1

Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly

Feb 1958

So crisply recorded that you can clearly hear Jerry Allison pat his hands on his lap

Fifties Rock'n Roll and Pop

Buddy Holly’s forgotten but all-killer debut was beautifully recorded using the then relatively new trick of tape overdubbing.

For the reissue of this classic album the engineers returned to the original analogue master tapes and the fidelity offered on both the MCA Heavy Vinyl reissue LP from 1988 and the subsequent 50th Anniversary Rock ‘n’ Roll Remaster from 2004 (done by Erick Labson) - has to be heard to be believed. The sheer dynamics on this early LP are extraordinary.

The track list for Buddy Holly is a roll call of hits – I’m Gonna Love You, Peggy Sue, Listen To Me, Everyday, Words Of Love and that fabulous rock ‘n’ roller Rave On. There’s more to discover in his versions of Little Richard’s Ready Teddy, Fats Domino’s Valley Of Tears and Lieber & Stoller’s witty You’re So Square (Baby I Don’t Care).

Examples of clarity include the hand-pats on knees of Everyday because the drums (which were tried earlier) proved too loud – or the gorgeous rolling piano on the album nugget Little Baby – a song so good it could easily have been another No.1. And when he gives it some “well-a heh-a heh-a” on the intro to Rave On, it brims with energy like you wouldn’t believe.

Do yourself a favour and go back the original LP and discover why Don McLean sang about the day the music died on his No. 1 hit American Pie. Because if an artist deserved such affection and attention to detail – then Lubbock’s finest is the man.