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 ...
Holly was on dad’s radio and kiss was on the record player at my friends
Wellllll...That’ll be tbe day!
I am afraid I will have to disagree with you on most of your points. Never thought I would find someone actually touting Peggy Sue and That’ll be the day as great songs. If I ranked bands I wouldn’t even rank Buddy Holly A real zero. Had he not died no one would know who he is. Even then most people never heard of him. For good reason.
I am not a big Stones fan but at least they had a variety of songs and styles and most had more than 3 chords unlike Buddy Holly :-) But I am glad you are passionate about music and wish you well my friend.
RE: nobody can top Chuck Berry as the father of rock n’ roll
I wonder what Chuck Berry himself thinks. Somebody should ask him now before it’s too late...
The man is actually 10 years older than Holly.
With respect, I think you are being hyperbolic to prove a point but that hype undermines rather than bolsters it.
Never thought you would find someone touting Holly? Does Linda Ronstadt ring a bell? Bruce Springsteen? The Beatles? How about the Stones you just complimented? One of the songs they first broke big with was Not Fade Away - a Holly tune.
He was on the Ed Sullivan show - alive, obviously - which tends to disprove the ‘celebrity through death only’ theory.
As the original article states, Holly established the Fender Stratocaster as THE iconic solidbody guitar (along with Les Paul’s model) - a status it still holds today even after decades of competitors and advances in technology.
These are empirical, not personal, anecdotes. Yes there’s passion involved but mostly history and fact.
That is a good point. Berry was born in ‘26. He’s getting up there. Anything anyone needs to ask him, they need to do it soon.
Meantime, here are a couple of interesting quotes:
“If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’.”
– John Lennon
Chuck Berry is “a musical scientist who discovered a cure for the blues.” – singer Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
- See more at: http://chuckberry.com/about/quotes/#sthash.BLF8sggZ.dpuf
‘How about the Stones you just complimented?’
Since it’s been mentioned, lets hear from the Stones on the subject:
“To me, Chuck Berry always was the epitome of rhythm and blues playing, rock and roll playing. It was beautiful, effortless, and his timing was perfection. He is rhythm supreme. He plays that lovely double-string stuff, which I got down a long time ago, but I’m still getting the hang of. Later I realized why he played that way–because of the sheer physical size of the guy. I mean, he makes one of those big Gibsons look like a ukulele!”
– guitarist Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones
- See more at: http://chuckberry.com/about/quotes/#sthash.BLF8sggZ.dpuf
Okay, back to Holly. If anyone is up for an extended quote, this may explain some of Holly’s long-lived appeal:
“For a young musician, all the Buddy Holly classics are a brilliant place to start. He played rhythmic chords in a lot of his solos, instead of over-flashy pyrotechnic guitar playing. There’s no doubt that he was innovative and ahead of his time. The recording technique that he used – multitracking – had only just been invented by Les Paul. Most people in those days would just record live, using justone microphone.
My favourite track is “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”. It is a very beautiful and sad song – but the chord structure is quite uplifting, and it has an amazing string section on it as well.
Right at the end of his life, Holly was moving away from simple rock’n’roll music to something far more complex, such as in the songs “Moondreams”, “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” and “Raining In My Heart”.
...
Before him, artists didn’t write their own songs, and he was a complete holistic entity. He produced his own music, he performed it and he also wrote it. He was a brilliant songwriter; really simple, to the point, beautifully constructed two- or three-minute pop songs. That was a benchmark for bands such as The Beatles.
My kids enjoy the music as much as I do, and I am sure something in that music will appeal to the human race for ever, because its subject matter and delivery are so soulful. It’s something we all need to help us along.
From:
‘Buddy was way ahead of the pack’
By Richard Hawley
I put it simply thus....
When I had enough cash to buy my first (but by no means last) Stratocaster, it was never going to be anything other than a 1957 reissue. Two tone sunburst, maple neck.
Wow—nice. I read somewhere that Holly introduced the Stratocaster. I vaguely recall in The Buddy Holly story the Beatles saying they were glued to Holly’s Ed Sullivan appearance, in part to figure out what kind of guitar he played. & later, when they arrived for their own Ed Sullivan appearance, the first words out of Lennon’s mouth were, ‘Is this the stage Buddy Holly performed on?’
Not quite, to be fair to the guitarists - mostly country players eg Bill Carson - who first played the Strat during its development and introduction in 1954. The player in Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps used one as well. But obviously none had the profile of Holly.
Good points. I went looking on the subject, and this is what I found:
“4. Buddy Holly was one of the first rock ‘n’ rollers to play a Stratocaster
Along with those glasses, a Fender Stratocaster was the other vital component part of Holly’s image. From Hank Marvin to Jimi Hendrix, so many would follow his lead over the following decades.”
So it merely says, ‘One of the first rock & rollers’, not that he introduced it. But as you mentioned, he was high profile, & probably set a trend.
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/5-reasons-why-buddy-holly-is-still-cool-194609
I once owned the complete Buddy Holly box set, back when we still had a record player.
Most of the time musical tastes are a matter of opinion. But not Buddy Holly.
I'm trying to think of a nice way to say "you're an idiot," but nothing's coming.
In 1958 I traded a baseball card for a 45 slightly used 45 record, Peggy Sue on one side, Everyday on the flip side. Peggy Sue was Ok but Everyday is my favorite. Wore out that record, wish I still had the baseball card, Mickey Mantle’s rookie card.
I have taken requests all my life as a band musician so I understand the varied and shallow tastes some people have. We would get all sorts of lame requests. Never got a request for a buddy holly tune. Probably because no one knows who he is.
As a boomer I grew up on this music and C & W. Still have tapes, but have recently put many on USB stick for my car.
Now I can listen to great music and not put up with Taylor Swift bubble gum garbage.
For the those who love the old C & W, RFDTV, Country’s Family Reunion, host Whispering Bill Anderson. Who is still writing today. Whiskey Lula bye is one of his latest.
Slipping Away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgu74uQgZNc
Lee Greenwood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIKTYu4Q_k
Riding with Private Malone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34IwQglPak8
I'm taller, too!
Holly was one of the most original popular musicians in American history. Paul McCartney idolized him and imitated him frequently.
Sorry. I never saw anything there of interest. To each his own.
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