for the comment!
J P. When you listen to those apartment tapes that buddy made in January 1959 it really gives you the chills… Smokey Joe’s Café - what to do - dearest Love is strange and others.
J.I Allison was the best and most innovative 50's r'n'r drummer. Other than Peggy Sue, his unique tricks and style defined many other classic r'n'r songs by Buddy and many other artists. If this wasn't enough, he also was a terrific songwritter. No other guitar player and drummer matched and fitted each other as well as Buddy and J.I. did. They formed the first band in rock history featuring 2 electric guitars, bass and drums, and both changed rock music drastically. The list of well known bands and artists they heavily influenced is endless. Rock simply wouldn't be what we know today without Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison..Hats off to these Lubbock kids.
Peggy Sue was a terrific example of that guitar/drum synthesis that Buddy and Jerry had. Indeed, it was said at the time that the two could almost carry a song alone. Another great example of this interplay was "Not Fade Away", one of my favorite Holly tunes.
@@westpoint64 - I’m with you. In fact, Buddy and J.I. did play a lot of shows just as a duo, especially in late 1956. I think that period of playing together and intense rehearsing had a lot to do with the magic of the songs they’d record in 1957 in Clovis.
Hi JP... My name is Alan Murphy. I had the great good fortune to be involved with The Budy Holly Story in Australia. Promoted and organised by my good friends David and Julie White, they having secured the rights rom the show owners in London. .. I did many things in the rehearsal stages of the show, which took place on the goldcoast of Australia, driving the cast from the rehearsals to their accomodation etc, and anything that needed to be done. The show opened on the 50th anniversary of Buddys death in Sydney, A poigniant tribute. David and Julie arranged for Peggy Sue to open the show, and do promotional interviews on TV and radio. Leading up to the opening, the instrument tech had to suddenly pull out owing to his wife being taken very ill, so David asked me if I could do that job!! I had played in bands for twenty years on a fun level, and had built guitars to my own liking, however I had no knowledge of , drumkits, keyboards etc etc. I agreed to do the job, and confessed to Ray Maguire our stalwart and amazing road manager that I knew very little of anything other than guitars. He arranged to have a tutor teach me the ropes over three days... I was nervous, but determined to do my best for my great friends.... I was in the tea rooms in Sydney dress rehearsals when I first met Peggy Sue. I just said hi! she replied the same, .. A long story shortened, I ended up driving Peggy Sue around Sydney in a half million dollar motorhome covered with the Buddy logos, we became really good friends during her stay. She worked like a Trojan during that time doing at least forty interviews. Her saying was Okay. Whats next. Everyone on the show loved her, a humble and delightful lady I thought. Years later I visited Peggy Sue in Lubbock Texas three years running on the 3rd of Feb To keep alive our friendship. we drank a little wine and watched the superbowl final., a bit of a mystery to me being a Brit.. Anyway JP. thanks for your videos, I do enjoy them. Im subscribed and look forward to the next. Kind regards. Alan ... AKA SPUD.
What a great experience that must have been! I met Peggy Sue myself, in Lubbock on what would have been Buddy’s 75th birthday. She was a real firecracker, full of energy and goodwill. Thanks for the story!
Excellent video. Great story telling with understandable demos. Thanks. We really don't understand the great changes Buddy made in his short life. This helps.
One of my favorite Buddy Holly songs is a tune called " Heatbeat" which you don't hear that often. It's a great tune, with a moving beat and nice melody. If I was playing in a band again, that song would be on the set list.
Learning about recording in the 1950's is like a vitamin for my music brain. Simple array of elements at play, yet disciplined and extra creative with the possibilities. I love the original rock sound so much, what an excellent history. Thanks!
The "F" Major chord is borrowed from the key of A Minor. It is what we call a "Substitution" chord that is used for this song which is in the key of A Major. Nice Explanation.
Back in 1981, the band I was in was on the same bill with Waylon Jennings , along with " The Original Crickets" at the Salinas Country Fairgrounds in California. I only wish now I could go back in time and relieve that afternoon. We felt honored to be there but probably didn't appreciate it enough as I would now.
I was booked to open for The Crickets in Clovis about 20 years ago. The festival decided that year to switch to all tribute bands, so instead of The Crickets and my band they booked an Elvis impersonator and an Orbison impersonator. It’s one of the. Ingest disappointments of my life.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always thought that Buddy moved rock and roll beyond the 12 bar blues into something much bigger. Others (like Fats Domino) had a big hand in that, but Buddy made it happen.
Yes, Jerry Allison often told how they used a cardboard box instead of a snare drum for “Not Fade Away”, a trick that Buddy Knox used earlier for “Party Doll”.
It is such a great song. So danceable to this day. The Crickets Anne Murray performance really rocked and it was funny to see a couple or two having a difficult time standing still. Thank you for all of the wonderful history!
Fascinating story well told. There are a couple of examples of the "Peggy Sue" chord (Flat VI) in early Beatles songs, e.g. From Me to You and P. S I Love You. Looking for more of your videos.
Thanks very much. I always think of that as a Sharp V (same difference). The earliest example I know of in rock and roll is Carl Perkins’ “Honey Don’t”. More to come soon!
@@WesternBop Yes, of course, Honey, Don't. I should have remembered that. I've plunked that one of the piano in E so the C chord is the Peggy Sue. Makes sense for a guitar player to use the E to C change. Guitarist wouldn't want to use the G to Eb, change, I wouldn't think.
Oh and to add a little to my story. I heard Peggy Sue we think 220 times during the rehearsals and show, played by the extraordinary talened Scott Cameron, who is still touring on a Buddy tribute. I never tire of Buddys songs... I also met Bob Mongomery who wrote Heartbeat... a fabulous song. Alan.
Excellent content and presentation!!! Why dont you have more subcribers? When I hit subscribe I expected at least a couple 10k subscribers. Anyway I think that will happen soon! Keep up the great work!
Stratocasters were not wired with a tone control for the bridge pickup originally. As you know, Buddy was playing a ‘50s Strat; it had no bridge tone control. Original wiring for the early Strats: two tone controls, one for the neck and one for the middle, plus one volume control. What a great story about the rhythm player “gear shifting” to the bridge pickup! Buddy was the person who brought the Fender Stratocaster to mainstream rock and roll-the original Strat-master.
Minding my neighbours kids in the '70's she said I could listen to her records. I remember Buddy sounding pretty modern. Now I know why. I guess she had some other '50's rock n roll too. It's pretty cool.
Jerry was a fine drummer, he used cardboard boxes and it still sounded great. In my humble opinion Buddy was the real King of rock n roll. Thanks for telling us the story.
Just the day before yesterday I listened to a 78 rpm recording of Peggy Sue, and I was struck by the drum sound. It really reminded me of a typical surfing song, like The Ventures. I wondered who influenced who.
@@WesternBop Yes, I know, but I think what I should have asked is whether the surfing drum style I’m referring to was actually influenced by Buddy Holley’s drummer. Am I making any sense to you?
Excellent video JP. I've heard another song, recorded at Petty's studio, which used the F chord bridge, by another artist/band. I can't recall who, I'll try to remember.
Buddy played it live as well as he did on the records. No big mystery.. Jerry Allison on drums. Mauldin on bass. And the 3rd Cricket on stage. Norman Petty helped it a lot with his acoustics. Nikki Sullivan was the 3rd Cricket. I knew about the switch on Buddy's guitar. Jerry Allison talks about it in The Real Buddy Holly Story. Paul Mccartney's documentary.
You are correct. I was wrong on this part. The sound of the bridge pickup wired straight to the neck is similar to the tone pot on a modern Strat turned all the way up.
It's difficult to determine whether Norman Petty was a hero or villain in Buddy's last year. He added his name to songs that he didn't write and held back Buddy's earnings.
Every single one of western music popular songs, refer to one thing mainly: Supperb, creative and experimentative Production. From little Richard's micing, to Buddy Holly trying unorthodox arrangements, to the Beatles inventing the "studio as an instrument" to Cocteau Twins' heavy use of boxes and looping, To hip hop sampling... it's the things that are not necessarily up front there, but are the backbone of everyone, with the not-often-named geniuses producers, engineeris and technicians.
By example, Norman Petty showed Buddy how to take already good performances and make them sound huge and crisp. I'm sure that Buddy watched what Norman did because you can hear it in the things Buddy produced himself. But do bear this in mind: Norman was dealing with a red hot band to start with. Go listen to "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox and then "That'll Be the Day". Same studio, same producer, same year, but vastly different.
Hi. Those photos at the 9 and 1:17 time marks...those guitars are Jumbos. Were those his? If so, do we know where those are? I thought the leather j-45 was it. You have some nice photographs.
He did has a couple of Jumbos in late 1958, a Gibson J-200 and a Guild Navarre, but there are no photos of Buddy playing them. Those photos are with borrowed guitars. I don’t know who owned them at this moment but will do a little research and report back. Thanks for the question!
From the two pieces of existing film I know of (Ed Sullivan and Arthur Murray shows) he didn’t - he kept the same position for the whole song. It looks like he was in the middle position. Thanks for the question!
@@WesternBop I first got interested in Buddy Holly through the movie which I saw as a young teen on HBO back in the late 70's. I even had the soundtrack album. When I finally heard the real Buddy on an oldies station, I was amazed at how different he sounded from Gary Busey.
I think the movie got a lot of people listening. It definitely sparked a lot of interest in Buddy for people like me who weren’t born yet when he hit the scene.
Good question! There’s just one video I’ve seen of Buddy playing “Peggy Sue” live. He appears to leave it shifted into high gear (the jangly solo sound) for the whole song.
@@HomebrewStew Sullivan was an A-hole. I watch him lording it over kids with 100 times his talent. He was a big man then. Now he comes across as a jerk in videos. I love the story about him telling Jim Morrison not to say "light my fire" in a song named "light my fire". Pretty stupid. Jim just blew him off and sang it anyway. Sullivan whined about it after the song but Jim didn't care. Somehow it didn't hurt The Doors career ... LOL ....
No tone control, at all, on the bridge p/u on a 50s Strat. The 2nd tone, in those days, covered the tone of the middle p/u only. Modern iterations of a 50s Strat, sometimes, route the neck and middle through ‘tone 1’ and the bridge through ‘tone 2’, but this is neither universal, nor historically accurate. Niki Sullivan’s job was just to flick the 3-way between neck and bridge, and back, at the appropriate points in the song.
@@rob_in_stowmarket_uk - I have a couple of Strats that are similar to 50s, but the second tone pot is wired to both the middle and bridge pickups. I think Fender started doing that back in the late 70s. Glad you enjoyed the video!
So all that is needed to get the girl of your dreams is a really great song named after her? Nothing to it then. Now to go learn how to write a really great song.🙃
All of the sources I've used say that it was a snare drum with the snares disengaged. When playing live, J.I. would use the full kit to imitate the rolling sound achieved with the reverb chamber in the studio.
@@WesternBop The snares disengaged - not being a drummer, I'd have never thought of that. Great information, and thank you for the reply! Also, I'm going to have to find a video of J.I. playing this live as I'm having trouble imagining.
I would be interested to see your documentation re: mic on strings. I believe the sound of the strumming is just leakage into the vocal mic. I've been a professional recording engineer for 40 years and hear this sound often.
The most specific reference is in "The King of Clovis", Frank Blanas' book about Norman Petty. He says that Petty used a "Telefunken 250 or Stevens pencil mic to record the pick striking the strings of [Holly's] solid-body Fender Stratocaster guitar". Blanas cites an article by William J. Bush in the June 1982 issue of Guitar Player magazine, "The Legend and Legacy".
@@WesternBop Interesting. When I record a vocalist while they are playing electric guitar I always get some of that sound on the vocal mic. If I have to do a vocal "punch" the singer needs to strum the guitar for continuity. We got a private tour of the studio a couple of years ago. Very cool to sit in Norman's chair and also play the lick from "Every Day" on the celeste that's still there. Amazing that Buddy's career from the first recording through all the hits, worlds tours, Ed Sullivan show, building a house for his parents only covered a period of 18 months!
Yes….it really was all about that F chord in the bridge that sets this song apart. Otherwise, it’s a typical boring piece. Oh, and the drums of course. Of all the ones that died young that I wonder about, it’s always buddy that I think of the most. I have no doubt he would be on the cutting edge and leading the way well into the 60’s as evident in this video which demonstrates his unique ideas.
when buddy holly came on the scene rock 'n' roll was already dead, tamed to schmalzy teenie love songs as harmless as can be. all the punk was gone, the edge and rawness sacrificed to appease corporate america. i have no idea why anyone would consider buddy holly rock 'n' roll.
You certainly may feel as you wish..but have you listened to Buddy's cover of Little Richard's "Ready Teddy" lately? I will consider Buddy Holly rock and roll until my dying day.
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Buddy Holly and The Crickets were the teachers, all of those who came after were the pupils.
That’s a nice way to think of it.
One of my friends went to the US hired a car and drove to Lubbock on a pilgrimage. He got to jam with a guy who had played with Buddy. I will be green for ever about that.
Lucky guy!
I was 10 years old. This was my intro to music. The paradiddle on the drums had me movin'. Still my favorite Buddy Holley record.
That’s certainly a great place to start!
I was lucky enough to meet Jerry some years back at an oldies fest. He was a great guy to talk to.
One of my regrets is that I never got to meet him. I was booked to play the Clovis Fest along with The Crickets many years back. We both got canned in favor of an Elvis impersonator.
Very informative ! Each one of Buddy Holly's tracks are worth analysis ! Their influence on the Beatles and other bands is enormous !
Thank you! I agree. I have an extended exploration of “That’ll Be the Day” coming soon.
Excellent. The Crickets have always been amongst my heroes. 😊
Mine too - glad you enjoyed it!
This is fantastic, please make more buddy holly videos!
I’ll have a new one in a week or two - thanks!
@@WesternBop I agree. With all that Buddy did for music, there must be some more interesting stories about his creativity.
Thanks - the next one will be an extended exploration of “That’ll Be The Day”.
Great History. Thank You!
Thank you for the comment!
Merci beaucoup for this. Buddy Holly and the Crickets were probably my introduction to music. I was too young to remember Buddy, but I'm sure my older siblings were playing him next to my cradle,
That’s a great beginning!
Your life has spanned from Buddy Holly and also the Sun Records gang through to the 70s, an era that will never be equaled. Music now is all derivative and corporate driven. For that span of time it was young people throwing the book out of the window. I feel proud and lucky to have lived that time.
I met Buddy and the Crickets on their trip to the UK in March 1958, they played my local cinema the Gaumont State. A few years later I met the Crickets again and with some time with Sonny Curtis he showed me how James Burton played the middle eight to "Hello Mary Lou"- great memories.
What great memories these must be!
J P thanks for this… I’m a huge Buddy fan and I’ve read just about everything ever written about him but there were some nuggets in here that I did not know… Thanks and would be great to meet you someday.
Thanks very much! I try to consult as many sources as I can, and then tie all the threads together. I’m out in Southern California and play with my band frequently. We’ve always got a lot of Buddy Holly material in every set. Thanks again for the comment!
The absolute BEST rock n roll story EVER. When things were simpler....and POSSIBLE.
Agreed!
J P. When you listen to those apartment tapes that buddy made in January 1959 it really gives you the chills… Smokey Joe’s Café - what to do - dearest Love is strange and others.
Agreed. My favorite of the bunch is “That Makes It Tough”, recorded Dec 8, 1958.
@@WesternBop Absolutely… But also… That untitled instrumental that he does as well.
I am 80 ,yo and will never forget Buddy Holly.aGreat. loss to music and the world.Go Bless You
The vocal on That Makes It Tough has always impressed me: it’s really innovative!
Very interesting well researched and well presented!
J.I Allison was the best and most innovative 50's r'n'r drummer. Other than Peggy Sue, his unique tricks and style defined many other classic r'n'r songs by Buddy and many other artists. If this wasn't enough, he also was a terrific songwritter.
No other guitar player and drummer matched and fitted each other as well as Buddy and J.I. did. They formed the first band in rock history featuring 2 electric guitars, bass and drums, and both changed rock music drastically. The list of well known bands and artists they heavily influenced is endless. Rock simply wouldn't be what we know today without Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison..Hats off to these Lubbock kids.
I couldn’t agree more. J.I. was incredibly talented, innovative, and important to the history of rock and roll!
ansias77 Thanks for that ....
Peggy Sue was a terrific example of that guitar/drum synthesis that Buddy and Jerry had. Indeed, it was said at the time that the two could almost carry a song alone. Another great example of this interplay was "Not Fade Away", one of my favorite Holly tunes.
@@westpoint64 - I’m with you. In fact, Buddy and J.I. did play a lot of shows just as a duo, especially in late 1956. I think that period of playing together and intense rehearsing had a lot to do with the magic of the songs they’d record in 1957 in Clovis.
You forgot the Blue Caps!
Hi JP... My name is Alan Murphy. I had the great good fortune to be involved with The Budy Holly Story in Australia. Promoted and organised by my good friends David and Julie White, they having secured the rights rom the show owners in London. .. I did many things in the rehearsal stages of the show, which took place on the goldcoast of Australia, driving the cast from the rehearsals to their accomodation etc, and anything that needed to be done. The show opened on the 50th anniversary of Buddys death in Sydney, A poigniant tribute. David and Julie arranged for Peggy Sue to open the show, and do promotional interviews on TV and radio. Leading up to the opening, the instrument tech had to suddenly pull out owing to his wife being taken very ill, so David asked me if I could do that job!! I had played in bands for twenty years on a fun level, and had built guitars to my own liking, however I had no knowledge of , drumkits, keyboards etc etc. I agreed to do the job, and confessed to Ray Maguire our stalwart and amazing road manager that I knew very little of anything other than guitars. He arranged to have a tutor teach me the ropes over three days... I was nervous, but determined to do my best for my great friends.... I was in the tea rooms in Sydney dress rehearsals when I first met Peggy Sue. I just said hi! she replied the same, .. A long story shortened, I ended up driving Peggy Sue around Sydney in a half million dollar motorhome covered with the Buddy logos, we became really good friends during her stay. She worked like a Trojan during that time doing at least forty interviews. Her saying was Okay. Whats next. Everyone on the show loved her, a humble and delightful lady I thought. Years later I visited Peggy Sue in Lubbock Texas three years running on the 3rd of Feb To keep alive our friendship. we drank a little wine and watched the superbowl final., a bit of a mystery to me being a Brit.. Anyway JP. thanks for your videos, I do enjoy them. Im subscribed and look forward to the next. Kind regards. Alan ... AKA SPUD.
What a great experience that must have been! I met Peggy Sue myself, in Lubbock on what would have been Buddy’s 75th birthday. She was a real firecracker, full of energy and goodwill. Thanks for the story!
It wonderful when people bring the past history to life. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing this. What great memories.
Excellent video. Great story telling with understandable demos. Thanks. We really don't understand the great changes Buddy made in his short life. This helps.
Thanks very much. It is amazing what he accomplished in less than three years.
I love Rock history and the technical side of it as well. This was time very well spent.
Thanks very much - I’m glad that you got something out of it!
One of my favorite Buddy Holly songs is a tune called " Heatbeat" which you don't hear that often. It's a great tune, with a moving beat and nice melody. If I was playing in a band again, that song would be on the set list.
That’s one of my favorites. We just played it at our show last Wednesday night!
Learning about recording in the 1950's is like a vitamin for my music brain. Simple array of elements at play, yet disciplined and extra creative with the possibilities. I love the original rock sound so much, what an excellent history. Thanks!
I agree - I think the constraints they were under lead to a lot of creativity.
The "F" Major chord is borrowed from the key of A Minor. It is what we call a "Substitution" chord that is used for this song which is in the key of A Major.
Nice Explanation.
Thanks - I hadn’t thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the perspective!
@@WesternBop You're welcome & keep up the good work!
Back in 1981, the band I was in was on the same bill with Waylon Jennings , along with " The Original Crickets" at the Salinas Country Fairgrounds in California. I only wish now I could go back in time and relieve that afternoon. We felt honored to be there but probably didn't appreciate it enough as I would now.
I was booked to open for The Crickets in Clovis about 20 years ago. The festival decided that year to switch to all tribute bands, so instead of The Crickets and my band they booked an Elvis impersonator and an Orbison impersonator. It’s one of the. Ingest disappointments of my life.
Buddy was an major inflection point for American music. Virtually everything we hear today has it's roots in Buddy's innovation.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always thought that Buddy moved rock and roll beyond the 12 bar blues into something much bigger. Others (like Fats Domino) had a big hand in that, but Buddy made it happen.
passionnant!! merci!!
Merçi beaucoup!
loved it. great job.
Thank you!
I heard from the crickets that the drums was played on on a box of paper and not on a drumset, and yes they make the drumsound through reverb.
👍
Yes, Jerry Allison often told how they used a cardboard box instead of a snare drum for “Not Fade Away”, a trick that Buddy Knox used earlier for “Party Doll”.
It is such a great song. So danceable to this day. The Crickets Anne Murray performance really rocked and it was funny to see a couple or two having a difficult time standing still. Thank you for all of the wonderful history!
Thank you for the comment! It is remarkable how that song pulls people of all ages onto the dance floor 65 years later!
Fascinating story well told. There are a couple of examples of the "Peggy Sue" chord (Flat VI) in early Beatles songs, e.g. From Me to You and P. S I Love You. Looking for more of your videos.
Thanks very much. I always think of that as a Sharp V (same difference). The earliest example I know of in rock and roll is Carl Perkins’ “Honey Don’t”. More to come soon!
@@WesternBop Yes, of course, Honey, Don't. I should have remembered that. I've plunked that one of the piano in E so the C chord is the Peggy Sue. Makes sense for a guitar player to use the E to C change. Guitarist wouldn't want to use the G to Eb, change, I wouldn't think.
You’re right! It took me years to get comfortable in flat keys…
@@WesternBop I have always called F the magic chord. Buddy was an inspiration to many.
Oh and to add a little to my story. I heard Peggy Sue we think 220 times during the rehearsals and show, played by the extraordinary talened Scott Cameron, who is still touring on a Buddy tribute. I never tire of Buddys songs... I also met Bob Mongomery who wrote Heartbeat... a fabulous song. Alan.
I’m big Bob Montgomery fan. Some of my favorite Buddy songs were written by Bob. Thanks again!
Now, that’s an incredible review!
First class!
(I’ve been a Buddy Holly fan since 1962)
Thanks very much! I’m glad to hear that a longtime fan enjoyed it!
Great true information J.P. I loved it mate!
Thanks very much!
I always wondered what that sound was when listening to Peggy Sue. Now I know it was the neck pickup. Thank you!
Happy to be of service!
Excellent content and presentation!!! Why dont you have more subcribers? When I hit subscribe I expected at least a couple 10k subscribers. Anyway I think that will happen soon! Keep up the great work!
Thanks very much! I’ve got a new one coming soon, all about the two versions of “That’ll Be the Day”. Thanks for subscribing!
Great story, well told, thanks.
Thanks very much!
Stratocasters were not wired with a tone control for the bridge pickup originally. As you know, Buddy was playing a ‘50s Strat; it had no bridge tone control. Original wiring for the early Strats: two tone controls, one for the neck and one for the middle, plus one volume control. What a great story about the rhythm player “gear shifting” to the bridge pickup! Buddy was the person who brought the Fender Stratocaster to mainstream rock and roll-the original Strat-master.
Thanks for the comment. Yes, I did make a mistake on the tone control. I added a note in the description about that. Glad you liked the story!
Nicely done!
Thanks very much!
Without Buddy Holly there is no Beatles, and the musical landscape of the 60's would have sounded a whole lot duller.
He showed them the way.
Minding my neighbours kids in the '70's she said I could listen to her records. I remember Buddy sounding pretty modern. Now I know why. I guess she had some other '50's rock n roll too. It's pretty cool.
I’ve always thought that Buddy’s best stuff sounded like it was just recorded last week.
The first time I heard Peggy Sue, I didn't know who sang it and thought it was out of the mid 1960s. I had no idea that Holly recorded it in 1957!
Jerry was a fine drummer, he used cardboard boxes and it still sounded great. In my humble opinion Buddy was the real King of rock n roll. Thanks for telling us the story.
My pleasure!
Great story including getting the girl. Rock and Roll
Thank you!
Just the day before yesterday I listened to a 78 rpm recording of Peggy Sue, and I was struck by the drum sound. It really reminded me of a typical surfing song, like The Ventures. I wondered who influenced who.
“Peggy Sue” was recorded and released in 1957. The Ventures first record, “Walk Don’t Run” was 1960…
@@WesternBop Yes, I know, but I think what I should have asked is whether the surfing drum style I’m referring to was actually influenced by Buddy Holley’s drummer. Am I making any sense to you?
@@davidhull1481 - I see. Good question.
@@WesternBop Now all we need is an answer!
Sure! The connection is Norman Petty and Surf music… and Buddy & Jerry were first!
Thank you!
My pleasure!
Excellent video JP. I've heard another song, recorded at Petty's studio, which used the F chord bridge, by another artist/band. I can't recall who, I'll try to remember.
Thank you for the comment! I love the way Buddy uses it again in “Peggy Sue Got Married”. It’s a perfect callback to the first song.
Great video JP!
Thank you very much!
Very interesting !!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Buddy played it live as well as he did on the records. No big mystery.. Jerry Allison on drums. Mauldin on bass. And the 3rd Cricket on stage. Norman Petty helped it a lot with his acoustics. Nikki Sullivan was the 3rd Cricket. I knew about the switch on Buddy's guitar. Jerry Allison talks about it in The Real Buddy Holly Story. Paul Mccartney's documentary.
Yes, that documentary is a wealth of great information.
12 string acoustic is a good way to play Peggy Sue.
The beauty of Buddy’s music is that it can be played many ways and it stays beautiful.
Can you imagine what else Buddy Holly would have come up with had he only not gotten on that plane… the world will never know…
True. I’m very thankful for the deep well of music he left us in such a short time.
thanks mister
It was my pleasure!
5:56, Long ago I heard it was Norman Petty's wife who did the "gear shifting".
Interesting. I’ve never heard that before. She was always around the studio so it’s not improbable. All the sources I have say it was Niki.
Buddy was realy the best!!!!!
Love him... Love his songs
😀
🇧🇷
Paul McCartney owns the publishing rights of the Buddy Holly Catalogue
True! He’s had those rights for many years.
50's Strats did not have a tone control on the bridge pickup.
You are correct. I was wrong on this part. The sound of the bridge pickup wired straight to the neck is similar to the tone pot on a modern Strat turned all the way up.
I’ve updated the description to include this note.
Many years ago, i actually spoke briefly to peggy sue.
That’s very cool. I met her once for a minute. She was a real firecracker!
Is there any copies of cindy loo in the vaults
Not that anyone knows about. There are rumors that his widow has some tapes, but we won’t know for certain until after she passes.
Yeah glad he got Peggy after that,
They didn’t stay married long, but they were just kids at the time.
You said to like and subscribe if I enjoyed this so guess what? I did, and did! Cheers from Tasmania.
Thanks very much - more videos coming soon!
It's difficult to determine whether Norman Petty was a hero or villain in Buddy's last year. He added his name to songs that he didn't write and held back Buddy's earnings.
It’s true. He was an enigma. A brilliant producer nonetheless.
Every single one of western music popular songs, refer to one thing mainly: Supperb, creative and experimentative Production. From little Richard's micing, to Buddy Holly trying unorthodox arrangements, to the Beatles inventing the "studio as an instrument" to Cocteau Twins' heavy use of boxes and looping, To hip hop sampling... it's the things that are not necessarily up front there, but are the backbone of everyone, with the not-often-named geniuses producers, engineeris and technicians.
Good point! There are great songs that didn’t make great records. The production and engineering really makes a big part of the magic.
By example, Norman Petty showed Buddy how to take already good performances and make them sound huge and crisp. I'm sure that Buddy watched what Norman did because you can hear it in the things Buddy produced himself. But do bear this in mind: Norman was dealing with a red hot band to start with. Go listen to "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox and then "That'll Be the Day". Same studio, same producer, same year, but vastly different.
Nice.
Thanks!
The drummer gets the girl and honeymoons in Acapulco with the star singer/songwriter and his wife; a moment they’ll cherish the rest of their lives.
💯
Hi. Those photos at the 9 and 1:17 time marks...those guitars are Jumbos. Were those his? If so, do we know where those are? I thought the leather j-45 was it.
You have some nice photographs.
He did has a couple of Jumbos in late 1958, a Gibson J-200 and a Guild Navarre, but there are no photos of Buddy playing them. Those photos are with borrowed guitars. I don’t know who owned them at this moment but will do a little research and report back. Thanks for the question!
Not sure if it was the same one, but I recall seeing one of these at the Buddy Holly museum in Lubbock a few years back, along with his Strat.
how did they do the gear shifting live?
From the two pieces of existing film I know of (Ed Sullivan and Arthur Murray shows) he didn’t - he kept the same position for the whole song. It looks like he was in the middle position. Thanks for the question!
@@WesternBop I first got interested in Buddy Holly through the movie which I saw as a young teen on HBO back in the late 70's. I even had the soundtrack album. When I finally heard the real Buddy on an oldies station, I was amazed at how different he sounded from Gary Busey.
I think the movie got a lot of people listening. It definitely sparked a lot of interest in Buddy for people like me who weren’t born yet when he hit the scene.
How did they manage the "gear shifter" while playing live?
Good question! There’s just one video I’ve seen of Buddy playing “Peggy Sue” live. He appears to leave it shifted into high gear (the jangly solo sound) for the whole song.
@JP McDermott Music
That's what I assumed was what he must have done. Set it and forget it.
It’s the only way to fly!
@@WesternBop Ed Sullivan also had a hand in altering Buddy's guitar sound when he turned his amp down during a live performance.
@@HomebrewStew Sullivan was an A-hole. I watch him lording it over kids with 100 times his talent. He was a big man then. Now he comes across as a jerk in videos. I love the story about him telling Jim Morrison not to say "light my fire" in a song named "light my fire". Pretty stupid. Jim just blew him off and sang it anyway. Sullivan whined about it after the song but Jim didn't care. Somehow it didn't hurt The Doors career ... LOL ....
No tone control, at all, on the bridge p/u on a 50s Strat. The 2nd tone, in those days, covered the tone of the middle p/u only.
Modern iterations of a 50s Strat, sometimes, route the neck and middle through ‘tone 1’ and the bridge through ‘tone 2’, but this is neither universal, nor historically accurate.
Niki Sullivan’s job was just to flick the 3-way between neck and bridge, and back, at the appropriate points in the song.
Yes - I did make an error regarding the tone control. I put a note in the description about that. Thanks for the comment.
@@WesternBop 👍 No problem, J.P, great videos. Loved Buddy, J.I. and Joe B’s output since ‘58. It’s the main reason I have 2 ‘50s Strats.
@@rob_in_stowmarket_uk - I have a couple of Strats that are similar to 50s, but the second tone pot is wired to both the middle and bridge pickups. I think Fender started doing that back in the late 70s. Glad you enjoyed the video!
So all that is needed to get the girl of your dreams is a really great song named after her? Nothing to it then. Now to go learn how to write a really great song.🙃
Not exactly, you have to get your best friend to write a really great song!
Are you sure the drummer is playing the snare? I always assumed he was playing the floor tom.
All of the sources I've used say that it was a snare drum with the snares disengaged. When playing live, J.I. would use the full kit to imitate the rolling sound achieved with the reverb chamber in the studio.
@@WesternBop The snares disengaged - not being a drummer, I'd have never thought of that. Great information, and thank you for the reply! Also, I'm going to have to find a video of J.I. playing this live as I'm having trouble imagining.
Norman “Petty”…..
I see what you did there…
I would be interested to see your documentation re: mic on strings. I believe the sound of the strumming is just leakage into the vocal mic. I've been a professional recording engineer for 40 years and hear this sound often.
The most specific reference is in "The King of Clovis", Frank Blanas' book about Norman Petty. He says that Petty used a "Telefunken 250 or Stevens pencil mic to record the pick striking the strings of [Holly's] solid-body Fender Stratocaster guitar". Blanas cites an article by William J. Bush in the June 1982 issue of Guitar Player magazine, "The Legend and Legacy".
@@WesternBop Interesting. When I record a vocalist while they are playing electric guitar I always get some of that sound on the vocal mic. If I have to do a vocal "punch" the singer needs to strum the guitar for continuity. We got a private tour of the studio a couple of years ago. Very cool to sit in Norman's chair and also play the lick from "Every Day" on the celeste that's still there. Amazing that Buddy's career from the first recording through all the hits, worlds tours, Ed Sullivan show, building a house for his parents only covered a period of 18 months!
I’m always astonished at how much happened and how much great music was made in such a short time.
That was great, but tune your guitar next time.
Excellent advice. Sometimes it’s easy to overlook the details in the flurry of production.
Must be a picker. A nit picker
🤣
@Paul Hopkins Oh shut up. LOL
Yes….it really was all about that F chord in the bridge that sets this song apart. Otherwise, it’s a typical boring piece. Oh, and the drums of course.
Of all the ones that died young that I wonder about, it’s always buddy that I think of the most. I have no doubt he would be on the cutting edge and leading the way well into the 60’s as evident in this video which demonstrates his unique ideas.
Thanks very much. I agree with you about the 60s. Buddy was a real innovator.
Buddy, Jim Morrison, Janis, Hendrix, Valens, Redding. All having gone too soon.
Eddie Cochran should be included as as well experimentation master!
wrong
I know I’m wrong about the tone pot on the neck pickup and mention that in the description above. Anything else I should be considering?
when buddy holly came on the scene rock 'n' roll was already dead, tamed to schmalzy teenie love songs as harmless as can be. all the punk was gone, the edge and rawness sacrificed to appease corporate america.
i have no idea why anyone would consider buddy holly rock 'n' roll.
Every one is entitled to their opinions. In my opinion, “Peggy Sue” is musically pretty aggressive and edgy. Give it another listen with open ears.
musically yes but the lyrics!
You have no idea what you're talking about.
You certainly may feel as you wish..but have you listened to Buddy's cover of Little Richard's "Ready Teddy" lately? I will consider Buddy Holly rock and roll until my dying day.
@@monofavoriten Bear in mind that lyrics had to be tame and somewhat coy in the 1950s to ever be recorded to start with, compared to later years.