Buddy Holly

roadrunners · Post by **roadrunners** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:51 am

alright now, What about buddy's tone....What are the specifications of the strat he used. Did he always use a strat? what amp??? and why does george harrison's futarama sound so Buddy-esque on the Tony Sheridan tracks?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 11:58 am

Which Strat? He had three or maybe four, depending upon who you listen to. The first two (or three) were stolen. His first was a '55 sunburst, his last was a '58, which he played only once before he died. It was shipped to him while he was on his final tour.

Standard issue Strats, maple "C" necks.

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 12:08 pm

Buddy's only surviving guitar is here, where I live, in Lubbock. As Paul said, a'58 Strat...Fender did a little 'conservation' work on it as they called it. John Page of Fender did the work.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 12:13 pm

Amps:

Fender "Pro" with a single JBL 15. Maybe it gave him a bottom end for his single coils? I've got one just like it.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 12:33 pm

http://www.buddyhollycenter.org/htm/Buddy%20Holly%20Exhibit/bhe_tc.htm

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 1:24 pm

My sense is that the legacy of Buddy Holly has been the strength of his melodies and the simplicity of his lyrics moreso than his guitar playing.

Peggy Sue and It Doesn't Matter Anymore are perhaps my favourites, however, it is difficult to ignore Rave On and Brown-Eyed Handsome Man.

Heartbeat, That'll Be The Day and Oh Boy are not sleepers either.

It Doesn't Matter Anymore

There you go and baby here am I
well you left me here so I could sit and cry
golly gee, what have you done to me
well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore

Do you remember baby - last September
how you held me tight each and every night
whoopsa daisy - how you drove me crazy
but I guess it doesn't matter any more

There's no use in me a-crying
I've done everything and now I'm sick of trying
I've thrown away my nights - wasted all my days over you

Now you go your way and I'll go mine
now and forever 'til the end of time
and I'll find somebody new;
baby, we'll say we're through
and you won't matter any more

Compared to modern day lyrics you have to be swept away by the innocence of "golly gee" and "whoopsa daisy."

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 1:41 pm

I never heard Buddy Holly's version of "Brown eyed Handsome man" although I have heard he recorded it, Chuck Berry wrote it. I liked Buddy's stuff with The Crickets a little better than his solo stuff but all of it was great.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 4:55 pm

While I was in London for the Milennium celebrations, I got tickets for "The Buddy Holly Story" theatrical production not far from our hotel on the Strand.

For some odd reason, the audience was about 90% Americans, with a lot of teenagers--I suppose they were also in town for the parade.

I was expecting an evening of mediocre performances and rough stabs at the music. Some of it was performed live and some was synched. Instead, we were all blown away by the energy of the cast, especially the young Brit playing Buddy. The plot was predictable (especially if you knew Buddy's story), but the musical performances of a lot of Holly stuff, from the obvious to the obscure, was terrific. By the second act, the whole cast had caught our enthusiasm and it got better and better, helped by some excellent alcoholic bevs at the interval.

At the end, they did three encores to standing ovations, and the Buddy character came out to give a speech saying that we were the best group he'd ever played to. We were in the fourth row and could see that he literally had tears in his eyes when he left the stage.

And, ever since then, my enthusiasm for Holly and that period and sound has grown tenfold. It was like seeing the man resurrected. And, yes, he did play an authentic-looking Strat, although I doubt it was a '50s model...

Brown Eyed, etc. was originally titled Brown Skinned etc. and sung that way, but the record company (Chess?) insisted on a less controversial hook for the mass market. But we all know what Chuck meant anyway!

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 12:14 am

Thanks for sharing this personal experience Paul. I especially appreciate your moving comment about the Buddy character's speech. As I read this I couldn't help but imagine Buddy looking down on the whole event from Heaven saying tonight they really did listen to me.

royclough · Post by **royclough** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 1:11 am

Seen the Buddy Holly showe a couple of times and as Paul says it is an excellent show, interestingly one of the people who invested in the production and I assume has done rather well out of it was Bruce Welch of The Shadows.

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 1:21 am

Roy: Only the Shadow knows.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 6:37 am

I always thought Buddy Holly was a good guitar player.

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:51 am

Peter I'm sure you are aware that Paul Anka wrote that little number for Buddy.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:16 am

Yes Dale and I was remiss to not make mention of this earlier in the thread.

Paul Anka has mentioned this at concerts that he has given in the past. Moreover, in addition to "It Doesn't Matter Anymore"(Buddy Holly), he has also penned "She's a Lady" (Tom Jones), "Puppy Love" (Donny Osmond) and, "My Way" (Frank Sinatra).

royclough · Post by **royclough** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:44 am

With My Way Peter technically he didn't write the song he supplied the English lyrics it was taken from a French song, Comme D'Habtitude, written by Claude Francois and Jacques Revaux.

As Joe Friday said "Just the Facts Ma'am" though supposedly he never actually said that!