Though normal-sighted as a teenager, Elton John donned spectacles in imitation of the famous Holly horn-rims and ruined his eyesight as a result.
Posted on 07/22/2014 1:51:10 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
On the basis of simply counting heads, rock music surpasses even film as the 20th century's most influential art form. By that reckoning, there is a case for calling Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash 50 years ago next Tuesday, the century's most influential musician.
Holly and Elvis Presley are the two seminal figures of 1950s rock 'n' roll, the place where modern rock culture began. Virtually everything we hear on CD or see on film or the concert stage can be traced back to those twin towering icons – Elvis with his drape jacket and swivelling hips and Buddy in big black glasses, brooding over the fretboard of his Fender Stratocaster guitar.
But Presley's contribution to original, visceral rock 'n' roll was little more than that of a gorgeous transient; having unleashed the world-shaking new sound, he soon forsook it for slow ballads, schlock movie musicals and Las Vegas cabarets. Holly, by contrast, was a pioneer and a revolutionary. His was a multidimensional talent which seemed to arrive fully formed in a medium still largely populated by fumbling amateurs. The songs he co-wrote and performed with his backing band the Crickets remain as fresh and potent today as when recorded on primitive equipment in New Mexico half a century ago: That'll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Oh Boy, Not Fade Away.
To call someone who died at 22 "the father of rock" is not as fanciful as it seems. As a songwriter, performer and musician, Holly is the progenitor of virtually every world-class talent to emerge in the Sixties and Seventies. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and Bruce Springsteen all freely admit they began to play only after Buddy taught them how.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I’m only 52, but I’m a big fan of Buddy Holly. I liked him a lot more than I liked Elvis.
Look at “Jeff Beck Live at Ronnie Scotts”.
"Rock n roll's been going downhill ever since Buddy Holly died."
Hearing suffers in that business as well.
Remember what the aliens said?
Send more Chuck Berry!
It’s funny, Beatles covered a relatively boring Buddy Holly song, Words of Love.
Who?
Unlike Elvis, Buddy Holly was relatively free of any self-destructive tendencies. He was very amiable and quite religious too.
One can only wonder how his music would have evolved had he lived longer to write and perform more music.
He was only 22 when he died !!
RE: Who?
How old are you?
Not a huge fan of Holly — can take him or leave him. But his song, “True Love Ways”, is one of my favorites. Just beautiful.
23.
Youtube has a lot of his demos which is pretty cool. Amazing he did so much in only a few years. One story I like was he was doing an interview at a radio station with Waylon Jennings and the DJ bet him he couldn’t write a song in 5 minutes and they took a 5 minute break and they came back with this.........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaGYA_KQIJU
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
--Don McLean, "American Pie"
RE: Don McLean, “American Pie”
And don’t forget the refrain: “That’ll be the day that I die” (from Buddy Holly’s hit song ).
If you were from Texas, you’d know Buddy Holly anyway.
RE: 23.
You are older than Buddy Holly when he died. :)
Will Buddy ever fade away? That’ll be the day !!!
The day the music died was over 55 years ago, February 3rd, 1959.
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