GRAVE ON
Buddy Holly tributes and soundalikes
by Spencer Leigh

This is taken from my book, Baby That Is Rock And Roll. Please send any comments or additions to Spencer Leigh.

When an IRA bomb exploded in London on 20th February 1996, pictures of the destroyed bus were on the news bulletins and in the papers. The only thing that hadn't been damaged on the bus was the advert for the stage musical, “Buddy”. No-one commented on this because it would have been appalling taste, but a headline could have been “Buddy Holly survives”.

HOLLY HOLY - THE TRIBUTES

THREE STARS (Tommy Dee) - EDDIE COCHRAN (Liberty 1959)
The day the music died the San Bernardino DJ, Tommy Dee, wrote a tribute to the three stars. He recorded his narration with Carol Kay and the Teen-Aires and it made the US Top 20. A cover version, also American, by Ruby Wright and Dick Pike was a hit in the UK. Eddie Cochran recorded “Three Stars” two days after the crash. It was to be issued as a charity single, but such things were unheard of and Liberty’s accountants blocked the release. The track wasn’t issued until it appeared in the UK in 1966. It’s mawkish, but Cochran’s husky, tearful delivery (compiled from eight takes) makes it work. Cochran was almost part of that Winter Dance Party and he became fearful of flying, having premonitions of his own death. He agreed to appear in the UK because, once he’d arrived, he would be travelling by road and rail. Eddie Cochran died in a car-crash in England in April 1960.

TRIBUTE TO BUDDY HOLLY (Geoff Goddard) - MIKE BERRY (HMV 1961)
British producer Joe Meek was besotted by the occult and by Buddy Holly, so he held a séance to obtain Buddy's approval for this song by his main writer, Geoff Goddard. If Holly had been available, he might have improved it. “Tribute To Buddy Holly” was a UK Top 30 hit and Berry remains popular with rock’n’roll revival shows around the country. You can book him to perform a whole tribute set to Buddy Holly and he’s as good as they come. The producer, Joe Meek, shot himself on the anniversary of Holly’s death in 1967 and the events may be related.

BUDDY’S SONG (Ella Holley) - BOBBY VEE (Liberty 1963)
“Buddy's Song” is an upbeat tribute to Holly’s music, cheerfully weaving ten of his titles into the lyric and mostly taking its melody from “Peggy Sue Got Married”. “Buddy's Song” was put together by Buddy's mother, Ella.

AMERICAN PIE (Don McLean) - DON McLEAN (United Artists 1971)
Why was an American folkie lamenting the death of rock’n’roll? Don McLean became the spokesman for a generation by describing 3rd February 1959 as the day the music died. In order to retain its mystery, McLean has never discussed the song at any length. This is fortunate for the many university students who have written theses on the subject.

THE REAL BUDDY HOLLY STORY (Sonny Curtis) - SONNY CURTIS (Elektra 1979)
Sonny wrote this after seeing the film, “The Buddy Holly Story”.

OLD FRIEND (Waylon Jennings) - WAYLON JENNINGS (RCA 1976)
Waylon played bass on Holly’s final tour, relinquishing his seat on the plane to the Big Bopper. Jennings named his son, Buddy, after Holly and he recalled their time together in “Old Friend”. He described how the media misrepresented Holly - and this is 20 years before Ellis Amburn’s biography.

I NAMED MY LITTLE GIRL HOLLY (Lee Jackson) - BUDDY KNOX (Rockstar 1980)
Buddy Knox’s success with Norman Petty prompted Buddy Holly to go to Clovis, New Mexico. Their music shares the same roots but Knox, although a fine performer, wasn’t as prolific and lacked Holly’s charisma. He recorded this charming song in a studio close to the Buddy Holly statue in Lubbock, and a UK cover by Mike Berry did moderately well.

BUDDY HOLLY AND THE CRICKETS (William J.Bush, Robert S.Cooke) - LARRY HOLLEY (Cloud Nine 1980)
“Buddy Holly and the Crickets,
You know I bought those tickets,
Just to hear that rockabilly beat.”
So sings Buddy's brother, Larry, on “Holly’s House”, a family album issued in 1980. Bit mean of Buddy really: why didn’t his brother get freebies? The album featured another brother, Travis, and Larry’s children, Sherry and Randy. Sherry released her own album, “Looking Through Buddy's Eyes” (Cloud Nine 1992). Intriguing curios, but don’t expect Buddy’s talent.

BUDDY HOLLY NOT FADE AWAY (John Pickering) - THE PICKS (Magnum Force 1993, recorded 1982)
The Crickets were not a vocal group on their first productions with Norman Petty as he used the Picks (John Pickering, Bill Pickering and Bob Lapham) to sing harmonies behind Buddy. In 1984, with breathtaking arrogance, the Picks took some of Buddy Holly’s other recordings and added their own vocals. The album, “The Original Voices Of The Crickets”, appeared in the UK in 1993 and the sleeve note claims that it “offers a unique chance to hear what might have been had not fate tragically intervened”, but fate has nothing to do with it. Holly didn’t want the Picks on “Reminiscing” or “Everyday” so why add their voices now? The 24th and final track is a dire tribute to Holly from the Picks called “Buddy Holly Not Fade Away”:
“And the soul that he is and the soul that he was
Never laid down ’neath the sod
Mama raised him in the church
And Buddy Holly is at home with God”.

I FEEL LIKE BUDDY HOLLY (Mike Batt) - ALVIN STARDUST (1984 Chrysalis)
Why does Alvin Stardust feel like Buddy Holly? Does he feel like he’s gone down in a plane crash or does he feel upbeat and happy like so many of Holly’s hits? Neither actually - Alvin feels like Buddy Holly “Cause it’s raining in my heart.” All a bit tenuous - and if we’re being pedantic, Paul McCartney doesn’t sing, “I wish it was yesterday”. Songwriter Mike Batt (382): “Well, I may misquote the words, but I don’t misquote the thought. It’s a very personal song and everything on the record is true. It was a rainy Sunday morning, the planes were coming over and I wrote the song.”

A COUNTRY BOY (WHO ROLLED THE ROCK AWAY) - DAVID ALLAN COE (CBS 1986)
DAC’s “Three Stars”, only his three are Hank Williams, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. On this occasion Coe, who favoured a bludgeon to a rapier, missed the opportunity to add a fourth verse about Jesus also being a country boy who rolled the rock away.

PLEASE DON'T GET ON THE PLANE (Harvey Andrews) - HARVEY ANDREWS (Beeswing 1988)
Harvey Andrews, a singer-songwriter from Birmingham, England, has written tributes to his heroes (Tony Hancock, Harry Chapin, Phil Ochs). In 1988, it was Buddy Holly’s turn and this compelling song looks at Holly’s final flight through the eyes of a 15 year old English boy -
“I know that you're tired
And you hired it to go on ahead of the gang,
But please don't get on the plane,
Take your time,
Like the words of the song you just sang.”
Andrews also recorded a nifty “Learning The Game” (Cube 1972) with several Holly references.

BUDDY'S WAITING ON THE FLATLAND ROAD (Terry Clarke) - TERRY CLARKE (Minidoka 1990)
Terry Clarke, a contemporary country performer from Reading, England, was recording in the Fire Station Studio in San Marcos, Texas. Terry Clarke (383): "We’d recorded all the songs we had planned to do but there was still some tape left on the reel. I looked west out of the window at a brilliant Texas morning and thought of Buddy Holly.” Key line: “He died young so he can’t grow old.”

LUBBOCK CALLING (Terry Clarke) - TERRY CLARKE (Minidoka 1990)
Terry Clarke wrote this tribute to Holly after seeing Joe Ely playing live. It includes a snatch of “Oh Boy!” as the lyrics state, “The ghosts have got it right, Buddy Holly’s singing to Joe Ely tonight.”

TRIBUTE TO BUDDY (Stanley Accrington) - STANLEY ACCRINGTON (Gig cassette 1991)
Humour (well, possibly) from one of stalwarts of UK folk clubs:
“He taught me how to be modest,
With a talent oh so big,
But most of all he taught me,
Don't catch a plane home after a gig.”
There are others as many artists have either wanted to pay tribute or more likely, thought that mentioning Buddy Holly would increase sales. Two songs that have nothing to do with Buddy Holly are Buddy” (Jackie de Shannon as Jackie Dee, Mar-Vel 1956) and “Holly Would” (The Crickets, CBS 1983).

LISTEN TO ME - THE RECORDS BUDDY HOLLY NEVER MADE

WHAT DO YOU WANT (Johnny Worth) - ADAM FAITH (Parlophone 1959)
Although a commendable actor and devastatingly good-looking, Adam Faith was a lightweight pop singer who has said of his own CD reissues, “Who buys this crap?” His first hit, “What Do You Want”, topped the UK charts and lent heavily on “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” in terms of Faith’s performance and John Barry’s pizzicato strings. When Faith received a silver disc, he thought of splitting it in three - one part for himself, one for songwriter Johnny Worth and one for John Barry. It should have been in four as Buddy deserved a portion.

BE MINE (Alle Mädchen Wollen Küssen) (J.Menke, M.Panas, T.Lüth, Marcel Stellman) - LANCE FORTUNE (Pye 1960)
Another John Barry arrangement, another Buddy Holly soundalike, another rip-off of “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” and another Top 10 hit.

SOMEDAY (WHEN I'M GONE FROM YOU) (T.Leslie, Dick Glasser) - BOBBY VEE AND THE CRICKETS (Liberty 1961)
Vee made an album with the Crickets and has worked with them sporadically ever since. This track opens like “Kansas City” and incorporates Holly-styled guitar-riffs. Although Vee is often criticised as a Holly copyist, he usually doesn’t sound like him. On this take, he does, but the song is contrived.

SHEILA (Tommy Roe) - TOMMY ROE (ABC-Paramount 1962)
Tommy Roe brazenly copied Holly’s hiccuping vocal and Jerry Allison’s torrid drumming on “Sheila”, who was a close cousin to “Peggy Sue”. Ironically, the single did better than “Peggy Sue”, becoming a transatlantic No.l. Tommy Roe (384): “I wrote ‘Sheila’ when I was 14 and it was a local hit on Judd Records, which was a label out of Memphis that Sam Phillips’s brother started. When I got out of high school, I met Felton Jarvis who wanted to re-record ‘Sheila’ and we did it in Nashville. It was Felton’s idea to have that drumming as he thought it a good gimmick to get airplay. Buddy Harmon did the drumming, Bob Moore was on bass and Jerry Reed and Wayne Moss played guitars. That’s a pretty good band. I play acoustic guitar on most of my things but you can’t hear me on that: Felton took me out of the picture as he had such great players. When I came here to tour, the headlines were ‘The Ghost Of Holly Returns’.”

I FOUGHT THE LAW (Sonny Curtis) – THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR (Mustang 1966)
Despite its originality, “I Fought The Law”, which was written by Sonny Curtis for the Crickets, still has “Buddy Holly” stamped all over it. The Bobby Fuller Four recorded an angry version – and the Clash an even angrier one – Buddy would have loved them too.

UH HUH HONEY (B.Bond) - CHARLIE FEATHERS (1967 Barrelhouse)
Being born in Holly Springs gives you a head start in the soundalike stakes, although Charlie Feathers (385) claims, with some justification, that he was there first. “I’ve been singing rockabilly most of my life. Buddy Holly would listen to me. He tried to get on Sun and then he went to Clovis, New Mexico and did ‘Peggy Sue’. A lot of people say we sound alike. He used to listen to me do the hiccup, so who copied who?”
Feathers is a fine rockabilly performer but his records and performances have been too eccentric and erratic to find mainstream acceptance. His stuttering, hiccuping delivery is like Buddy Holly on speed. There are several recordings of “Uh Huh Honey” but this one, released in the UK on the 1992 CD “That Rock-A-Billy Cat!”, is the most outlandish, featuring Feathers at his most impassioned on what is clearly a nonsense song. If Buddy Holly had recorded this, he would have been having fun: Feathers is deadly serious.

EAT AT HOME (Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney) - PAUL & LINDA McCARTNEY (Apple 1971)
Buddy Holly meets “Daytripper”.

ODDS AND ENDS (Bob Dylan) - BOB DYLAN (CBS 1975)
Michael Gray, author of the definitive book on Dylan’s music, “Song And Dance Man”: “Dylan was very proud at having seen Buddy Holly on his last tour, and he’d been in the front row. No musician who had an interest in rock’n’roll could avoid being influenced by Buddy Holly. He was the first person who knew what he was doing - he did the arrangements, he did the writing, he formed a group, he wasn’t just a singer being moulded by a manager and having somebody’s orchestra behind him. He had rather a strange voice and he sounded like nobody else. Nik Cohn’s book, ‘Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom’ says that Holly was without talent and stood as the typical acne-kid that everybody liked precisely for that reason. It’s also rubbish to say that Bob Dylan can’t sing, but I hear it all the time, but they can’t sing like Picasso can’t paint. They broke rules, they knew what they were doing and they took no notice of anybody else. They were very ambitious and they had absolutely unique sounds. Holly’s first attempts at recording were complete failures and he was sent back to Lubbock, Texas, which is one of the most god-forsaken spots in the universe, but he refused to become the small town hick. He knew he could make great records and he went back and did it, and there’s an interesting comparison with Dylan there. There are several pieces by Dylan where you can hear a very strong Buddy Holly influence: ‘Maybe Someday’ on ‘Knocked Out Loaded’ is very Hollyish and there is a lovely little song called ‘Odds And Ends’ on ‘The Basement Tapes’.”

MAKIN’ IT BEFORE THEY GOT MARRIED (Keith Sykes) - KEITH SYKES (Backstreet/MCA 1979)
Keith Sykes, a folk/country performer associated with John Prine and Jerry Jeff Walker, cut this blistering piece of rock’n’roll sounding as close to Buddy Holly as he could. The theme would have been too controversial for the 50s but it sounds like Holly in the 70s.

MALAMBA D’AMOUR - ORCHESTRE SUPER MAZEMBE (Virgin 1982)
If Buddy Holly had been born in Africa...

DON’T KNOW A THING (Monte Warden, Mas Palermo, Brad Fordham) - MONTE WARDEN (Watermelon 1993)
The opening cut on the first solo album from the former leader of the Wagoneers, Monte Warden, is a dead ringer for Buddy Holly. The whole of “Monte Warden” could have been written and recorded by Buddy Holly, and “Just To Hear Your Voice” is the perfect follow-up to “True Love Ways”. To quote one title, “It's Amazing”, but the second album, “Here I Am”, sounds like Bobby Vee.

FOUR LEAF CLOVER - BROTHER PHELPS (Asylum 1993)
Doug and Ricky Lee Phelps of the Kentucky Headhunters parody the Crickets on this song, complete with Buddy Holly hiccups. The title track of the album, “Let Go”, also recalls Buddy Holly.

GONE (THAT’LL BE ME) (Dwight Yoakam) - DWIGHT YOAKAM (Reprise 1995)
Dwight is too stone country to copy Buddy exactly, but the song and performance has Holly written through it, right down to Jim Christie’s “Peggy Sue”-slanted drumming.

WHAT IF...

What if the pilot had said, “I’m sorry, guys, the weather’s too bad and I’m not qualified to fly in these conditions.”
(1) Buddy makes an album with Ray Charles. Buddy loved “What’d I Say” but, according to his autobiography, Ray isn’t impressed by rock’n’roll. The album is on Charles’ terms and has a bluesy feel. It is a rare recording collaboration between a black and a white artist. Holly’s career is nearly destroyed through mass burnings of his records in the South. The Klan tell him, “This year the record, next year you.”
(2) Buddy gives up touring after his friend Eddie Cochran is killed while touring in England. He records a song about it, “The Day The Music Died”- “April showers make me shiver, And as I stare into the river, I can’t remember if I cried, The day the music died.”
(3) Bob Dylan befriends Buddy, who helps him on his first album when they duet “Pretty Peggy-O”, the third song in the “Peggy Sue” trilogy. Buddy becomes immersed in the folk music played in coffee-houses in Greenwich Village and later they record an album of oldies, “Self Portraits”. Dylan’s “Lubbock Skyline” is recorded at Buddy's home studio and includes a duet of “Midnight Shift”.
(4) Buddy’s career gets a welcome boost with the advent of the Beatles. John Lennon says, “Everyone forgets the white guys who created rock’n’roll.”
(5) His rock’n’roll days over, Buddy follows Conway Twitty and Rick Nelson into country music. He decides to grow long hair and wear a bandana but Willie Nelson beats him to it. Eventually, his country music friends play tribute with an album, “notfadeaway”.
(6) Fans start a “Buddy Holly Is Dead” campaign and claim that he died in a plane crash on 3rd February 1959. Among the clues: his biggest single was “That’ll Be The Day When I Die”, he recorded “Not Fade Away”, and the single before his “death” was “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”. A splinter group says that Buddy Holly was so disfigured by the crash that a wannabe has taken his place, is singing his songs and has fallen in love with his wife: Andrew Lloyd Webber gets an idea for a musical.
(7) Buddy Holly sues Norman Petty for songwriting royalties. He becomes interested in music publishing. Years later, a wealthy man, he buys Paul McCartney’s catalogue. Every September, he holds a Paul McCartney week in Lubbock.
(8) Holly forms a new company, Tex-Specs, which favours spectacles over the new contact lenses. Hank Marvin, John Lennon, Elvis Costello and Jarvis Cocker are recruited to follow Holly’s example.
(9) Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper meet for a reunion tour and play the Surf Ballroom again. The weather's bad and they decide to take a plane to the next gig.
(10) If Buddy Holly had received his due royalties, he would never gone on the Winter Dance Party and hence, he never would have hired that plane. Let’s blame his manager and record producer. Why was Buddy Holly paid in Petty cash?