Buddy Holly | Artist
Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holley was an American singer, songwriter and musician born 1936 in Lubbock, Texas. He was a pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll, along with his band The Crickets. Holly was born to a musical family during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing country and western music alongside his siblings and high school friends. He made his first appearance on local television in 1952, and the following year formed the group Buddy and Bob with his friend Bob Montgomery. In 1955, after opening for Elvis Presley as part of the Louisiana Hayride's local talent show, Holly decided to pursue a career in music. Subsequently, he played with Presley three times that year and his band's style shifted entirely to rock and roll. In October that year, when Holly opened for Bill Haley & His Comets, he was spotted by Nashville scout Eddie Crandall, who helped him get a contract with Decca Records. Holly chose to work with producer Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, and recorded a demo of "That'll Be the Day", among other songs. Petty became the band's manager and sent the demo to Brunswick Records, which released it as a single credited to The Crickets, a name chosen by the band to subvert Decca's contract limitations. It became the name of Holly's band. In September 1957, as the band toured, "That'll Be the Day" topped the US and UK singles charts. Its success was followed in October by another major hit, "Peggy Sue". Holly made his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in January 1958 and soon after toured Australia and the UK. In early 1959, he assembled a new band, consisting of future country music star Waylon Jennings (bass), famed session musician Tommy Allsup (guitar), and Carl Bunch (drums), and embarked on a tour of the mid-western US. After a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered an airplane to travel to his next show in Moorhead, Minnesota. Soon after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson in a tragedy later referred to by Don McLean as "The Day the Music Died" in his song "American Pie". Holly was just 23 years old. During his short career, Holly wrote and recorded many songs and became a major influence on later popular artists including Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and many more. As a recording artist Holly released three studio albums before his untimely death. Standout releases include the EP Oh Boy! (1957), and the albums The "Chirping" Crickets (1957), Buddy Holly (1958), The Buddy Holly Story (1959), The Buddy Holly Story Vol. II (1960), and the compilation From the Original Master Tapes (1985). Holly's singing style was characterized by his vocal hiccups, a technique he acquired after hearing Elvis do it, and his alternation between his regular voice and falsetto. Holly's "stuttering vocals" were complemented by his percussive guitar playing, solos, stops, bent notes, and rhythm and blues chord progressions. Holly was among the first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 13 in its list of 100 Greatest Artists in 2010. Holly wore heavy framed glasses and teenagers in the United States started to favour this style of glasses, which were later popularly known as "Buddy Holly glasses."
Artist Website : wikipedia/Buddy_Holly
Featured Albums: Buddy Holly
Related Artists: The Crickets, Elvis Presley, Bill Haley
