Review #166: 20 Golden Greats, Buddy Holly
#166: 20 Golden Greats, Buddy Holly
I love this album cover so much. Buddy Holly is dead — long live Buddy Holly!
If you’re a millennial, you’ve probably heard Weezer’s “Buddy Holly,” and it’s criminally catchy chorus declaring that Rivers Cuomo looks just like him. If you’re older than a millennial, you probably know that Don McLean’s epic “American Pie” is about the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly.
For those who don’t know, Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in 1959 at the age of 22. He wasn’t the only famous musician on the plane, either: Ritchie Valens, who was only 17, and J.P. Richardson, who was also known as “The Big Bopper,” also passed away.
“American Pie” refers to the crash as “The Day The Music Died,” and gosh, I’m sure that’s how it felt. Imagine if — actually, DON’T imagine if three of our present-day teenage-to-twenty-something prodigious musicians died in the same plane crash.
The RS blurb calls Buddy Holly rock and roll’s “first major casualty,” and for once, I don’t think they’re full of it.
(Don McLean is not on this list, but “American Pie” is the only song of his I’ve ever heard, so that seems appropriate.)
FAVORITE SONGS:
“That’ll Be The Day” — Ye-he-hes! Oh I love old-time swingy rock and roll.
“Peggy Sue” — I love how Buddy Holly just decides that he’s going to hiccup his way through most of these songs.
“Everyday” — Everyday/It’s a-gettin’ closer! Charming and sweet.
“Not Fade Away” — His voice is so insolent.
“Oh Boy!” — All of my love/All of my kissin’/You don’t know what you’ve been missin’! We need to rhyme more.
“Listen To Me” — Ooh, I love the duet at the beginning.
“Think It Over” — Just remember all birds and bees/Go by twos through life’s mysteries. HA!
“It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” — Ah-oops! Ee-daisy!
“It’s So Easy” — Buddy Holly’s voice is a delight but I love when the Crickets sing backup for him.
“Well…All Right” — He sounds like Elvis here!
“Bo Diddley” — Wee-ooh! Buddy Holly looks just like Bo Diddley/Oh-oh! And you’re Mary Tyler Moore!
“Brown Eyed Handsome Man” — I was surprised at how many of Buddy Holly’s lyrics cracked me up. I love when the mother tells her daughter, Go out and find yourself/A brown eyed handsome man/That’s what your daddy is.
LEAST FAVORITE SONGS:
“Raining In My Heart” — If a song has both “rain” and “heart” in the title, I’m not gonna like it.
IS RS FULL OF IT?
See above. For once, no.
