Buddy Holly: The Day the Music Died

this video is brought to you by squarespace from websites and online stores to marketing tools and analytics squarespace is the all-in-one platform to build a beautiful online presence and run your business check out squarespace through the link in the description below more on them in a bit he was not an obvious heartthrob like elvis he was not an early guitar hero like chuck berry his professional musical career didn't even last two years despite all that his legacy is enormous he's considered one of if not the most influential artists of the early rock and roll years this is the story of buddy holly and his stella rise to the top [Music] buddy holly was born charles hardin holly in lubbock texas on 7th of september 1936 from parents ella drake and l o holly still spelled with an e mum holly insisted that all her kids played an instrument from an early age the family's little orchestra included larry born in 1925 travis 1927 patricia liu in 1929 as the much younger child charles became known as buddy to his parents and siblings alike on paper lubbock in the 1930s made for the perfect setting in a grim steinbeck novel it had been hit hard by the great depression but buddy's early years were nothing to get depressed about he was spoiled and indulged by his parents and siblings especially larry and travis whom he worshipped as heroes when buddy was five his older brothers larry and travis took him to perform at a local talent show buddy was given a toy violin smeared with grease so that it wouldn't make a sound the judges were so taken with the cute kid playing alongside his big brothers that the hollies won a 5 prize not long after that success the war took larry and travis away from lubbock they both enlisted in the marines and fought in the pacific with travis being one of the lucky ones who stormed iwojima and survived at the end of the war both big brothers were safely back home and travis had brought a present back for buddy an acoustic guitar travis taught him the basics and before long buddy was out playing and correcting his teacher from then on he would hardly be seen without a guitar in his hands learning and mastering his three favorite styles first the most popular genre in texas country western hank williams and his yodeling vocals had a big impact on buddy's later singing style then there was bluegrass a style which he discovered thanks to his best friend bob montgomery bluegrass relied on traditional stringed instruments such as banjo mandolin and fiddle an example of a bluegrass tune is the traditional dueling banjos listening not recommended if you're preparing to go on a canoeing trip the final influence was rhythm and blues at that time played entirely by black artists for the enjoyment of mostly black audiences r b was not considered respectable for decent young white boys to listen to lubbock was a segregated town in the 1940s a result of a 1928 ordinance that prohibited persons with more than one-tenth negro blood from living west of avenue d yet buddy and his friend bob would sneak into their parents cars to listen to r b shows on the radio when they grew older they would frequent the clubs east of avenue d to listen to black artists but he was attracted to the rougher edge of r b the one more like traditional guitar driven blues but when it came time to play live he still stuck to white genres by 1951 buddy was performing steadily with his friends plucking a banjo or mandolin and providing background vocals he had recently turned 15 and his hormones hair and acne were in full bloom the last thing buddy needed was poor results from an optometrist appointment which is where the young musician was told that what most people saw from 800 feet away he saw from 20 feet away in other words buddy holly was legally blind and he would need to wear glasses not the kind so thick that they might spark a bully's attack mind you this was the kind of thick that they could be used as a fire starting weapon against said bully but buddy did not make much of a fuss about it stereotype society never risked being the target of any bullying as we'll see later if he ever faced violence it was for being too popular the young holly had also started experimenting with sex dating several of the wrong sort of girls which in lubbock may simply mean that they belonged to another congregation one of these girls was buddy's first love echo mcguire her family was part of the church of christ a sect so strict that it regarded music as the work of the devil girls who shaved their legs were regarded as fallen women and dancing was strictly forbidden i suppose they were just begging for kevin bacon to come along and set everybody footloose but instead of bacon buddy and bob came along both friends fancied echo and both had asked her out but buddy was the more insistent echo's mum thought her daughter was too young to go steady so she agreed for buddy and echo to go on dates but only if she dated bob too slightly puzzling but that's how some things go buddy on friday bob on saturday before you wonder how and why such a devout mother of the church of christ would nudge her daughter towards bigamy consider that the relationships with echo were always chaste by spring of 1953 buddy had eventually convinced the maguires to let go of the awkward deal echo dumped bob and she and buddy became a permanent item i feel a bit sorry for bob here not only had he been dumbed by echo but it also split with his best friend but he had been drifting more and more towards r b while bob was still rooted in blue grass buddy now sought a new chum to strum with and he found one in jack neal a young carpenter working with dad holly as they played together buddy ditched his mandolin and banjo and switched to lead guitar neil also composed his own material and may have been a direct influence on buddy's songwriting after badgering local radio celebrity dj papi dave buddy and jack were invited to play live on station kdav on november 4th 1953 the duo played four songs the reception was so enthusiastic that papi dave created an entire weekly slot for them buddy and jack's sunday party [Music] after a year of successful performances buddy had greatly improved his guitar skills and had switched from acoustic to electric wielding a gibson les paul gold top around that period jack married and moved to new mexico which prompted buddy to recruit his old pal bob montgomery as lead singer the two were joined by bassist larry welborn and soni curtis a jazz guitarist and composer who greatly expanded buddy's musical vocabulary buddy and his band were a few weeks away from the greatest epiphany of their lives on january the 2nd 1955 kdav organized a live show with a couple of young musicians that you may have heard of johnny cash and elvis presley elvis performance hit buddy like an h-bomb elvis dared to record a country single with an r b piece on the b b-side elvis made the girls ecstatic with his soulful vocals and energetic beats elvis horrified parents with his gyrating pelvis and his love of black music buddy wanted a piece of that action this was when he decided to ditch bluegrass once and for all and focus his talents on r b and rock and roll the other guys in the band were game they did not dig the music 100 but surely enjoyed the effect that it had on the ladies bob's voice was ill-suited for rock and roll so the young holly was promoted to lead vocalist in this new role buddy abandoned his usual gentlemanly restraint and went wild well at least in front of his audience offstage he remained his usual self outwardly shy but quietly confident now buddy and bob needed a drummer country and bluegrass ensembles could work perfectly without a drummer but if you wanted rock and roll you needed someone to hit those skins and in june of 1955 they found someone who could hit them good this was teenage drummer jerry jj allison he wasn't yet old enough to legally enter clubs yet he had more experience playing live than his older bandmates moreover he could handle jazz pop country and r b with ease jerry would prove to be buddy's most valuable musical ally that summer his girlfriend echo was away getting ready for college during this period he developed his signature finger-picking style which allowed him to play rhythm and lead parts simultaneously buddy perfected this technique while rehearsing with jerry for hours on end the two had developed a symbiotic musical style and each one was able to guess what the other was going to play next after rehearsing by day the band played increasingly crowded gigs as a front man buddy had become so popular in lubbock that every girl wanted to stamp some lipstick on his face and their boyfriends wanted to stamp a right hook on his jaw there are stories of such boyfriends wanting to jump buddy and his mates only to be foiled by the intervention of their bodyguards buddies older brothers larry and travis it gives you a powerful sense of security when your bodyguards have stormed iwojima the year 1955 had more gifts packed for young buddy on october 14th bill haley and the comets came to play in lubbock their hit rock around the clock had been the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts and buddy and bob had the honor to open for the comets that's when they were noticed by eddie crandall a talent scout from the american music capital nashville the following night buddy and bob were at kdav playing a set with elvis crandall was there again and he suggested to elvis's manager colonel parker that he signed them up parker liked those kids but he was too busy with presley so why didn't crandall put them under contract developments began happening very quickly for buddy holly faster than a roller coaster a few weeks later on december 7th buddy and the band recorded a demo of his own original compositions and sent it to nashville they were waiting for a small label cedarwood to get back to them but they didn't hear from them instead they heard from a major label decker these were the big guys and buddy was about to make it big time now if you're thinking of a musical career dreaming of the big time well let me tell you what you're going to need a website but maybe you're not a musician but whatever you're doing online you need a website and that brings me to today's sponsor squarespace now a couple of simple things maybe you've got some idea you want to get your band out there or you know maybe just want to start a business or a podcast or something like that well the second thing is the only way to figure out whether that idea is worth doing is to get it out there to the world get people listening to your music to continue the analogy but this could be daunting because you know it's scary to go and pursue new things but not knowing how to set up a website that shouldn't be an excuse and there are no excuses available with squarespace squarespace allows you to create a powerful website for whatever you're up to you want to sell something online yes easy to set up a store with squarespace you want to do a podcast sure they handle that too it all starts on squarespace with a beautiful template that you can customize to your heart's content or you can start from scratch or you can move over from an existing domain but you know don't make any excuses for yourself just take one of their beautiful templates and roll with it and once you've gone through the customization process no updates no patches no tech bs to deal with and squarespace also handle all the websitey stuff mailing a social media podcast already said that and a lot more like i say squarespace it removes the obstacles to your dreams head to squarespace.com for a free trial when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com forward slash biographics to get 10 off your first purchase of a website or a [Music] domain on january the 6th 1956 buddy and co were in nashville for a recording session with a big changing lineup decker wanted to sign a solo artist yet the act was called buddy and bob buddy protested saying that if bob was not billed then he would not sign any contract it was bob who actually solved the impasse by quitting the band he actually went on to have his own successful career as a solo artist anyway that nashville recording session produced buddy's first single blue days black knights by ben hall decker was happy with the single and put buddy under contract the deca typers dropped an ian document and that's how buddy holly with an e became buddy holly without the e however if decca was happy about the record they didn't exactly show it they barely promoted it and sold only 18 000 copies in general buddy felt a little shortchanged by these major label types the biopic the buddy holly story has a scene in which the protagonist punches a deck a producer for meddling with his own recording sessions none of that ever happened but it's nonetheless an accurate representation of the strained relationship the buddy had with the label even after the first session decker would frequently utilize their own studio musicians over buddy's pals they would ask him to change his singing style to a more traditional one they would even forbid him from playing the guitar on record that's why between february and april buddy and the band drove to clovis new mexico for some self-funded sessions in the studio owned by musician and producer norman petty it was at this studio that buddy and jerry composed a great track that'll be the day inspired by john wayne's catchphrase in the western film the searches the band proudly proposed the tune to deca but their producers spoiled what was a killer single with a bad mix they placed their bet on another single modern don juan which they set to fail by releasing on christmas eve a month later on january 26 1956 decker announced a buddy that their one-year contract had expired and they had no intention to renew it that didn't mean they were done with buddy holly completely though the crafty businessman at deca would still retain rights to his songs for five years after this disappointment the band melted away only jerry stuck by his buddy the two returned to clovis for another recording session and this time manager norman petty took notice of their talent here was the deal buddy and jerry would return in february to record another version of that'll be the day and petty would use his cloud as a recording artist to have local djs spin the single in exchange buddy would list petty as a co-author ceding 50 of royalties there was another snag to fix due to the decker contract buddy was not allowed to record that single with any other label for a period of five years norman petty had a brainwave though the single would be issued under the name of a new band with buddy listed as charles hardin his real first and middle names he reckoned the decca lawyers would not notice so how are they going to name the band well buddy was a fan of an r b band called the spiders so he looked for a similar sounding name he briefly considered the beatles but he felt that was too silly for a band name he settled on the crickets this whole kerfuffle is the reason why the same musicians over the same period issued songs under the names buddy holly or the crickets and played live as buddy holly and the crickets now norman had to find a label to press and distribute the single he found a deal with a small shop called brunswick records which was a subsidiary of choral records which was a division of decca buddy had to lay low and not sign anything lest the lawyers at decca discovered their deception in march of 1957 holly recorded a new ballad in clovis called words of love worth noting here for two reasons here buddy recorded both the rhythm and lead guitar parts by himself using the technique of overdubbing now commonplace the technique had been pioneered by guitarist les paul and his wife mary ford but buddy used it for the first time in rock and roll making it his own the other reason is that the tune attracted the attention of the executives at coral who found out that charles harden of the crickets was in fact buddy holly this led to a confrontation with the decca lawyers but petty was able to negotiate a satisfactory conclusion shared royalties on the sales of the new version of that'll be the day this new version by the way had already been released without buddy even knowing and it was slowly worming its way into the ears and hearts of american teenagers [Music] buddy still saw very little return for his efforts but he was on a songwriting role so he booked more time with norman in the summer of 1957. the crickets recorded i'm going to love you too buddy brought another composition a slow piece with a latin bead called cindy lou jerry improved it by adding a faster rolling tempo on his drums known as the paradiddles it sounded great but it was hard to maintain the beat and jerry was flagging him between takes buddy though knew how to motivate his friend if he managed to record the track in one go he would give him a songwriting credit as an added incentive he would rename the song after jerry's often on girlfriend jerry's girlfriend was called peggy sue garen an unsuspecting teenager who ultimately lent her name to one of buddy's most immortal songs now after the deck of disappointment buddy and the crickets were on an upward trajectory battley the day had sold more than 50 000 copies and the guys had been booked for a tour on the east coast this was actually the result of a fudge up the tour promoters were after an all black vocal group called the crickets following the mix-up they were stuck with four white boys from texas opening for rmb acts at all black venues in new york dc and baltimore in new york buddy and his pals had to play three nights after being booed off stage for the first two buddy wanted to change it up he opened the third gig with a barnstorming rendition of bo diddly by blues guitarist bo diddly the audience went wild from then on the crickets would have little difficulty in appealing to both black and white audiences the next big tour was the biggest show of stars of 1957 a sort of traveling circus of popular artists in the seoul r b and early rock and roll genres buddy had the opportunity to rub elbows with people like paula anchor the drifters the everly brothers and some dude called chuck berry on october the 18th the show of stars had reached sacramento where peggy sue the girl was now living with her mother jerry invited peggy to the concert and buddy decided to close the show with a surprise he announced they were going to play a new song dedicated to a special person in the audience he then launched into peggy sue the song backstage jerry and peggy got back together for good while buddy taunted her aren't you glad your mother named you after my new hit song he was not exaggerating it was a hit song selling more than a million copies but he was barely 21 and at the peak of his fame but some bad news was right around the corner ready to hit like a 1-2 from floyd patterson in december buddy and the crickets were back in lubbock for some well-deserved rest after months of touring the first jab was the news that echo buddy's long-distance girlfriend was in love with somebody else and was about to marry him not the buddy had been saintly having had a short relationship with an older married woman along with an alleged threesome with little richard and his girlfriend the right hook that followed ekko was the news that buddy's backing guitarist nick sullivan was quitting the band he was exhausted from touring and he couldn't stand jerry when sullivan went to norman petty to cash in his royalties the final uppercut was delivered it turned out that petty had been mismanaging the ban's funds norman was already cashing in 50 of the cricket's royalties as co-author in addition to that he had collected all other royalties into a joint account from which he liberally dipped in for his own personal expenses buddy and the crickets had also asked that 40 percent of their royalty shares be diverted to their respective churches something the religious boys from lubbock cared deeply about well petty he hadn't done any of that it's not clear why buddy did not fire him then and there but he surely understood that this man was not to be trusted the rift widened in early 1958 during a tour of hawaii and australia with jerry lee lewis and paul anchor tour managers insisted that the crickets accepted a less prestigious billing as opening act while petty was opposed holly overruled him confidence that his band would impress audiences anyhow he agreed to their demands in exchange for a higher fee when jerry announced his intentions to marry peggy sue norman petty tried to reassert his leadership by proposing to fire the drummer according to him a married pop star would lose his appeal to female fans buddy retorted that as petty was already married maybe they should fire him instead but they didn't instead norm and petty was still with the crickets when on the 27th of february 1958 they flew to london they were about to embark on one of the most influential tours in popular music buddy and the crickets swept london off its feet influencing up-and-coming artists like the beatles eric clapton and the rolling stones legendary acts from the 1960s covered many of buddy holly's songs and borrowed much of his band's mannerisms and songwriting style according to author john griben the british invasion of the 1960s had actually started in 1958 with this texan kid invading london with his professional life sorted out buddy was about to sort out his love life in june of 1958 holly was in new york visiting his music publisher as soon as he stepped into the office lightning struck him not a new musical idea but the eyes of the company's ravishing secretary maria elena santiago maria elena was originally from puerto rico but had moved to new york to live with her aunt provi garcia but he asked her out immediately the 25 year old maria elena was taken aback she had never been out on a date aunt pro-v had warned her not to mingle with musicians musicians are all crazy and i don't want you to get involved with that but buddy's charm must have been irresistible and she accepted he came to pick her up with the limousine and over dinner he proposed to her as usual holly moved fast and a week later he flew his parents to new york so they could meet her two weeks later they got married in lubbock whatever plans they had to live in texas must have been shattered early on lubbock was strictly segregated and deeply prejudiced not only against african americans but also against latin americans on one night out the couple went for an ice cream when maria made her order the waitress completely ignored her maria elena insisted they moved back to the more multicultural new york and buddy was happy to comply during the following six months buddy thrived in the lively environment of greenwich village he found a passion for jazz flamenco and movie scores he attended poetry readings at the local coffee houses he planned to record music with ray charles and mahalia jackson he even considered becoming an actor but most of all buddy felt he had to give something back to the music industry that had given him both a career and a passion one of the first singers he helped produce was richie valens of la bamba fame of course to realize all these projects buddy needed cash but despite his hit singles he was broke all his royalty money was tied up in norman petty's bank accounts in late october 1958 buddy and maria went to clovers to confront petty he had convinced jerry and his bassist joe malden to do the same but when they got to the studio they found out that petty had talked the boys into staying with him buddy was livid he wanted to fire petty and take his money back according to maria norman replied i'd rather see you starve to death first buddy broke free of petty that day but he had also lost his beloved crickets on the way back he broke down crying buddy resumed life without petty and without the crickets in the winter of 1959 he had been booked to play on a tour called the winter dance party alongside his young protege richie valens and jp the big bopper richardson the musicians had started in milwaukee and traveled to small cities in minnesota and iowa trudging along on unheated ramshackle buses in sub-freezing temperatures by the time the group reached clear lake iowa holly couldn't take it anymore buddy booked a four-seat aircraft to fly to fargo north dakota there he planned to finally do his laundry and enjoy some rest before the next concert in moorhead minnesota buddy's new bassist waylon jennings was supposed to fly with him and valens but at the last minute he gave up his seat to the big bopper who was ill and couldn't stand another day of bus travel pilot roger peterson took off at 55 minutes past midnight on the 3rd of february it was nothing more than a routine flight to deliver some musicians to the next gig but it wasn't a routine flight after only 5 minutes witnesses reported seeing the taillight of the aircraft plummet toward the ground the wreckage was found in an open farm field at 9 35 a.m that morning all three passengers and the pilot had died according to an early report the crash was caused by poor weather scarce visibility and the inability of the pilot to fly on instruments alone a later report claimed that the accident was caused by an unbalanced load issues with the rudder panels and ice on the carburetor whatever the case the life of buddy holly had been cut short far too soon upon hearing the news maria elena suffered a miscarriage and was in such shock that she couldn't even attend the funeral buddy's older brother larry stopped listening to music altogether for years in the words of the song american pie by don mclean it was the day the music died was this an exaggerated claim well author john gribben is among those who consider buddy holly as possibly the most influential artist of the early rock and roll era unlike elvis he wrote his own songs unlike other rock and rollers he did not rely almost exclusively on the classic three-chord structure borrowed from 12 bar blues he was an innovator both in songwriting and in the use of new recording techniques keith richards also observed that buddy holly and the crickets were the world's first self-contained rock and roll band writing their own songs performing their own music seeking to gain creative control from producers and recording ceaselessly but lastly buddy appeared to be and probably really was a nice guy somebody who looked like your neighbor your friend like you and yet he was also a nice guy who could crank out killer tunes and make it all look so easy perhaps this quality more than elvis's gyrations and more than chuck berry's fretboard acrobatics is what could inspire teens across the world to grab a guitar and jump on stage so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe for brand new videos just like that several times a week also please do check out fantastic sponsors squarespace linked to below and thank you for watching you

Channel: Biographics

Views: 261,280

Keywords: biographics, biography, biographies, people, famous people, simon whistler, Buddy Holly, Buddy Holly facts, Buddy Holly music, Buddy Holly bio, Buddy Holly biography, Buddy Holly life story, Buddy Holly songs

Id: crN8llSM-FQ

Length: 25min 47sec (1547 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 21 2020