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 ...
A cover performed by Buddy Holly & friends that not too many people have heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rakpcDv6DFQ
Poor guy, he didn’t have auto tune microphones and he didn’t use a bunch of pre-recorded backing tracks. All he was able to do was get up onstage and play and sing the songs he wrote. I guess it’s pretty safe to say he’ll never in the same league as current musical ‘artists’.
‘One can only wonder how his music would have evolved had he lived longer to write and perform more music.’
A glimpse of Holly’s plans for the future:
“By the time [Buddy Holly and his wife] had settled into their Manhattan apartment, Holly had set up a recording and publishing company called Prism, which he intended to focus on as a talent-spotter and producer, parallel to his songwriting and performing career. His dreams didn’t end there: he wanted to perform in movies (like Elvis Presley did), write musical scores for films, record a gospel album (ideally with among his favorite gospel singers, Mahalia Jackson) and begin collaborating on duets with other artists, such as Ray Charles. Prism’s chief objective was to tap into the huge reservoir of musical talent in West Texas, where Holly grew up.”
- See more at: http://rockhall.com/blog/post/9334_buddy-hollys-final-recordings/#sthash.bghZGybt.dpuf
Don Mcclean rocks. All his albums are sheer genus. Everybody loves me Baby, The Legen of Andrew Mcreue, Wonderful baby, Castles in the Air—all great tunes.
The song Castles in the Air is one of my favorites.
He sang a lot of sad songs and led a very tragic life.
Every big success he had was followed by something tragic in his personal life.
He had an impressive 3-octave range and the audience loved him. Here's a qute from his bio:
A year before Beatlemania overtook the United States in 1964, the four lads from Liverpool invited Orbison to open for them on their English tour. On his first night, Orbison performed 14 encores before the Beatles even made it on stage.
Not persuaded by his argument that buddy holly was a bigger pioneer than elvis. Holly song list pretty weak. Peggy sue? Not much there.
Roy Orbison was a very impressive vocalist.
RE: and begin collaborating on duets with other artists, such as Ray Charles.
THAT would have been something. I would REALLY love to hear that !!
I have read that Elvis thought Roy Orbison was the best singer he ever heard.
Buddy Holly didn't die, he just went home before Elvis.
Also: Holly was Holly there is no need to build him up using implication in saying the audio gear of the day was ‘primitive’. If you couldn't make it today using EXACTLY the same gear Holly used, you can't make it PERIOD.
Paul McCartney held Buddy Holly in high esteem, for whatever that may be worth. His quote: ‘The late great Buddy Holly, ladies and gentlemen; no one like him.’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTAta1y7dIo
Not much there...could be said of much of the catalogue of the Stones, especially, in terms of chord progressions.
But Elvis? As you may know Elvis never composed a thing - anything credited to him was simply a way of funneling more cash via the royalty system.
Elvis WAS a pioneer. The Sun Sessions are an incredible, spontaneous combination of different musical elements. But even the Sun Sessions were cover songs and Elvis performed only other people’s compositions his entire life, even if he had help from Leiber & Stoller.
Holly wrote, sang, played LEAD guitar, arranged and produced - all before the age of 22.
That said, in my view nobody can top Chuck Berry as the father of rock n’ roll but to a musician Holly tops Elvis in all but the vocal department.
‘nobody can top Chuck Berry as the father of rock n’ roll but to a musician Holly tops Elvis in all but the vocal department.’
That right there is an excellent summation, imho.
” He was only 22 when he died !!”
—
That’s why he is being adulated The Died Young Syndrome.
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Death is always a good career move.
Interesting observation.
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