Product Description
**New! Special Tribute-- for the 50th Anniversary of “The day the music died”**
Like Buddy Holly himself,
this book is an original— solid gold.
And it rocks.
OH BOY! is your backstage pass to the birth of the rock music revolution. It’s the most complete, compelling, and fully up-to-date new biography of the legendary Buddy Holly, the young man who was legally blind, but saw the future of rock ’n’ roll. This compulsively readable book-- the first and only full-length biography of Buddy for young adults and tweens-- fills a glaring gap in the curriculum of “the school of rock” and recaptures the Buddy Holly magic for a new generation.
Award-winning author Staton Rabin’s stirring biography of rock ’n’ roll legend Buddy Holly is beautifully clear, honest, and utterly persuasive-- just like Buddy’s music. Ah, the music! Those trademark Holly hiccups and yodels, that West Texas twang, the boyish energy that bursts from the starting gate like Seabiscuit. The dazzling guitar licks that penetrate hearts like gamma rays. The kind of rock music that whether you’re eight or eighty, dares you to try- just try!-- to keep your feet still and stay in your seat.
Propelled by hits like “That’ll be the Day”, “Peggy Sue”, “Everyday”, “Rave On”, and “Oh Boy!” created by Buddy and his group, the Crickets-- the first rock band that wrote, arranged, and performed its own songs— Buddy’s fame swept across the globe like a Texas twister. This all-inclusive biography tells the true story of Buddy’s thrilling, faster-than-a-rollercoaster ride to superstardom, featuring:
--Excerpts from rare, classic interviews with Buddy’s family and friends
--Insightful analysis of Buddy’s best-known songs
--Buddy’s witty high school English essay
--His pivotal first meeting with an up-and-coming young singer named “the Hillbilly Cat” (Elvis!)
--The astonishing story-behind-the-story of his first hit record
--The drama of his romances, including a heartbreaking split with his high school sweetheart, and his storybook “love at first sight” romance with Maria Elena, the beautiful woman he would marry
-- Buddy’s painful break-up with his manager, Norman Petty, and his beloved band, the Crickets
-- Vivid descriptions of what it would have been like to see, hear, and meet Buddy in person
-- Buddy’s prophetic dream
-- The Winter Dance Party (otherwise known as “the bus tour from hell”)
--A full account of “the day the music died” when the world lost three bright young stars: 22-year-old Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens (17), and The Big Bopper” (28). It includes a riveting, “you are there”, minute-by-minute account of the tragic plane crash, which seeks to solve the mystery of what really happened that cold February night in l959
-- A “Where are they Now?” section that tells what the Crickets and Buddy’s other friends and family are doing today
--Details of tributes planned to honor Buddy for the 50th anniversary of his death, and a complete and current list of the best-of-the-best sources for further information about Buddy: books, web sites, movies, etc.
--Amazing quotes about Buddy Holly from some of the many rock ’n’ roll stars who were influenced by him, including Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan
…And so much more.
So, here he is, “live” and in person-- Buddy Holly. Go ahead and say it: “Oh boy!”
Age Range: l0 to Adult
About the Author: Staton Rabin has written many popular books about cultural icons for Simon & Schuster and Viking, including BETSY AND THE EMPEROR. She was trained in music, and has a degree in film from NYU. Rabin is member #10,346 of the Buddy Holly International Fan Club, and owns of a Fender Stratocaster guitar. Her web site can be found at www.myspace.com/statonrabin
Rave on!
Like Buddy Holly himself,
this book is an original— solid gold.
And it rocks.
OH BOY! is your backstage pass to the birth of the rock music revolution. It’s the most complete, compelling, and fully up-to-date new biography of the legendary Buddy Holly, the young man who was legally blind, but saw the future of rock ’n’ roll. This compulsively readable book-- the first and only full-length biography of Buddy for young adults and tweens-- fills a glaring gap in the curriculum of “the school of rock” and recaptures the Buddy Holly magic for a new generation.
Award-winning author Staton Rabin’s stirring biography of rock ’n’ roll legend Buddy Holly is beautifully clear, honest, and utterly persuasive-- just like Buddy’s music. Ah, the music! Those trademark Holly hiccups and yodels, that West Texas twang, the boyish energy that bursts from the starting gate like Seabiscuit. The dazzling guitar licks that penetrate hearts like gamma rays. The kind of rock music that whether you’re eight or eighty, dares you to try- just try!-- to keep your feet still and stay in your seat.
Propelled by hits like “That’ll be the Day”, “Peggy Sue”, “Everyday”, “Rave On”, and “Oh Boy!” created by Buddy and his group, the Crickets-- the first rock band that wrote, arranged, and performed its own songs— Buddy’s fame swept across the globe like a Texas twister. This all-inclusive biography tells the true story of Buddy’s thrilling, faster-than-a-rollercoaster ride to superstardom, featuring:
--Excerpts from rare, classic interviews with Buddy’s family and friends
--Insightful analysis of Buddy’s best-known songs
--Buddy’s witty high school English essay
--His pivotal first meeting with an up-and-coming young singer named “the Hillbilly Cat” (Elvis!)
--The astonishing story-behind-the-story of his first hit record
--The drama of his romances, including a heartbreaking split with his high school sweetheart, and his storybook “love at first sight” romance with Maria Elena, the beautiful woman he would marry
-- Buddy’s painful break-up with his manager, Norman Petty, and his beloved band, the Crickets
-- Vivid descriptions of what it would have been like to see, hear, and meet Buddy in person
-- Buddy’s prophetic dream
-- The Winter Dance Party (otherwise known as “the bus tour from hell”)
--A full account of “the day the music died” when the world lost three bright young stars: 22-year-old Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens (17), and The Big Bopper” (28). It includes a riveting, “you are there”, minute-by-minute account of the tragic plane crash, which seeks to solve the mystery of what really happened that cold February night in l959
-- A “Where are they Now?” section that tells what the Crickets and Buddy’s other friends and family are doing today
--Details of tributes planned to honor Buddy for the 50th anniversary of his death, and a complete and current list of the best-of-the-best sources for further information about Buddy: books, web sites, movies, etc.
--Amazing quotes about Buddy Holly from some of the many rock ’n’ roll stars who were influenced by him, including Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan
…And so much more.
So, here he is, “live” and in person-- Buddy Holly. Go ahead and say it: “Oh boy!”
Age Range: l0 to Adult
About the Author: Staton Rabin has written many popular books about cultural icons for Simon & Schuster and Viking, including BETSY AND THE EMPEROR. She was trained in music, and has a degree in film from NYU. Rabin is member #10,346 of the Buddy Holly International Fan Club, and owns of a Fender Stratocaster guitar. Her web site can be found at www.myspace.com/statonrabin
Rave on!
