•
Rating:
Charles Hardin Holley... (September, 7 1936 - February, 3 1959)
There were only three seats available on the plane. Guitarist Tommy Allsup entered the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake (Iowa) and told young Ritchie Valens that they would decide the last available seat between the two of them, flipped a quarter into the air, and Valens won. The small airplane took off at 12:55 A.M. on a dark and stormy night, ending its journey tragically just 8 miles later. All four passengers lost their lives: the pilot, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly... the most influential American artist on the generation of young English musicians who were about to invade the USA musically.
His was a hybrid rock 'n' roll, not easily comparable to that of other superstars of the time, made up of splendid and refined melodic lines, well-crafted arrangements and sounds, elaborate vocal constructions taken directly from the best vocal groups of the period and adapted to his high-pitched and off-kilter voice, with that typical tremolo that only Elvis had managed to elevate to a higher level; fully reflecting his origins in the student duo Buddy and Bob which revisited bluegrass anthems and classics as a harmonic vocal duet. Splendid was the work of his Crickets in supporting him and enhancing the lines he was able to draw with his trusty Fender Stratocaster, so much so that the references to bands he would never have known are endless, meaning that the Beatles (a name that Stu Sutcliffe and John Lennon chose to "pay homage" to his Crickets), Hollies, Kinks owe much to Holly; listen to "That'll Be The Day", "Words Of Love" and "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" for the first, the sophisticated pop of "Listen To Me" for the second, or the harmonic constructions of voices and guitars of "It's So Easy" for the Davies brothers' band. Even the Beach Boys have more than one kinship with Holly, from the proto-surf of "Oh Boy" to the sinuous beach melody of "Send Me Lovin'" and "It's Too Late". The sunshine-pop roots itself in tracks like "Everyday" while the easier style finds its origins in "It Doesn't Matter Anymore". Even Jagger and Richards are not immune to his charm, and at the beginning of their career, they "handle", magically, "Not Fade Away", charging it with that sensual power that only they had, confirming the broad artistic spectrum of the Texan artist's songwriting. Classics like "Peggy Sue", "Rock Me My Baby", "Rave On" or "Early In The Morning" are, ultimately, his splendid gifts to the coding of the rock 'n' roll genre.
As mentioned, he will never see the splendid decade of the 60s, but his influence will be much stronger than history gave him credit for...
"And I just want to say that when I was sixteen or seventeen, I went to a Buddy Holly concert at the Duluth National Guard Armory and I was a couple of steps away from him... and he LOOKED AT ME. I kind of had a feeling that he was... I don't know how or why, but I know he was with us during the whole making of this record, somehow"
Words spoken by Bob Dylan during his acceptance speech for the Grammy won in 1998 with the album "Time Out Of Mind"
Loading comments slowly
