That Was the Day

Song 240: This week's playlist track is That'll Be the Day by Buddy Holly & the Crickets, written by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison. I think I first heard of Buddy Holly from reading John Lennon's story about the origin of the Beatles name, which was inspired by the Crickets. At some point in my high school Beatlemania phase I also learned that my favorite musical quartet had covered a Holly song called Words of Love and I liked that cover quite a bit. I happened to hear Peggy Sue on the radio one summer night in 1965 and liked it, but didn't know that it was a BH golden oldie. Back then, I knew nothing about the day the music died, and in the early '70s when I started catching up on the '50s rockers that I had missed, I was saddened to learn about the plane crash that had cruelly cut short such a very promising career. The more I heard of Buddy's music, the more impressed I was about how much he had accomplished in so short a time, though for all the fine songs he wrote and recorded in that short time, I always liked his first hit (this one) the best. I recall hearing Dick Clark (American Bandstand) mention that he had heard the music of the Beatles initially described as Buddy Holly style guitar coupled with Everly Brothers style vocals, which seems accurate for their early recordings, and makes it clear how much this son of Lubbock, TX, influenced the English foursome that would become the most influential rock and roll ensemble of their era. It's sad that Buddy had to leave us as soon as he did, but that bad news on the doorstep on a chilly early February day in 1959 -- that would be the day that he died.