Customer Reviews

Buddy Holly Gold

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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.

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.

This man was a genius.The way he constructed his songs was sensational.I can play his songs over and over and never get sick of them.There is an element of saddness during his final official recording session,and 3 of the tunes appear here.Raining In My heart,is a real special song,the atmosphere of the Orchestra and the way he sung it is second to none.
I often do this when you get a particularly good tune,i analize it and i want to know what the hell makes it sound so good.
Another 2 songs from that session were It Doesnt Matter Anymore and True Love Ways,both songs are masterpeices.There is a number of his tunes you can do that with,Heartbeat is one,and the excellent lead guitar,nothing over the top,just precision guitar playing.He had a sound studio in his house and even though on todays standard it may seem antiquated,he definitly produced the goods.
Heartbeat is a fine example of no computerization polishing.You can hear the strumming of the guitar,and there is nothing better than hearing that human side to a song.If you close your mind from the vocals and listen to the guitar,you realy appreciate this song better.
Maybe Baby was done with The Crickets,and there is something about the sound thats just brilliant.
Oh Boy gets you moving,i wish you luck if you can play this song and not tap your foot.
What about Rave On,that Bluesy bass is excellent,but why was this song so short.Its So Easy is another fine example of excellent guitar work.
What is it about that song?Just precision thats the only way i can describe it.
Peggie Sue is probably his crowning glory.That drum beat echoing in the background is a sensation.
That'll Be The Day started it all,even though his record company wanted to scrap it.And in a brief 2 years this man was gone,how sad is that?
I dont care how old it is,his music was excellent.
Another song i have to mention is Everyday,that has a real catchy sing along tune and is a favorite also.
There is a fine collection of other songs here as well.

Of the Buddy Holly collections out there, this is by far the best (in terms of both content and value). The 50 hits here are arranged chronologically, digitally remastered, and include insightful liner notes. For the price, this an incredible, definitive anthology, and is highly recommended!

Like i said above this is just the Buddy Holly collection just new packaging and a much lower price , same exact songs as on the Buddy Holly collection , the packaging is excellent. A+++++++++++++++

I purchased this album along with a few other similar vintage albums in the hope that with the remastering processes that are available now I could actually get something that was not painful to listen to on modern hifi equipment. I have been a big fan of Buddy Holly for many years and love his music. I am delighted to say that I can now listen to his fantastic music and by the way this album is an excellent collection of his better tracks and the sound is great.
Gerry

this kid was a genious. incredible what he did in such a short time. some of the lyrics may seem a little corny by todays standards but the music is incredible. put this cd in you"re player turn it up and try driving without tapping you"re foot or fingers on the wheel.

As much as I appreciate the talent of Elvis (albeit with others'songs), as much as I think The Beatles are the greatest & changed music with their genius, I just sometimes wonder how great this man would have become had he lived longer. His influence, no doubt - MASSIVE & sadly, underappreciated.Karl (UK).

I purchased this for my fourteen year old son who has just discovered Buddy Holly. He LOVES this disc and listens to it on a regular rotation along with his more modern music...more often than not this is what he listens to as he goes to sleep.

I was tempted to get him the larger boxed set that includes most everything Holly recorded but when comparing the prices I figured I would let my son decide how much of a Buddy Holly completist he wanted to be and get him this set so he could start his collection here.

Not having owned any previous collections of his work I can't say how it compares in quality but everything on this CD sounds good to me...and I've heard no complaints from my son.

This was a great birthday present idea!