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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nearly Two Hours of Classic Buddy Holly, October 31, 2005
In 1978 Gary Busey was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the critically acclaimed film "The Buddy Holly Story." As a result of the film's popularity, MCA released the definitive box set THE COMPLETE BUDDY HOLLY on six LPs the following year. Unfortunately, the collection has gone out of print, and despite rumors to the contrary it has never been released on CD. This leaves BUDDY HOLLY GOLD (a retitling of 1993's THE BUDDY HOLLY COLLECTION) as the most comprehensive collection currently available.
The fifty songs here span Holly's entire recording career. The earliest recordings are from either late 1954 or early 1955 when they recorded a few demos in Wichital Falls, Texas as Buddy and Bob (Montgomery). At this time, the duo was still performing country flavored material--especially the Everly Brothers influenced number "Soft Place in My Heart" (written by Montgomery), but the Holly/Mongomery-penned "Down the Line" has a solid rockabilly beat. [It should be noted that on some of these eary recordings ("Down the Line" and the instrumental "Holly Hop") include posthumous overdubs by The Fireballs.]
Holly's first official recording session was in January 1956 in Nashville under the guidance of famed producer Owen Bradley. This session yielded "Blue Days," "Midnight Shift" and one Holly original, "Love Me."
Over the next year, Holly would divide recording time between Norman Petty's Clovis, New Mexico studio and Nashville honing his own unique hybrid sound of country, rockabilly and blues. It wasn't until early 1957 after his Decca label contract expired, when Holly and The Crickets recut "That'll Be the Day" with Petty. [They recorded the song earlier on Decca, but Bradley said it was "the worst song he ever heard."] The song went to No. 1 and began a string of classic recordings, including "Peggy Sue," "Oh, Boy!" "Maybe Baby" and "Rave On," which all went Top 40.
Holly's final studio recordings were in New York in the fall of 1958. While Holly was not playing guitar during these sessions, they yielded standout tracks like "True Love Ways," "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and "Raining in My Heart."
The final four tracks are from the January "apartment" recordings done in Holly's Greenwich Village apartment that he shared with his new bride Maria. [Again, overdubs on these tracks were added by the Fireballs under the guidance of Norman Petty in 1963.] Songs like "Peggy Sue Got Married," "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" and "Learning the Game" showed that Holly was still a first-rate songwriter. Unfortunately, less than a month after these recordings were made, Holly would be dead at 22. The fifty tracks on this collection serve as a reminder of the tremendous impact Holly has had over the past fifty years. For anyone with even a casual interest in rock 'n' roll, this is required listening. [Running Time - disc 1, 54:20; disc 2, 52:39] ESSENTIAL
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rate the CD, not the record company, September 6, 2006
The reviews of this set distort the star rating. Make no mistake, this is a 5-star set. If you looked at the ratings and found 1993s 'Collection' with 5 stars and this set with 3, you might be tempted to buy the earlier set. This is the better set for sound quality and they are otherwise identical.
Like everyone else, I am frustrated by the lack of a compehensive release of Buddy Holly material. The very fact that this set was remastered and rereleased shows that there is a demand. However, until the happy day that a complete set is released, this is the best available and should be given its due- 5 stars.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two CDs filled with excellent, classic rock and roll, February 15, 2006
There's not much that can be said about Buddy Holly that hasn't already. He and his group, The Crickets, contributed much to rock and roll in only three years or so in the business, and influenced just about everybody that came after him. He was an innovative songwriter, guitarist and singer who produced some of the timeless classics of his era. Buddy Holly music should be an integral part of any good rock and roll record collection. If you own none of Holly's music, this Gold collection is an excellent place to start. I would suggest skipping the popular Greatest Hits disc, though it contains Holly's essential hits such as Peggy Sue, That'll Be The Day, Oh Boy, Maybe Baby, Rave On and Words of Love. That CD, although the music contained therein is certainly essential, has a mere 18 songs. Buddy Holly Gold on the other hand gives you 50 songs from the spectacled rocker. You get the classic hits, but you also get lesser-known yet excellent songs such as Rock Around with Ollie Vee, Midnight Shift, Well All Right, It's Too Late, You're So Square (Baby, I Don't Care), and covers of Chuck Berry's Brown Eyed Handsome Man and Little Richard's Ready Teddy. The liner notes are excellent with all the information you would expect and the sound quality is spectacular.
When it comes to Buddy Holly's music, more is definitely better. Just a taste of Buddy Holly will leave you wanting more. So passing on the skimpy greatest hits disc is certainly a good idea. And that Millenium Collection CD with a measly twelve songs on it? Don't even think about it. Until a huge Buddy Holly boxset is released, Gold is the best purchase you can make to get lots of Holly music in one place. A good alternative would be to pick up the debut album by the Crickets entitled "The Chirping Crickets" and Holly's self-titled solo debut. Those discs will give you most of what you need. However, there's still some excellent tracks that you won't get on those. Buddy Holly Gold is an excellent choice for anyone who wants lots of Buddy, more than just the big hits.
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by Buddy Holly 
