Buddy Holly - For The First Time Anywhere (1983) [Reissue 1987]

In 1956, an unknown singer named Buddy Holly signed with Decca Records and traveled to Nashville to record. Two singles were released from those sessions. Both were commercial failures. Soon therafter, Holly recorded again — acting as his own producer — to show Decca (and others) exactly how he wanted his music to sound. He used the studio of Norman Petty, who later became his manager.

Years later, overdubbed with vocal and musical backgrounds, these songs were released. On this album, we hear for the first time anywhere, the original unobscured versions. At the start of 1957, Holly, undaunted by his experiences with Decca, returned to Petty's Clovis, New Mexico studio with a new group, soon to be named The Crickets. In the two years that followed, they recorded songs that have endured as the finest examples of rock 'n' roll; "It's So Easy; "Peggy Sue'.' "Rave On',' "Maybe Baby; "Oh Boy; "Not Fade Away" and "That'll Be The Day" are a few of the classics recorded by Holly and The Crickets before a plane crash took the life of Holly on February 3, 1959, cutting short an extraordinarily prolific career.

The songs on this album spotlight a Buddy Holly as he has never been heard before. "Baby, Won't You Come Out Tonight'.' "Bo DiddleY, "cis Not My Fault" "I'm Gonna Set My Foot Down',' "Changing All Those Changes": "Rock-A-Bye Rock',' "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" and Because I Love You" are Holly in-studio productions with Norman Petty simply acting as engineer. They are examples of Holly's rockabilly influenced style at that time. "That's My Desire" was recorded at Bell Sound in New York City on the same day as "Rave On': No one was entirely satisfied with it at the time, but modern listening reveals a polished ballad. The version of "Maybe Baby" included on this album is not the hit version. It is an earlier attempt, recorded at Petty's studio shortly after "That'll Be The Day; and has the same feel as "That'll Be The Day;

It was abandoned though in favor of the more straightforward version which was recorded six months later at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. MCA Records is proud to present these unreleased recordings of Buddy Holly. They are further proof, that after all these years, the music and memory of Buddy Holly live on.