Chart entered : 27 September 1957
Chart peak : 1
Number of hits : 31
This one set a bit of a challenge. Only one UK hit is actually credited to "Buddy Holly and the Crickets" but the separation of the two was generally a fiction for legal and commercial purposes. Few of Buddy's "solo" hits don't also feature the Crickets and vice versa. The myriad compilations over the years haven't drawn any distinction either. So I'm going to lump the two together for the purpose of counting the hits but will give them separate goodbye posts.
This is another one where the Popular entry Crickets needs filling out a bit. The Crickets were put together by Charles Holley ( the dropping of the 'e ' was originally a typo by Decca but he liked it ) a young singer and guitarist from Lubbock, Texas. Holly had already been signed by Decca on the strength of support act performances for both Elvis and Bill Haley in 1956 but wanted his own band so recruited Joe Maudlin (bass) , Jerry Allison (drums) and Niki Sullivan ( rhythm guitar) . Thus was the classic rock line up born.
The two singles recorded for Decca were not successful. "Blue Days Black Nights" is alright as another "since my baby left me" mope but the rhythm section is very weak. The guitar actually sounds like it's going to morph into This Ole House in several places so perhaps it's as well it wasn't a hit. "Modern Don Juan" is better , with added sax and piano a more imposing bassline and some breakout guitar work from Holly but perhaps the vocal needed a bit more work; the attempted vibrato doesn't convince. They actually recorded a version of "That'll Be The Day " in the sessions which was slower and an octave higher but Decca opted out of giving them a third chance.
Holly then recruited musician and record producer Norman Petty as his manager with an eye to using his recording studios. I don't intend to get into the legal technicalities but he signed The Crickets including Holly to Brunswick and Holly himself to Coral, both of which were subsidiaries of Decca. Hope you've got that ! This was their first single release.
The title was taken from John Wayne's dismissive catchphrase in The Searchers. It's up to the listener's interpretation whether the song is a simple declaration of fidelity, an admission of neediness or a bit of emotional blackmail and the arrival of Buddy's famous hiccupping vocal mannerisms don't help on that score. It's another great early rock song with Holly's three-part guitar solo in the break and Allison's sudden break up of the rhythm on the last proper chorus the highlights. Niki Sullivan doesn't actually play guitar on the track ( for their Ed Sullivan appearance he put on an identical pair of glasses to Holly's in subtle reference to this ) but is among the backing vocalists and left the band to go back into education shortly afterwards.
It's true enough that with the guitar/bass/drums line up and Holly's geeky look, that it could be said that this is pretty much the birth of indie rock... interesting to note that in the song, it's the girl who is giving Buddy all her money. The woes of a struggling musician!
ReplyDeleteOddly enough Petty didn't think the instrumental accompaniment amounted to anything. Whether it was a Crickets or Buddy Holly single depended on whether the other guys did backing vocals. So , absurdly, "Peggy Sue " which would be nothing without the rolling thunder of Allison's drumming is a Holly solo single.
ReplyDeletePetty's attitude may have been in part due to a common perception in the industry at the time that rock was nothing but a fad. I think Holly himself subscribed to this idea.
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