Customer Reviews

Memorial Collection (Dig) (Slip)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 3-CD set, released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly in a plane crash, doesn't quite deliver what would have been expected. It was said to be a "Box Set" but it's just 3 CDs in digipak housing, with sleeves to hold the 3 CDs that quickly tear on the edges when removing or replacing the CDs, and the CDs slip out easily then. The notes in the booklet really don't provide much new information (at least to long-term fans). The personnel listings for some of the tracks included are sometimes incorrect; e.g., the Fireballs are listed on some undubbed tracks.
While the sound quality is generally pretty good, and a few tracks sound improved, it's questionable if the original master tapes were used to mix other tracks, as a few sound muddier than on other CD issues. And the three October 1958 New York string-session tracks which were recorded in stereo and released that way on most prior CD issues, are instead presented here in mono (or if it is stereo, the separation is very poor).
The copy I received has a sticker on it that indicates "Best Buy Exclusive".
In general, this release is a disappointment. The musical content is excellent, and it is good to have the recordings in chronological order, but questions about the sound quality of some tracks and the written material in the accompanying booklet disappoint.
I can't praise Buddy Holly's music enough and his legacy is valid, but can't recommend "Memorial Collection". I'd recommend other prior Geffen CD releases such as the two original albums from the 1950s, or the hits collections released on CD, and the 2-CD set "Down the Line-The Rarities" which was also just released is also excellent and has exceptional sound quality.

The 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death is being remembered in many ways, foremost among them the simultaneous release of this Memorial Collection and a Rarities set called Down The Line. Other things are happening too, like a good article in Rolling Stone about Holly's final days. It really is amazing to consider both the relative brevity of Holly's career and the major impact he had on others who followed, such as the Beatles and Marshall Crenshaw. For hardcore Buddy fans, you can combine the Memorial and Rarities sets and what you have is a nice 5-CD compendium of 119 songs, many of which are being released for the first time. Of course there are multiple versions of some of the same songs across the two sets, digging into the vaults for outtakes and alternate recordings as well as historic early songs performed by "Buddy and Bob" (with Bob Montgomery [not the baseball catcher!]). For casual fans interested in honoring the anniversary (or drawn because of the publicity), you're much better off getting one of the single-disc hits collections.

As one might expect with the originals being over half a decade old, the sound quality varies widely, but some tracks such as "Everyday" (the single take) sound better than ever. There, Norman Petty's celeste notes are as clear as day. On the negative side, there are some drop-outs here and there where the sound goes down to just one channel, and the sound quality is pretty harsh on other occasions (as on "Oh Boy!"). I was also disappointed by the flimsy packaging. The "pouches" that house the individual CDs don't hold them very well, and the cheap cardboard tore in a couple of places as I was sliding CDs into their places.

As I listened to these songs, they had a primary effect on me, undoubtedly intended by the compilers, of regretting that we lost such a great talent after he was on the stage such a short time. Beyond that, I was struck anew by Holly's talent as a guitar player, not just his innovative singing style. I also thought it was interesting to hear how strongly influenced Buddy was by Elvis, especially at the beginning. Overall, I appreciated the opportunity to hear the work of this rock icon/ pioneer in a new way.

Way back in the dark ages of vinyl, MCA released a great 6 LP set of Buddy Holly's work lacking only the "Apartment Tapes" in their original undubbed format instead using the Jack Hansen overdubs that were released after Buddy's death and formed half of the Coral vinyl album "The Buddy Holly Story Vol. 2".
To honor the 50th Anniversary of Buddy's death, Universal using the dubious Geffen Decca logo have released 5 CDs in two sets, this 3 CD set (which clocks in at 127 minutes - hmmmmm could've got it on two CDs) that includes the "Apartment Tapes" in the Norman Petty Fireballs dubbed versions and the 2 CD set "Down the Line Rarities" which includes the undubbed "Apartment Tapes". In various forms all the tracks have been available before - in bootleg form on the Australian Vigo 4 CD set and on the excellent El Toro re-release series (a absolute must for any Buddy fan - now there's a company that respects Buddy Holly!).
Reviewers have complained about the shoddy packaging on both sets and I'll add to that the poor liner notes and the total absence of the Jack Hansen dubs of the "Apartment Tapes" that baby boomers like me grew up on. When one looks at Universal's superb Motown Singles series (now up to Vol 11B) and the re-issues of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley - you wonder why Buddy Holly couldn't have received much better treatment. In addition to the Jack Hansen dubs, there are several alternate versions of the Fireball's dubs and versions of the hits with studio chatter.
Why did Universal short change Buddy Holly fans (you could've added an additional 100 mins to the 3CD set and had room) instead focusing on the Best Buy customer who was well served by the zillion other re-releases of much of this material? Andy McKaie - explain yourself!!!!

The track list in the 32-page booklet doesn't give the full picture - so space allowing - here's a detailed listing so fans can work what's what (all discography details are US):

Disc 1 (43:36 minutes)
1. Down The Line (Previously Unreleased In The USA)
2. Soft Place In My Heart (Previously Unreleased)
3. You And I Are Through (Previously Unreleased In The USA)
4. Midnight Shift (February 1958 LP "That'll Be The Day", Decca DL 8707)
5. Love Me (March 1956 7" single on Decca 29854 [B-side to 7])
6. Don't Come Back Knockin' (as per 4)
7. Blue Days, Black Nights (as per 5, A-side)
8. Baby Won't You Come Out Tonight
(March 1983 LP, "For The First Time Anywhere", MCA 27059)
9. I'm Gonna Set My Foot Down (as per 8)
10. Changing All Those Changes (as per 8)
11. Rock-A-Bye Rock (as per 8)
12. Rock Around With Ollie Vee (as per 4)
13. Girl On My Mind (as per 4)
14. Ting-A-Ling (as per 4)
15. Modern Don Juan (1956 7" single on Decca 30166 [A])
16. Holly Hop (Previously Unreleased In The USA)
17. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man (as per 8)
18. That'll Be The Day
(1957 7" single on Brunswick 55009 [A])
(Also on album 'The "Chirping" Crickets', November 1957, Brunswick BL 54038)
19. I'm Looking For Someone Too Love (B-side to 18, also on the LP)
20. Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues
(1957 7" single on Coral 61852 [B-side to "Words Of Love"])
(Also on the album 'Buddy Holly', February 1958, Coral CRL 57210)

(Tracks 1 to 3 are credited to BUDDY & BOB [Bob Montgomery]; 4 to 17 and 20 are BUDDY HOLLY; 18 and 19 are THE CRICKETS)

Disc 2 (42:03 minutes):
1. Words Of Love
(1957 7" single on Coral 61852 [A] and 'Buddy Holly' LP)
2. Not Fade Away
(1957 7" single on Brunswick 55035 [B-side to "Oh, Boy!" and 'The "Chirping" Crickets' LP)
3. Everyday
(1957 7" single on Coral 61885 [B-side to "Peggy Sue" and 'Buddy Holly' LP)
4. Ready Teddy (on 'Buddy Holly' LP)
5. Tell Me How (on 'The "Chirping" Crickets' LP)
6. Oh, Boy! (as per 2, [A])
7. Listen To Me
(1958 7" single on Coral 61947 [A])
(Also on the 'Buddy Holly' LP)
8. Peggy Sue (as per 3)
9. I'm Gonna Love You Too (as per 7 [B-side])
10. It's Too Late (Chuck Willis cover) (as per 5)
11. Maybe Baby
(1958 7" single on Brunswick 55053 [A] and the 'The "Chirping" Crickets' LP)
12. You've Got Love (as per 5)
13. Rock Me My Baby (as per 5)
14. Look At Me (as per 4)
15. You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care) (as per 4)
16. Little Baby (as per 4)
17. Rave On (1958 7" single on 61985 [A] and the 'Buddy Holly' LP)
18. Well...All Right (1958 7" single on Coral 62051 [B-side to "Heartbeat"])
19. Take Your Time
(1958 7" single on Coral 61985 [Non-Album B-side to "Rave On"])
20. Fool's Paradise
(1958 7" single on Brunswick 55072 [Non-Album B-side to "Think It Over"])

(All Tracks are credited to BUDDY HOLLY)

Disc 3 (41:13 minutes):
1. Think It Over (see 20 on Disc 2)
2. Heartbeat
3. It's So Easy
4. Lonesome Tears
5. Love's Made A Fool Of You [1958 Recording with 1964 Overdubs]
(on "Showcase", 1964 USA LP on Coral 57450)
6. Wishing [1958 Recording with 1963 "Fireballs" Overdubs]
7. Early In The Morning
8. Now We're One
9. Reminiscing [King Curtis cover] [1958 Recording with 1962 "Fireballs" Overdubs]
10. True Love Ways [Minus Studio Chatter]
11. It Doesn't Matter Anymore
12. Raining In My Heart
13. What To Do [Previously Unreleased In The USA]
14. Peggy Sue Got Married
[1979 USA 6LP Box Set "The Complete Buddy Holly", MCA MCA6-80,000]
15. That Makes It Tough [as per 14]
16. Crying, Waiting, Hoping [Previously Unreleased In The USA]
17. Learning The Game [as per 14]
18. You're The One [as per 5]
19. Smokey Joe's Café [Coasters cover] [Previously Unreleased In The USA]
20. Dearest [as per 14]

(Tracks 1, 3 and 4 are credited to THE CRICKETS; all others BUDDY HOLLY)

USA issued 10 February 2009 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of his untimely death (delayed until 13 April 2009 in the UK), this 3CD, 60-track retro has divided reviewers on the big three - content, packaging and sound. I feel there's losers and winners on all counts.

"True Love Ways" isn't in STEREO and is minus the wonderful studio chatter that turned up on Steve Hoffman's "From The Original Master Tapes" of 1987 - disappointing. The sound quality is demo-only on parts of Disc 1, but improves vastly when the studio stuff arrives and is fantastically clear thereafter. CD2 is awesome - content and sound - it could easily act as a stand-alone hits set in it's own right. The stark Buddy/Guitar acoustic performances on Disc 3 are STUNNING ("What To Do") and fans have waited near 30 years to hear them on CD in truly great sound - remaster engineer ERICK LABSON has delivered once again.

Some have bitched about the card packaging and the CDs do become loose once out of their slots, but the outer card wrap sorts that out and the quality of the colour and black/white shots in the fold-out card digipak is superb. OK - it's not Bear Family beautiful as presentation goes - but I like the 3CD substantial feel of it. For the price, it's as respectful as it can be.

It's also clear now that with "True Love Ways", "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and Raining in My Heart" and the Apartment demos - Buddy had a truly stunning 3rd album in him - but alas.

"Memorial Collection" is not perfect for sure - but it is here - and in good shape too - and at reasonable price. I've loved listening to it - I really have. Rave on you beautiful man - rave on.

If this isn't a five-star album I don't know what is. Downgrading this glorious music because the packaging isn't deluxe is so far beside the point that it isn't even in the same region where the point resides. The decision to put this out in inexpensive packaging was clearly an economic decision. Most music buyers these days download their music rather than purchasing it on CD. And many who do buy the CDs put them immediately on their iPod and never touch the discs again. To have put it in a deluxe packaging would have bumped the price up to around $45 and have limited its audience. His biggest fans already own John Goldrosen's great biography THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY and wouldn't benefit much from liner notes.

The caviling of previous reviewers over the packaging and liner notes overlooks the essential fact that this is hands down the finest Buddy Holly collection available on CD. It is not the finest Buddy Holly album ever. That would be the even more inclusive LP box set THE COMPLETE BUDDY HOLLY released in 1979. In the early 1990s I made the idiotic decision to sell all my LPs and that was included among my disquisitions. I have been kicking myself all the time since as several of the best albums I owned have never received a comparable release on CD. For instance, there still hasn't been a CD box set to rival the LP THE ABSOLUTE ANTHOLOGY by the Easybeats, another album I profoundly miss.

But this set -- regardless of the packaging -- contains at a very cheap price the heart of what makes Buddy Holly great. It contains nearly all of his important songs, mainly dispensing with the horrible orchestrated versions of the posthumous songs that were found on Buddy Holly's recently purchased reel-to-reel tape recorder some weeks after his death. I've have them on other albums but have never been able to listen to them much. The single most important reason for anyone to get this set is to get that group of brilliant songs sans the grating arrangements that were later foisted onto them.

Buddy Holly was by any standard one of the towering figures in the history of rock and roll. And this despite dying at age 22 and after a recording career that lasted a mere 18 months. His inclusion in the initial class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees was a no brainer. He had a large number of hits in the brief time that he was a professional performer and several of his other songs became hits after his death and his influence is incalculable. His influence on the Beatles and the Stones was significant. Dozens of singers sound like him, including Marshall Crenshaw and Elvis Costello who not only copied his voice but his appearance (Crenshaw even got to portray him in a movie). I even fancy I heard some of Holly's vocal mannerisms in people like Corin Tucker, who doesn't have his hiccup but does punch her words much as Holly did.

Holly's talent is all encompassing and multidimensional. He was a brilliant pop singer, with impeccable phrasing and a host of wonderful idiosyncrasies. He was one of the great songwriters rock has seen and an absolutely brilliant arranger of his own work. Near the end of his life he was making marvelous innovations with his arrangements, adding strings and using other instruments that anticipated the experiments of George Martin and the Beatles. And he was a tremendously underrated guitarist.

But as great as what we got from Holly, one can't help but wonder what we might have gotten. Rock and roll has witnessed many premature deaths, but without question Holly's is the one that cut short what might have been the career that would have changed the entire history of rock. He was barely getting started when he died.

Buddy Holly is also remarkable for being one of the cleanest figures in the history of rock. I mean Pat Boone kind of squeaky-clean. He was a devout Baptist and even tithed (that is giving ten percent of your money to the church) and his songs are almost completely devoid of the double entendres that lace the songs of most rock performers. His protagonists smooch and kiss instead of having sex. Yet his music has as much as an edge as anyone's. Even songs like "Rave On," with the rather odd vocal backings, at its heart is still a great rocker. And although he was completely conversant with the kind of rock and roll laid down by Memphis, he added a pop quality to his songs that was uniquely his own. When he died he was making plans to record a gospel album.

But in the end as you listen to these discs what you get more than anything is Buddy Holly's enormous talent. You can hear the enormous progress his made in his short career, starting as imitator of what was coming out of Sun, but more and more emerging as his own performer. His song writing got stronger and stronger as he went along (though Norman Petty is often listed as a co-writer, his contributions as a writer were either minimal or nonexistent, and significantly after Holly's death his career as a writer ended, though his work as producer of Buddy Holly and/or the Crickets was of utmost importance). The early songs give away to a string of great classics like "That'll Be the Day" (inspired by an expression used repeatedly by John Wayne's character Ethan Edwards's in John Ford's great western THE SEARCHERS), "Peggy Sue," "It's So Easy," "True Love Ways," and great covers like "I Guess It Doesn't Matter Anymore."

But as I said, the main reason to get this set is the glorious posthumous songs, left undubbed and precisely as he left them instead of the rather pedestrian re-recordings of them done later by Jack Hansen. "Peggy Sue Got Married" is one of the greatest musical sequels ever penned and it is impossible to hear "Learning the Game" without instantly concluding it is a great song. I especially love his wonderful cover of the Stoller and Liebe'sr "Smokey Joe's Café." The latter features a very strange guitar run that you at first think may have been an error, except that he then plays it precisely the same way a second time through. These songs break my heart every time I hear them. His wife was unaware of their existence when he died so that when they were discovered they literally were as if Buddy were speaking to us from the grave. As great as Buddy Holly was when he died, it is obvious that he hadn't come even close to actualizing his potential. Don McLean famously memorialized his death as the day the music died. Without question his death robbed us of more great music than any other. While it is possible that Buddy Holly's greatest musical achievements might have laid before him, what he managed to achieve easily ranks him with the greatest of rock and roll's founding fathers.

If you don't own a Buddy Holly album, you need to get this. And if you own a Buddy Holly album you need to get this (unless you own THE COMPLETE BUDDY HOLLY on LP). This is hands down some of the greatest music ever released. And that packaging doesn't' affect that at all.

(4.5 stars)

Buddy Holly was one of the major pioneers of rock and roll; and his music influenced so many artists I couldn't list them all here even if I tried. This fine three CD set gives us music before he was particularly famous, music while he was famous and music that he recorded during the last month or so of his life in his New York City apartment. Overall, the sound quality is quite good and the artwork is very well done. I do agree with some other reviewers that the packaging of this item is not the best. Specifically, the three CDs are not well protected once you open up the digipak; they have a lovely habit of simply falling out because nobody cared enough to make packaging that would hold the CDs in place! However, this shouldn't scare you away from this three CD set; the quality of the music is what we're after here and you do get plenty of that.

In one sense this review is somewhat challenging because all the music here is just so good; but I will try to give you a list of the major highlights on each of the three CDs.

CD # 1

"Down The Line;" "Soft Place In My Heart;" and "You And I Are Through." These are three tracks recorded by Buddy and his then-partner and buddy Bob Montgomery. The sound quality on the first two tracks isn't the best; but wow, what energy these guys had! Buddy's vocals really shine.

"Midnight Shift." Great electric guitar by Buddy who sings this to perfection! He sounds wonderful; and I love it.

"Baby, Won't You Come Out Tonight." This is one of the earliest recordings with Buddy using his trademark "hiccups;" and it always worked very well for Buddy.

"Rock Around With Ollie Vee." Just plain fun. Buddy does vocals and plays guitar along with his buddies--excellent!

"That'll Be The Day." This early stab at this tune already had plenty of electricity! More hiccups by Buddy make it even better; he never lets go of a superfluous note.

CD # 2

"Words Of Love." Now who wouldn't like this tune? Excellent--and notice how Buddy gets that early `60s sound years before the `60s even started! Great drums by Jerry Allison, too.

"Ready Teddy" Now THAT's what I call music! How this rocks...

"Oh, Boy!" Great hit for Buddy. Just one listen proves it, too.

"Peggy Sue." Good thing they didn't call this "Cindy Lou" as they originally intended; the name along with the music makes the song brighter than a million suns.

"Maybe Baby." More incredible music. As Buddy sings those backup singers take this star rising even higher. Buddy never sounded better.

"Look At Me." Great piano playing by Vi Petty; Buddy sings and plays faultlessly.

"Little Baby." Great early rock and roll number. Buddy delivers this with all his heart and soul; and the music complements his vocals perfectly.

"Fool's Paradise." More great early rock. Buddy sure had an instinct for fine music!

CD # 3

"Heartbeat." Great number. The electric guitars are excellent as Buddy sings this passionately. He never falters, either.

"It's So Easy." Great song! Buddy sure could turn out a tune; he wrote this with Norman Petty. You really get to hear his full vocal range, too.

"Early In The Morning." Flawless, like a diamond shining brightly. This is how to make the others jealous--it's all THAT good.

"True Love Ways." One rare track of Buddy singing with strings, which are used so well in the arrangement. Buddy's excellent diction bolsters his performance all the more. This is music for lovers only!

"Raining In My Heart." Gorgeous. Buddy was blossoming just as his life was about to be cut short so cruelly.

"Peggy Sue Got Married." A song recorded by Buddy in his New York City apartment. Buddy sings this with panache; it lacks nothing. Wonderful! Great addition to "Peggy Sue," too.

"Learning The Game." Another one of the apartment tapes. Buddy sings this with a lot of soul and his guitar playing showcases his excellent sense of timing.

"Smokey Joe's Café." Cool, baby! This is quite a strong cover as Buddy plays with the tempo; he also makes a few key changes to put his own stamp on this superb ballad.

The Buddy Holly Memorial Collection is a must-have for his fans; and any emerging artist would do well to study the artistry of this giant amongst giants. People just discovering Buddy Holly should consider this three CD set if they like his work; you get so much here!

This 3 CD Buddy Holly collection CD with is in many ways a great release. Generally these old recordings have never sounded better. Even the very early 1955-56 recordings sound really good.

The music is obviously great and the songs come chronological order, giving a good opportunity to get an impression of Holly's musical development through his, unfortunately, short career.

Holly was with his group the Crickets during 1957 frequent visitors in the studio and after their breakthrough with "That'll Be the Day" and the successors "Oh Boy" and "Peggy Sue", the group had actually recorded enough material to release two albums. The record company Coral decided to release two albums: one as a Buddy Holly solo album, and a second as a band-release with Buddy Holly and the Crickets. In fact it is the same people who are involved on the two albums and it is probably more or less a coincidence whether the songs ended up on one or the other album.

This CD release is missing only a few tracks from the two excellent albums. Actually three albums with Buddy Holly were released in the course of 1958; the third "That'll Be the Day" consisted of earlier recordings, made with different musical line-ups. This too, certainly was a solid release, and also from this album most songs can be found on this new release.

Holly's last studio recordings, most of which ended up on the singles released during 1958-59, along with his home recordings from December 58 and January 1959, show that Holly was in a rapid musical development, and that his songwriting talent had only just begun to shine.

These "apartment" songs are among Holly's most beautiful recordings, and even without the well-known overdubs, songs like "Learning the Game," "What to Do," "Dearest" and "Crying, Waiting, hoping" are at least as strong as the studio recordings.

The accompanying booklet is very informative, especially in terms of the musicians involved in the individual recordings.

Only very few of Holly's best recordings are missing. Personally I would have like to see "Bo Diddley", "Come Back Baby", "Love is Strange", "Wait Till the Sun Shines Nellie" and "Gone" included too.

All in all a grand release that can be warmly recommended.

This is a wonderful collection for Buddy Holly fans. The remastering is great, the song selection is top-notch. Some rarities here as well as all the bug hits (pun intended). Buy this today if you love Buddy Holly and early rock and roll.

I've been collecting Buddy Holly best of or greatest hits comppilations for years, and this is without doubt the finest collection of Buddy's music on cd EVER!! It contains most of Buddy's important tracks as well as the undubbed versions of early Buddy+Bob(Montgomery) tracks and the apartment tapes that Buddy recorded one month prior to his death on Feb.3, 1959. They have been issueed many times in the past with heavy dubbing that was tacked on in the 1960's. I agree that the packaging is a little flimsy, and if you are not careful putting the discs away, that the cardbosrd holders will definitely tear, making it very easy for the cd's to fall out. Also, having the last 3 tracks he recorded in late 1958 (The 4th tack "Moondreams" is not included) in mono, when they are available in true stereo was very dissapointing. BUT, I think the sound quality of all the tracks is outstanding and believe me I have listened to many of his cd's through the years. I will bet anyone, that these versions were transfered from THE FIRST GENERATION MASTER TAPES! I noticed no hiss, crackles, or any distortion except from the very early Buddy+Bob tracks. They sounded a little crude and rough. But from the Decca tracks to the end (yes even the apartment tapes undubbed sounded excellent to me)the songs all sound pristine! In closing if you are a casual Buddy fan, then you don't need to pick this set up. But if you are a heavy duty Buddy fan, then this package is a no brainer. It's a shame that the packaging is rather cheaply made, and the only songs Buddy recorded in stereo are only here in mono. Still there is no finer collection(other than the 1979 "Complete Buddy Holly" set released on vinyl in 1979)available! Bravo to Geffin and Universal for releasing this collection.

Buddy Holly is the "true" King of Rock n Roll and a pure genius who was way ahead of his time and his music was constantly changing from year to year. Buddy never stuck with the same sound and was always evolving and trying new sounds and styles. And unlike Elvis Presley, Buddy was a great songwriter and a great guitar player. This is a great collection to get started with for the casual Buddy Holly fan and even though some good songs are missing, overall this is a really good collection of Buddy Holly songs and even people new to Buddy Holly will understand his greatness just from these songs. He started out with a lot of Rockabilly with songs like "Rock Around With Ollie Vee" and "Love Me" and then in '57 he started to really find a sound all his own and had several classic songs like "That'll Be The Day", "Oh Boy!", "Peggy Sue", "Not Fade Away", "Everyday", "Words Of Love", and "Maybe Baby" and then in '58 changed styles again with songs like "True Love Ways (maybe the greatest ballad of all-time), "Rave On", It's So Easy", and "Well All Right" just to name a few. Plus you get some of the songs that he last recorded right before his death known as "The Apartment Tapes". Songs like "Dearest", "That Makes It Tough", "Learning The Game", and "Crying Waiting Hoping". They are of just Buddy and his acoustic guitar and absolutely brilliant. A Must Have. I wish I was a better writer because my review does not do Buddy justice on how great and important his music is.