Chart entered : 2 July 1964
Chart peak : 21
Having seen the seeds they sowed sprout all over the place for the past eighteen months it was time for Buddy's old muckers to vacate the stage and so they become the first group since The Johnston Brothers to disappear.
Buddy's wasn't actually the first departure from the line-up. Their other guitarist Niki Sullivan couldn't bear the rigours of touring incessantly and quit the group while "That'll Be The Day" was still in the charts , going back to education. He made one solo single in 1958 with the self-penned "It's All Over" which is a decent rockabilly chugger but proves that he was never going to challenge Buddy for the vocal duties. In 1962 he formed The Hollyhawks with Gene Evans and the encouragement of Buddy's dad and Norman Petty who produced "I Cry All The Time" which has a nice loping groove but is let down by an intrusive cheesy organ and another terrible vocal. He then formed a four piece band Soul Incorporated who recorded one single "It Really Doesn't Matter" which disappeared without trace and the band name was later appropriated by a soul band from Minnesota. Niki abandoned music after that and eventually became an accounts executive at Sony but he was always up for appearing at Buddy Holly memorial events and was by all accounts a top guy. Sadly Niki died in his sleep soon after retiring in May 2004.
The group continued as a trio until Buddy decided to re-locate to New York where the publishing action was. Jerry Allison and Joe Maudlin declined to leave Lubbock and the separation became a reality although neither party intended it to be permanent. Buddy recorded with session musicians while The Crickets recruited Sonny Curtis on guitar and Earl Sinks on vocals though they hadn't put out any new material by the time of Holly's death. Both newcomers were friends of Holly who had toured with the group before. Earl put out a couple of solo discs in 1958.
Earl sang on their first two post-Holly hits but left in Februrary 1960. He went on to record a string of Holly-esque pop singles - "Look For Me", "Little Susie Parker", "Be Good", "Looking For Love" and "Love Is All I'm Asking For" - which are all listenable if a bit generic. In the mid-sixties he changed tack , went down a more country route as Earl Richards and started making the country charts with songs such as "House of Blue Lights" and a lively version of "Corrine Corrina". This allowed him to set up his own record company Ace Of Hearts in 1973 and he moved over into producing rather than recording , notably with the singer John Anderson. He also appeared in a few low budget films for William Ormrod.
Earl was temporarily replaced by another Buddy soundalike David Box to complete the album In Style With The Crickets .He unfortunately became a die -a- like when a plane crash in 1964 terminated his solo career after three singles. "If You Can't Say Something Nice" is quite good although heavily influenced by his friend Roy Orbison.
Sonny took the lead singer role for a couple of singles then Jerry Naylor, a local disc jockey got the gig. Joe Mauldin left and was replaced by pianist Glen Hardin and that was the official line-up at the time of this single although according to Jerry Allison only he and Naylor are on this track and only on vocals. "La Bamba " was the traditional Mexican wedding song originally given a rock and roll treatment by Buddy's fellow casualty Ritchie Valens although you won't find a credit for him on this single which divides the royalties between Jerry, Leon Russell ( pianist on the record ) and Buzz Cason. Session man Earl Palmer plays drums on both versions. The guys come up with their own contemporary lyrics referencing Twist And Shout and The Hippy Hippy Shake rather than trying to translate the original. It isn't that good with an unsubtle stomping R& B beat and rather grating nasal vocals.
By this time the band had ceased to exist as such. As the only original member left Jerry A had control of the name and The Crickets were whoever he said they were at the time he wanted to make a record as he was heavily involved with session work for other artists and for a time drafted into the US Air Force. So for the next single ( released as Jerry Allison and the Crickets in the US ) "I Think I've Caught The Blues " he and producer Buzz Cason are the vocalists with Tommy Allsup ( who played on Buddy's solo recordings ) on guitar and two loanees from The Fireballs for the rhythm section. The influence of the British Invasion bands is immediately apparent; it could be Ray Davies singing. "Now Hear This " has the line up , Jerry N (vocals ), Tommy (guitar ). Lyn Bailey (bass) and Jerry A (drums ) and is even more Britcentric sounding like early Who.
Jerry stopped putting his name out front after that and their next UK release in 1966 was a 1963 track that he didn't even play on. "April Avenue" featured Hal Blaine on drums instead. Jerry A and Sonny wrote this interesting song of class envy which powers along on Blaine's drumming with a nice arrangement from Snuff Garrett. Their next single in 1968 was also recorded in 1963. "My Little Girl" was written by Sonny and influenced The Searchers' first couple of hits; what it was supposed to do for them in 1968 is a good question.
In 1973 they re-emerged on Philips with "My Rockin Days" recorded two years earlier with new bass player Joe Osborn and then the bubblegum song "Hayride" recorded in London with ex- Family man Rick Gretch on bass and former Springfield Mike Hurst on backing vocals. It could frankly be Marmalade or any one of those faceless studio groups of the early seventies. Gretch joined the band for a couple of LPs and invited guitarist Albert Lee in too. Their next single in 1974 was a cover of a Lee song originally recorded by his previous band Heads , Hands & Feet called "Rhyme and Time" , released on Mercury.
In 1978 Jerry A and Sonny got together with Joe Mauldin in the latter's Nashville studio to re-record two old songs from their Decca audition in 1956, "Rock Around With Ollie Vee " and "Cruise In It" in a placid, middle aged country rock style. This seems to have been the second major turning point in the group's career.
With Jerry and Joe reunited they and Sonny seem to have decided to largely abandon recording new material of their own , embrace their past and extend an open invitation to their famous admirers to record with them. Sonny took a break for the decade between 1984 and 1993 and was replaced by Gordon Payne .In 1988 the trio toured the UK with Bobby Vee and put out a single "T-Shirt" produced by a certain Paul McCartney. It's an amiable Dave Edmunds-style retro-rock song about having life experience. Their last single was the 1990 medley with Vee mentioned in his post.
Since then they have recorded with Nanci Griffith, Eric Clapton , Waylon Jennings and others and tour regularly and I guess will do so until their final reunion with Holly.
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