I was delighted to mark Buddy Holly Day with this grainy picture of the man on stage at the Gaumont in Wolverhampton, England and some anonymous reminiscing that went with it.
“I was at the Gaumont when Buddy Holly and the Crickets played there. It was in early 1958 and it was one concert which I really looked forward to since I had bought all of his early records, in fact That'll Be The Day was my very first record. I bought it from the Voltic for 6s 7d (33p). His performance was great."
"I sat upstairs in the circle for the Buddy Holly concert. I think the ticket cost something like five shillings (25p), maybe a little bit more. It was in February or March 1958 which could only have been a matter of weeks after he first made the charts."
"That performance by Buddy Holly at the Gaumont determined me and a couple of mates that we must start a group to recapture that sound. We did start a group but we never achieved anything like the Crickets. I even saw him in Birmingham as well."
I was told that an ancient retrospective on Buddy Holly that I wrote for NME back in punk rock 1977, when the two sevens clashed, would post on the Rock’s Back Pages, Yahoo blog, but so far it hasn’t appeared. If it doesn’t, maybe I’ll post the whole thing. Now click here if you know what’s good for you.
The secret words are Rave On
Seeing Buddy Holly in 1958 trumps every cool concert or show I have ever been to. Being an older fella myself, I thought the introduction on that video was absolutely charming.
ReplyDeleteAnd he was a fucking awesome guitarist.
ReplyDeleteJust learned that Waylon Jennings considered Holly to be his mentor.
ReplyDeleteAnd Dion didn't take the plane ride either. It was $36 and his parents paid $36 a month rent in the Bronx and he just couldn't do it.
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"If anything I’ve ever done is remembered, part of it is because of Buddy Holly."
ReplyDelete--Waylon
Waylon's son Shooter said Waylon went though life thinking he was maybe a ghost, as he gave up his seat on the plane to Big Bopper. He always wondered if he was supposed to die, and one of those other guys live.
Check out
http://www.cmt.com/artists/news/1452295/02142002/holly_buddy.jhtml
I hope that NME piece turns up online Mick, I'd really like to read it
ReplyDelete