Rockabilly, ballads, and drinking songs from J.P. McDermott. Some solo, some with his talented and dynamic backing band, Western Bop. Special emphasis on the music of Buddy Holly!
How does this not have any views or comments? It's not quite Roy, but no one can do Roy for real. Roy's version is tailored to his capabilities which were unique.
That was excellent. Information i play a lot Of Buddy Hollys songs my favorites are Peggy Sue & Oh Boy!! People don't realize how good of a guitar player, Buddy Holly was.!!!! Rocky & The Hurricanes!!!
Actually he never did fully cut ties with Norman because on the 12th September 1958, Buddy signed a new five year publishing deal with Normans company Nor Va Jak. I own the original agreement.
Thanks - I did get one thing a little bit wrong - the lead pickup was wired directly to the output jack back in those days. My description is correct for modern wiring, and is essentially the same result.
Look, the versions you like are perfectly good, but there are better cover versions. Not every cover version has to be played in Buddy's style to be good - in fact, his songs are so good that they will sound great in almost any style - EVEN in the Rolling Stones' style. So where is Blind Faith's rocking version of "Well... All Right?" What about James Taylor's easygoing "Everyday?" There is Waylon Jennings' slower version of "Learning the Game." The Bobby Fuller Four did a rousing version of "Love's Made a Fool of You." The Grateful Dead's version(s) of "Not Fade Away" are evergreen. Peter & Gordon's version of "True Love Ways" brings a little British Invasion influence. A punk version of "Rave On" by the Real Kids? Serena Ryder does a fine gospel-style version of "It Doesn’t Matter Anymore." Brian Wilson did a real nice version of "Listen to Me." And of course, Linda Ronstadt's versions of "It's So Easy" and "That'll Be The Day" will make anyone forget that there was an earlier version in the first place. I enjoy your videos, but I think you should have dug into this topic a lot more before posting this video.
You’ve got some good choices there. I don’t disagree with any of them (except Peter and Gordon). If I had done a top ten list I’d have picked some of the 11 you named. But it was a top 5 list, and those were my favorite five that day. I don’t think anything I picked (except the Marshall Crenshaw cut) was particularly in Buddy’s style, which was my point (as well as yours), that the music is so good it can be presented in many ways. Thanks for commenting - it’s always great to hear people’s reactions.
The way I see it, Elvis opened the door for white kids, but Buddy figured out what to do so that rock and roll could last. Elvis was a great performer and amazing singer, but Buddy was a triple threat - he could play, sing, and write at a super high level.
That ,ll Be The Day was recorded by Decca and all the songs recorded by them were released on an album called That.ll Be The DAY BUDDY HOLLY to cash in on the CRICKETS HIT.
Very interesting back story to that song. I have the album from 1957 "The "Chirping" Crickets" with "That'll Be the Day" on it, on the Brunswick Label. I didn't know he first recorded it with Decca.
Excellent! I have / had the 78 version of TBD here in UK. I'll look for it. I think it was on the London label here. It caught us at the right time. That bright Fender sound (was it?). Buddy's was a softer more musical R&R. Rooted in Hillbilly I suppose. As an engineer & guitar player I give great credit to Norman Petty on all fronts. He was to them what George Martin was to The Beatles. He had the contacts & know-how and it shows. He had the equipment and the studio and knew how to use it. The acquisition of Tommy Allsup was masterful. Thanks for the great insights here.
I agree with you, especially the George Martin parallel. Without the right studio and the right producer and the time to be creative we’d have never heard anything much from Buddy or The Beatles!
Paul McCartney’s MPL Music owns Buddy’s songs. The major hits. The Norman Petty company Nor-Va-Jak Music owed over $1 million in taxes. And Maria Holly still blames Norman Petty on the death of her husband.
My Norman Petty story involves another band from Clovis New Mexico called “ the string alongs”. They had a hit with a song called “ Wheels”, that he took credit for. The band was made up of teen agers who didn’t know anything about publishing. I knew a guy named Jimmy Torres who was in that band and wrote that song, and had to wait fifty years to get his money for it. Typical managerial behavior in those days.
@@WesternBop I noticed the Brunswick release immediately after TBTD is another Clovis/Petty recording, Hypnotized by Terry Noland (55010) which has the writing credits solely as Noland. The Drifters released their version shortly after that (Atlantic 1141) but by then it's credited to Noland/Petty. Ka-ching.
You’re right. I got that part wrong. The wiring I’m talking about didn’t come in until the 1970s, though the effect is pretty much the same. I have it corrected in some places. Thanks for the comment.
It’s interesting, but not my cup of tea. The guitar parts seem really out of place, and not in the spirit of the way I hear the song. But that’s just one man’s opinion!
The story I heard was that Buddy told someone to get him a Fender guitar. He was expecting a Telecaster, because at the time that was the Fender guitar. But the guy came back with this new thing...
This is a FANTASTIC video and history. I subscribed way before the video finished. Rock on, Sir! And thank you for putting this together! I look forward to seeing more of your videos. (And THANK YOU for not being AI -- I am now starting to read comments and reviews before hitting the "play" button.)
I met Buddy and the Crickets on their trip to the UK in March 1958, they played my local cinema the Gaumont State. A few years later I met the Crickets again and with some time with Sonny Curtis he showed me how James Burton played the middle eight to "Hello Mary Lou"- great memories.
Owen Bradley would probably have had a thirty piece string section and a full chorus. But....let's not forget how Norman Petty stole Buddy Holly blind, same with the StringALongs and other artists.
Agree totally what you say about Owen Bradley the only RCA artist in Nashville to benefit from a string and horn section would most likely be Jim Reeves in songs like I fall to pieces, just walking in the rain, am I losing you, perhaps Elvis was a close second.
I'm Australian and one of my dad's five brothers, Graham moved to Texas and enrolled in a Bible college where he met his future wife in 1966, she was a Lubbock girl.
Very interesting story of one of the most important rock and roll contributors. I know a guy who went to the US, drove to Lubbock and got to play with a guy who had played with Buddy Holly. I will be green FOREVER about that.
The Blondie rendition of 'I'm gonna love you too' is infectious. They seemed very discriminate when it came to selecting songs to cover. Always complimented their records!
Learning about recording in the 1950's is like a vitamin for my music brain. Simple array of elements at play, yet disciplined and extra creative with the possibilities. I love the original rock sound so much, what an excellent history. Thanks!
The last song Buddy recorded was his "True Love Ways" so it's likely that the last song he wrote. There were three other songs in that session, but all were written by others. I remember "You're the One" with the strings when I started collecting Buddy's records in the early 70s.
You are correct that these are his last studio recordings, but he left tapes of solo demos he recorded in his apartment after those October 1958 studio sessions. It’s well documented that “You’re the One” is the last song we know for sure that he wrote. It was recorded at KLLL in Lubbock on December 29, 1958. It’s possible that he wrote more between then and February 3, 1959, but no recording or handwritten notes are known to exist. The version of “You’re the One” you heard with strings is Norman Perry’s late 1960s overdub of the 1958 KLLL tape.
not SILENCED A PLANNED staged death, so Buddy could pursue other things. All he had to do is remove the glasses & boom, you would never recognize him. aka NO ONE DIED. Wake up fools & boot lickers
My dad played buddy when I was a kid buddy was one of a kind still play this timeless music thank you for keeping buddy's legacy going . Rave on from Melbourne Australia
