Tag: Jerry Allison

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

….

Buddy Holly – Well… All Right

I’ve never heard a song by Buddy Holly that I didn’t like. Well…All Right was released just a couple of months before Buddy Holly died in that lonely Iowa cornfield. A while back I posted Blind Faith‘s cover of this song. The song is in my top 10 of Buddy Holly’s songs easily.

This song was somehow a B side. In the 50s and 60s many times a B side was a throwaway track. People started to flip the hit singles over and sometimes…sometimes find gold! He had a song called Heartbeat that he thought would be a big hit. I like Heartbeat a lot but I lean more toward Well…All Right. I think Heartbeat sounds like the 50s…but this song sounds fresher.

It’s a quiet song but Holly builds in dynamics for the chorus showing his strength and tenderness on this recording. The construction of the melody and lyrics are outstanding. Its simple instrumentation yet powerful push is what won me over.

Heartbeat only peaked at #82 on the Billboard 100 and #30 on the UK Charts. It’s the flipside that has been remembered. It was written by  Buddy Holly, Norman Petty, Jerry Allison, and Joe Mauldin.

What really hurts about Holly’s career is that he was just getting started. He had matured and was experimenting more than his rocking peers. Fortunately for all of us, he left behind a significant musical catalog that still influences new and old artists today.

Well…All Right

Well all right, so I’m being foolishWell all right let people knowAbout the dreams and wishes you wishIn the night when lights are low

Well all right, well all rightWe’ll live and love with all our mightWell all right, well all rightOur lifetime of love will be all right

Well, all right, so I’m going steadyIt’s all right when people sayThat those foolish kids can’t be readyFor the love that comes their way

Well all right, well all rightWe will live and love with all our mightWell all right, well all rightOur lifetime of love will be all right

Well all right, well all rightWe’ll live and love with all our mightWell all right, well all rightOur lifetime love will be all right

Buddy Holly – Think It Over

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Buddy song…and any time is too long. He is one of the most important influences from the 50s or any era. Since I’m a Beatle fan I have to say…without Buddy the Beatles would have been different. He wrote his own songs that were part country, rock, rockabilly, and a touch of power pop with his crisp Stratacaster leading the way.

Of all the stars in the 50s I believe Buddy was the one who would have been heard from more in the sixties. His music fit what was going on and had a timeless quality about it.

This song peaked at #27 in the Billboard Hot 100, #9 in the R&B Charts, and #11 in the UK in 1958. Think It Over was written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty in 1958. Per Wiki… Norman Petty’s wife, played piano on this recording.

John Lennon: “He was a great and innovative musician. He was a ‘master’. His influence continues, I often wonder what his music would be like now, had he lived…”

“Buddy Holly was the first one that we were really aware of in England who could play and sing at the same time—not just strum, but actually play the licks.”

Keith Richards: “Holly passed it on via the Beatles and via The Rolling Stones … He’s in everybody”

Think It Over

Think it over, what you’ve just said
Think it over in your pretty, little head
Are you sure that I’m not the one?
Is your love real or only fun?

You think it over
Yes, think it over
A lonely heart grows cold and old

Think it over and let me know
Think it over, but don’t be slow
Just remember all birds and bees
Go by twos through life’s mysteries

You think it over
Yes, think it over
A lonely heart grows cold and old

Think it over and think of me
Think it over and you will see
A happy day when you and I
Think as one and kiss the blues goodbye

You think it over
Yes, think it over
A lonely heart grows cold and old

Think it over
Think it over