For Love of Buddy Holly
By Teresa Ambord
Do you remember the early days of rock and roll? Or maybe you weren't around then, but you're still a fan. Imagine what it was like to have such a new sound hit the airwaves when pioneers like Buddy Holly arrived.
With his group, the Crickets, he ushered in a new era. Originally their first big song, "That'll Be the Day," just didn't make the grade because it was done in country western mode. But Holly could hear a different sound in his head, and when he finally challenged conventions and cut loose to perform the song his way, it became a best selling rock and roll song, as well as a hit in the R&B market.
Buddy Holly and the Crickets made music that shocked people everywhere. While the teens loved it, the parents were certain it was the end of morality and control.
Some say Holly's influence was like the ripples made when a stone is thrown into a pond, influencing nearly every aspect of the musical industry in his very short career. Though his career was short, he recorded over 100 songs, including "That'll Be the Day," "Maybe Baby," "Oh Boy," "Rave On," "Not Fade Away," "True Love Ways," and "Peggy Sue," which was originally titled "Cindy Lou."
Charles Hardin Holly has been described as geeky. Born in Lubbock, Texas on September 7,1936, he grew to be tall and thin and wore glasses with thick black frames which he called "wonder glasses." At that time, in the mid-50s such glasses were considered modern, and Holly was counting on them to help him meet girls. Whether or not the glasses helped is unknown, but he did meet his future wife, Maria Elena, proposed to her the same day, and married her two weeks later.
In February of 1959 Buddy Holly was touring with fellow singers Richie Valens and the Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson) when the three of them boarded a small plane to take them to the next stop on the Winter Dance tour. Minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing the three singers. Maria Elena Holly was carrying their child at the time.
Holly's career was short, but enormously influential. Thirty-six years after his death, the Museum of Texas Tech University opened "Buddy Holly-The Influence," an exhibition featuring 25 items from the City of Lubbock Buddy Holly collection.
