Post by berkley on Oct 18, 2024 18:52:03 GMT -5
#7 - Rock On with Buddy by Buddy Holly (1980)
My Dad was a big Buddy Holly fan, but when I was a little kid, I thought Holly and his music was the height of uncool. I mean, come on…the guy looked like a dork in those glasses!
All that changed when I saw The Buddy Holly Story starring Gary Busey as Buddy on TV one night, when I was around 15 or so, in 1987. The film really gripped me and, despite its many inaccuracies, showed me just what a visionary talent he was. By the next day I had done a complete about-face and was asking my father if I could borrow one of his Buddy Holly LPs. The one he picked out for me was this 1980 compilation.
Rock On with Buddy was a budget compilation put out on EMI's Music for Pleasure imprint and boasts a generous selection of 20 tracks. It eschews some of Buddy's bigger hits, like "Peggy Sue", "Words of Love", or "That'll Be the Day", and instead focuses on the rockier side of his recorded output for the most part (though there are still big hits like "Oh Boy!" and "Rave On" included too).
My introduction to Holly's music happened at roughly the same time as I began to learn how to play guitar and the fact that many of Holly's songs were quite easy to play cemented my love of his music. A bit later, once I had begun to write my own songs, the simplicity of Holly's material remained a big inspiration: you don't need to overcomplicate a song if you have a strong enough melody and a good enough groove.
I still have my Dad's copy of this album and, of course, these days I'm a big Buddy Holly fan myself, with around 19 or 20 Buddy Holly LPs or CDs in my collection. He is without doubt my favourite '50s rock 'n' roller.
A track from this compilation that I've always loved is Holly's breathless rockabilly run through of Sonny Curtis' "Rock Around with Ollie Vee". Give it a listen – it's a gas…