Buddy Holly – Bo Diddley

I never knew that Buddy Holly covered this song…somehow I missed or forgot that he covered it.

This was recorded back in 1956 as one of his first recordings. It wasn’t released until 4 years after he died. The original version is just Buddy on guitar and vocals and Jerry Allison on drums. Producer Norman Petty then overdubbed the other instruments with help from a band called The Fireballs.

I consider him the beginning of power pop. His Fender playing a clean jangling melody. Songs like Maybe Baby, Peggy Sue, and Words of Love influenced future artists like The Beatles, Hollies, Bob Dylan, and the list is endless. He wrote his own songs and is still influencing artists today with a recording career that only lasted less than three years.

Buddy Holly’s music is still relevant almost sixty years after he passed away in 1959. He didn’t have a big voice like Elvis, Little Richard, or some of his peers but he wrote and crafted beautiful melodies for his voice to weave through.

This song peaked at #4 on the UK Charts and #116 on the Billboard 100 in 1963. The song was on an album called Reminiscing. The album peaked at #2 on the UK Album Charts and #40 on the Billboard Album Charts.

Not only was he a great songwriter but also a great producer and he would have only got better. Unlike many of his fifties counterparts, I believe that Buddy Holly would have fit in the music scene post-Beatles. I always thought his best songs were in front of him. Most of his music transcends the fifties and would have fit nicely in the sixties.

Here are two versions…the bottom WITH the overdubs and the other the original raw recording. 

Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley buy baby a diamond ringIf that diamond ring don’t shineHe gonna take it to a private eyeIf that private eye can’t see

He better not take that ring from meWon’t you come to my house back at homeTake a-my baby on away from homeLove a-that photo, where ya beenUp to your house and gone againBo Diddley caught a fat cat

To make a-pretty baby a Sunday hatBo Diddley caught him a nanny goatTo make a pretty baby a Sunday coatBo Diddley, Bo Diddley have you heardMy pretty baby says she wants a bird

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

20 thoughts on “Buddy Holly – Bo Diddley”

    1. I think his songwriting more than his peers…fit in with all of those British bands. Maybe Baby, Peggy Sue, and others was a power pop type of sound which was big in the sixties.

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  4. Hm, I don’t recall Holly’s rendition of “Bo Diddley” and think he did a neat job with it. Buddy Holly was such a talented songwriter AND musician. Once again, I have to say we can only imagine what else we would have seen from him, had he not died in that plane crash at such a young age!

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    1. I simply don’t remember this…and it charted very high in the UK.
      I just think his style would have fit in perfectly with the British bands….because most were inspired by him…even The Stones and Who.

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  5. Great selection today Max! It seems they didn’t forget about Holly in the UK as quickly as in the US. This is a real gem. Petty obtained the rights to Buddy’s old master tapes, his garage and apartment recordings. I had actually forgotten who did the playing on the overdubbed version so nice catch there Max. There’s a treasure trove of these songs, most never before released on a Rarities album.

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    1. I missed this one and some of his 60s releases completely. This is so new to me….or I forgot it. The UK kept a lot of those 50s guys going.

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    2. Just wondering if these Fireballs are the same who backed Jimmy Gilmer in the 60s? (Bottle Of Wine? “Going Away.’) My brother liked them both, though I don’t think they were big sellers.

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