Buddy Holly - All Time Greatest Hits - 2CD (1992)

Buddy Holly was just 22-years old when he died in a tragic light air-craft crash on February 3, 1959, along with Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. From his first Billboard music chart listing on August 3, 1957, as lead singer of the Crickets' number one hit, That'll Be the Day, until his death, Buddy Holly's active career spans an incredibly short 78 weeks. Few if any performers have ever left such an indelible imprint on future generations in such a short space of time, but it reflected the astonishing impact of this modest, unassuming bespectacled young vocalist from Lubbock, Texas.

To achieve what Buddy Holly did in a full, unfettered lifetime career would be a stupendous achievement by any definition; to amass such an incomparable artistic legacy in a mere 18 months leaves one at a loss for superlatives. From this fleeting window on creative opportunity, Holly eked out a timeless body of work that has profoundly influenced virtually every major artist of the rock era, especially the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Bobby Vee, Tommy Roe, Linda Ronstadt, Elvis Costello and countless others. Fitting proof of their longevity and perennial relevance is this impressive "All Time Greatest Hits" collection which features all of the Holly tracks so widely loved the world over.

Charles Hardin Holley was born Sept. 7, 1936. His mother, who suggested he be called Buddy, was an invaluable early influence. She arranged for him to commence piano lessons when he was 11, but he moved on to guitar a year later. He formed a duo in junior high, adding a bass player and becoming a trio which opened for a local Bill Haley and the Comets concert. A Nashville agent in attendance at the gig was impressed and arranged a recording deal with Decca Records, thus opening the way for one of the fledgling 50s rock 'n' roll music industry's most intriguing tales of irony. The story surrounds the song That'll Be the Day, which had been inspired by a John Wayne quote in the film, The Searchers.
High on its hopes, Holly and his band recorded the tune on July 22, 1956.

However Decca executives didn't like the song and refused to release it. The following January, Holly's Decca contract expired and impressed by Norman Petty's production work on fellow Texan, Buddy Knox's hit recording of Party Doll - he headed down to Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico. On February 25, 1957, they recorded another demo of That'll Be the Day which was turned down by four record companies before an executive at Coral Brunswick Records (ironically an arm's length Decca subsidiary) recognised its potential. But because Decca legally owned That'll Be the Day by Buddy Holly, Coral released the song under the group name of the Crickets. That'll Be The Day hit number one on Sept. 23, 1957. For two years, songs were released by the Crickets on Brunswick label and by Holly on Coral -but all were recorded by Buddy Holly and his band, the Crickets.

Unquestionably these recordings provided the role model for the explosion of young and eager British rock quartets of the 60s from the Beatles on down. As one rock historian has concluded: "Buddy Holly and the Crickets were the pioneers of a new format of rock group instrumentation, using bass, drums and rhythm and lead guitars, a format that would ultimately lead to the Beatles and beyond. Above all, Buddy Holly was always separate, something supremely special and unique. He provided a uni-versal definition of living and loving in the emotional quicksand of the late 50s. Yet his legacy remains eternally relevant, and speaks to us all. Ritchie Yorke (Rock Music Author, Historian and Broadcaster)