Rock band in the 1950s. Famous for songs like "That'll be the Day" and "Peggy Sue". Members include Buddy Holly, Niki Sullivan, Jerry Allison and Joe B. Maudlin.
Charles Hardin (Buddy) Holl(e)y was born September 7, 1936 in Lubbock, Texas the fourth of four children born to Lawrence and Ella Holly.
When Buddy was 11, he started taking piano lessons, and then switched to the guitar.
In 1951 Buddy met Bob Montgomery, a fellow seventh-grader at Hutchinson Jr. High, who also played guitar and sang country songs. Montgomery's taste in music ran to country music, especially Hank Williams, and Montgomery would be a major influence over Buddy's choice of music.
Buddy and Bob started playing junior high assemblies, radio shows and such, billed as "Buddy and Bob," they played they played country music, and soon added Larry Welborn to play bass.
By the time the group entered high school, they were widening their audience by appearing at youth clubs and centers as far away as Amarillo and New Mexico.
Local radio stations also played their songs.
as 1954 went on, Buddy began to sing more blues and "bop" numbers on the show. Although Montgomery was the principal writer during their partnership, Buddy also began to write. Two of these three songs were "Heartbeat" and "Love's Made a Fool of You," both recorded several years later.
That October the group added Jerry Allison on the drums. October 14, 1955, Bill Haley and the Comets with Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Snow and "Lubbock's own Buddy, Bob, and Larry." the Fair Park Auditorium.
In January of 1956, Buddy was offered a contract from Decca Records. But they were only interested in Buddy.
He signed a contract to record country music on the Decca label in 1956. Holly recorded a number of records that went nowhere. Among them was "That'll Be the Day", which later on would be a hit. The other, "Cindy Lou" was renamed "Peggy Sue" at the suggestion of the drummer, Jerry Allison.
February 25, 1957 Holly and the newly named Crickets recorded the rock version of "That'll Be the Day" at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico. These tapes were sent to Roulette. The company liked Holly's songs but not his group. They wanted an established star to sing his songs.
Because Decca had the original "That'll Be the Day" it was determined to be unwise to use Holly's name in the credits. Grabbing a dictionary they searched for an appropriate group name and decided to release the song as the Crickets. "That'll Be The Day," recorded by The Crickets, was released in June, 1957. Initially sales were slow but, by August they were increasing and it began to appear on the national charts. A month later "That'll Be The Day" was one of the best selling records in both the rock and roll and R&B markets.
Tragically, Buddy was killed in an airplane crash on Feburary 3, 1959.
Thanks to Grzcyrgba for help with some of the info.
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