Buddy Holly

by Dave Laing

In his analysis of Buddy Holly's music and lyrics, his impact on music of the late 1950s, and his posthumous influence on the music industry, Dave Laing aims to provide a fresh perspective on this early rock icon. The longest-serving member of the rock immortals club―those singers and musicians for whom death seems to inaugurate a new phase of their careers―Holly was elevated to a place of honor in rock history soon after the plane crash that took his life in February 1959. One of the first artifacts acquired by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum was the twisted pair of his trademark black-rimmed glasses recovered from the plane wreckage. Despite his premature death at the age of 22 and the relatively limited output of his recordings during his lifetime, Buddy Holly remains one of the most influential and best-loved figures in rock 'n' roll.

Genres: Music, Biography

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1972

Reviews

[Christopher Renberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reckoned that I was getting into a rather scholarly look at Buddy Holly with this IU Press book. When I read the reference to anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski's term "phatic communication" as a way to describe the way Holly sang, I knew I was knee deep in some mighty heavy thinking about a singer from West Texas. Thus, this book is not for everyone.
Holly's full recorded output consists of about 50 titles. Laing does good work relating the how and why of those recordings earned Buddy a place in the inaugural class at the Rock n Roll HoF. So often the focus of reading about Buddy Holly is on what might have been and understandably so. This book focuses on what was. Good read.

[Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series from Equinox/Indiana University Press. I would collect all of them even if I weren't going to get to be part of it come fall. Depending on the individual volume, they're a combination of pop-culture studies and musicology. In some cases (the Elvis Costello) it helps to have a background in music theory. But in this volume the focus is more on Buddy Holly's career and legacy. It covers a great deal of territory: the cultural background of Lubbock TX, Holly's controversial relationship with Norman Petty, the development of rock touring and live shows in the fifties, and even the nature of recording and the significance of phonography. Then, of course, there's Buddy Holly's presence as a sort of cherubic victim of early rock 'n' roll. Yes, "American Pie" is mentioned, but so are the amazing number of lesser known tributes. And there's even Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story, a movie that---as factually inaccurate as it was---has set the template for rock movie biographies ever since (hello, La Bamba, the Runaways, Walk the Line...). Then there are the battles over who curates the legacy---and how Holly's hometown remembers its most famous son. It's especially intriguing to realize Holly casts a much larger shadow in Britain than in the U.S. I suspect the book will appeal more to students than the casual reader, but that's okay---it theorizes several significant issues that deserve discussion in the fields of cultural studies/popular music studies.