The name Buddy Holly is as iconic to Texas as the Alamo or the flag itself. Buddy, born Charles Hardin Holley on September 7, 1936, was from Lubbock, Texas and the youngest of four children. In his early days as a performer, Buddy played country and western music with his band The Crickets. The band consisted of Holly, Joe Mullen and Jerry Allison, each playing their own instrument, guitar, bass and drums respectively. This formation would become the quintessential rock-and-roll set up from that point on. The band would open for national acts that were passing through the town, one of these acts was Elvis Presley. An old bandmate of Holly’s recalled that this performance was the turning point for the type of music that Buddy Holly would be known for. “When Elvis came along, Buddy fell in love with Elvis and we began to change,” and this was the kick start the band needed to become scouted by a record company.
In 1957, Holly wrote and recorded the breakthrough hit, “That’ll Be the Day” in 1957. At this time, Buddy was 21 years old and gaining popularity fast. Buddy Holly and the Crickets did many live performances, one famously on the American Bandstand, which showcased their unique band set up. Holly played an acoustic guitar that had his name carved into it. While he did not use it all the time for live performances, the guitar was showcased on “Heartbeat,” which was released just 6 months before his untimely death. Buddy played the guitar in mostly major chords, to stray away from sounding jazz, and keep it entirely rock-and-roll. The way Buddy played the acoustic guitar was very different from his predecessors. The sound Holly was trying to achieve was not jazzy or blues, but rather a harder strumming pattern which would become synonymous with rock and roll music. When asked in an interview if he had thought about doing anything in jazz, he responded with “It is funny you should say that because we’ve always made it a point more or less not like jazz,” since it is the opposite of what they were trying to achieve. He does mention how jazz is the influence for rock-and roll-, but also “against it in a way.” In this interview, Buddy is on tour with his band in Virginia where they will ultimately perform for the last time as a band. When the interviewer, Ronnie King, apologized for implying that Buddy looks like a guy that would be into jazz music, he jokingly replied “it’s probably the glasses.” Buddy wore very thick black framed glasses which became a staple for him. Many men of this time, 1957-58 were getting glasses to mimic the iconic singer since he was what was cool for his time.
Due to the sudden success of Buddy Holly, and his unfortunate early death, there is not a lot of first hand information about him. Holly was only making music for a year and a half, but in that time, he was able to pioneer the traditional rock and roll group of guitar. bass, drums, and create a popular eyeglasses style.
Citation
“Buddy Holly Interview with Ronnie King (10/17/1958).” YouTube, YouTube, 10 May 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2jYkNWJALw.
“Buddy Holly.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 7 Oct. 2020, https://www.biography.com/musician/buddy-holly.
montycombs. “Buddy Holly on the Arthur Murray Dance Party 12/29/57.” YouTube, YouTube, 20 July 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQiIMuOKIzY.
