Customer Reviews

Not Fade Away: Complete Studio Recordings & More

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Not since the 6-lp set "The Complete Buddy Holly" was released an odd 30 years ago has there been a Buddy Holly release of this magnitude.

This box set is more or less an expanded version of a combination of the also excellent "Down the Line: Rarities" and "Memorial Collection". I'm sure there will be people griping about the fact that this set was released only a relatively short time after those 2 releases. The cynic in me even suspects that that's why this 6 cd set was released under the relatively obscure sub-label "Hip-o Select" (which is part of Universal/Geffen Records).

To be fair however, there is nothing at all to complain about with regard to "Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings And More". This set is a must for any self-respecting Buddy Holly fan.

The set has been spectacularly remastered and is accompanied by a full-color 80-page book (in fact the whole box looks more like a book than a 6-cd set). The 203 tracks are presented in chronological order and sound quality on the vast majority of tracks is better than ever.

Take for example "You Are My One Desire" - a track which I always regarded as a bit of a dud. Definitely not one of Buddy's big hits. But on the cd here, the sound quality literally gave me goosebumps- it's almost like being right there in the studio. The bass is full. No crackles or pops or hiss or anything. And then Buddy's voice sounding just magnificent. And this is a 53-year old recording!

The sound quality on many of the other tracks is great too for as far as that's realistically possible - the garage tapes for example (previously presented on "Down the Line") are of course not hi-fi, yet they sound probably as good as they will ever sound. The same goes for all the early Buddy and Bob recordings, which are all presented here in their undubbed form (as well as their overdubbed form on the last cd).

Another thing I'm grateful for on this set are the Jack Hansen overdubs - all 6 of them are included in this set. These rarely appear on official releases, let alone as clean as they're presented here.

In short, it's all here in this comprehensive set: home recordings, garage recordings, Buddy & Bob, Decca recordings, Coral, Brunswick, alternate takes, dubbed AND undubbed versions, apartment tapes. There's really very little missing from this set in terms of Buddy's recordings.

So if you're a Buddy Holly fan who bought the Memorial Collection and Down the Line and regret buying those now that this is here- I would say put them on eBay, buy a good set of headphones, and get this instead.

Despite all of the above, there is one small exception: the recording of "You're the One" sounds curiously slow to me (in fact it's 2 seconds slower than all the other versions I have on other cds). Also the sound quality of this track is worse than other releases I have. But this is the only track where I found this to be the case.

Well, let me begin with a huge Thank You to Hip-O-Select for finally resolving all the legal problems and getting this release out. It's been a very frustrating wait! I worry that many of Buddy's fans are long gone - hopefully the next generations of music fans will pick up on the genius of this great talent.

What's on the set? The easy answer is everything! Some will likely complain that a few of the sessions Buddy played on as a backing musician did not make the cut, and there are obviously no live tracks. But the title basically is correct - "The Complete Studio Recordings and More". It's important that for the first time on many songs, you hear both dubbed abd Undubbed versions. This is important as many of Buddy's tracks were messed with after he died, sometimes to terrible effect. Then again some of the demos also sound good with the added instrumentation.

Disc One begins with a recording from 1949 when Buddy was a teenager and he took a crack at Hank Snow's "My Two Timin' Woman" The quality of this and the next few recordings are certainly a little rough, but obviously important to have. From these early recordings the set moves to recordings made in 1954-1955 with Bob Montgomery in Texas. These are the undubbed recordings - just as "Buddy and Bob" made 'em and they are actually pretty cool - real country music and just about every song has "Heart" in its title. Rounding out 1955 are Buddy's first recordings as basically a solo artist. "Baby Won't You Come Out Tonight", "I Guess I Was Just A Fool" "Don't Come Back Knockin" and "Love Me". All four were recorded again in Nashville but these early cuts are good also and undubbed.

The 23rd track into the set is the beginning of the Nashville 1956 recordings and are a real highlight. They are undubbed and sound good with one small complaint There is some distortion about 30 seconds into "I Guess I Was Just A Fool". This should have been corrected for this set - a clean version is available on the excellent import - "Ohh Annie" which also covers the 1956 recordings. The remainder of Disc 1 is excellent!

Disc 2 begins with additional Nashville tracks from 1956 including classics like "Rock Around With Ollie Vee" and "Modern Don Juan" Tracks 17-25 are more home recordings of a bunch 50's classics and are all undubbed - "Rip It Up", "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" and "Good Rockin' Tonight" (also covered by Elvis.)

The great hits of Buddy's catalog recorded at Clovis New Mexico with Norman Petty producing round out disc 2 with standouts like "That'll Be The Day", "Not Fade Away" and "Everyday". Along the way you hear alternate versions and tracks like "Not Fade Away" without backing vocals. These are simply terrific to hear!

Disc 3 continues the amazing Clovis recordings with the likes of "Peggy Sue", "Oh Boy" etc.. This disc also includes 4 rehearsal or outtakes of Bo Diddley's "Mona" which was never finished properly but still great to listen to. I personally really enjoyed this sequence. The disc also includes a generous amount of outtakes, including "Oh Boy" without backing vocals. There are two tracks on Disc 3 that fans were hoping would be clean sounding versions - the undubbed "Send Me Some Lovin'" and "It's Too Late". Neither track sounds very good unfortunately, but that isn't the fault of Hip-O-Select. Apparently these two songs were only saved on acetate and the tapes are not available.


Disc 4 begins with the great "Think It Over", but not the version we all know and love - instead it's an amazing rehearsal take where Buddy asks drummer (Jerry Allison) Can You go "pow,pow,pow,pow -right after the first part?"! As we all know he could and did, and created another Buddy and The Crickets classic! (heard later in the disc). The remainder of disc 4 complete the Clovis recordings from 1958 and heads onto the NY recordings made with the Norman Petty Orchestra. The Orchestra tracks sound great and are included in Mono and Stereo. Finishing off disc 4 are possibly the holy grail of Buddy's recordings - the solo demos recorded in his NYC apartment. 6 original recordings stand out as highlights and are simply amazing and sound fantastic. On a good stereo, you feel like you are in his apartment 50 years ago.

Disc 5 continues with additional demo recordings from late 1958 and early 1959 made just before his untimely death. Like the first reviewer, I was also disppointed with "You're The One" The sound is definitely off and when I transferred this set to my iPod, I used a version from a different CD along with the better version of "I Guess I Was Just A Fool". Track 10 begins the "overdub" recordings. From here on out, through the end of Disc 6, all the tracks are overdubs of previously recorded songs. The Jack Hansen overdubs start us off and are great to have as they have been very difficult to find in the U.S. for the past few decades! The Norman Petty overdubs of these same recordings follow later on this disc and are superior in my opinion, but the Hansen overdubs are still good to have.

Overall, I think Hip-Select did an amazing job. I am disappointed with the two tracks listed above, but out of 200 songs, that's not bad. I'm a little torn about the packaging. I really like the book idea and it's a very nice book with pretty good detailed recording data, but I prefer to have CD's in jewel cases, so I did that and made some custom artwork. I also had a small complaint with the lack of focus on The Crickets - all of the CD's used artwork from Buddy's releases and The Crickets were not just side men in my opinion, they helped with the sounds. Things like Jerry Allison using a cardboard box for "Not Fade Away" were just awesome and so innovative.

Lastly, I wonder if having all of the masters together on one set of Cd's and then the outtakes on other would have been better. I really enjoy the outtakes, but sometimes hearing the same song three times in a row can be a bit much.

In short, if you are a Buddy fan, this is it! - snap it up, it's a limited edition.

I have to agree, this is one great package. As the title suggests, this is the complete studio recordings. Consequently it omits Holly's live appearances. If you really need those, as well as interviews and more alternates, invest in El Toro's 'Complete Recordings' 1956 and 1957 sets.

The only real error I could find concerns 'Wait Til The Sun Shines Nellie' (track 31, CD 5). The liners would have you believe this is the 45 version of that song, as released on a Coral single in 1962. It's not, it's the 'Reminiscing' album version, which was given extra overdubs on each channel to give the song a stereo effect. As a consequence, we get the album version TWICE in this package - it's also on CD 6, albeit with slightly widened separation. As a consequence, the 45 version is still MIA on any Holly comp. Given the research which went into this project, an error such as this should never have occurred.

The 80 page hard cover book is great and is packed with pics and a full sessionography. The only thing which stops me giving this a 5 star rating is the error with 'Nellie', as well as the fact that little or no effort appears to have been made to clean up the sound on some of the demo recordings included in this set. A fairly straightforward task given the abundance of software programs available. Thankfully, those tracks are in the minority.

Don't wait, grab this set while it's still available. You won't be disappointed. A fitting tribute to the late star.

The long-awaited comprehensive remastered CD release of Buddy's work has arrived at last. We can hear (almost) everything Buddy recorded. The music's great, as we always knew it was. Wonderful, right?

Not quite. First, as others have commented, many of us have spent quite a lot of money on the earlier packages (having not been told that a complete set was on the way) and spending $100 plus on what are mostly duplicates of what we already have isn't a good deal.

Second, whoever picked the running order of these tracks was too obsessed with pleasing the completists to give proper consideration to producing a package that would be pleasant to listen to. While I find it interesting to listen occasionally to alternate tracks and false starts, for the most part I want to listen to the best version of each song. This collection simply doesn't allow me to do that- and I don't expect to buy a box set just so that I can burn my own CDs. Otherwise, we are faced with 3 takes of 'Gone" followed by three takes of 'Have You Ever Been Lonely', for example, or a rehearsal and three takes of 'Mona'. I defy anyone to tell me that when they put on a CD they want to listen to 4 versions of the same song, as a general rule. This could easily have been overcome by putting the best undubbed versions of each song on a couple of CDs, the best dubbed versions on another 2 CDs and the outtakes, false starts and rehearsals on the third two CDs. The completists would have been happy and we'd have got music that was a pleasure to listen to.

Don't get me wrong, Buddy Holly is among my favorite artists and it's great that after all these years his music is at last available on CD as it was meant to be heard. It's just that it could have been so much better for the listener.

This is almost the box set that everybody has been waiting for. If you're more than a casual Buddy Holly fan who wants to delve deeper than the usual hits, this set is the one for you - wonderful pictures and almost everything you could ever need. Stop reading now and buy this set.

If you're an obsessive Buddy Holly completist, like me, then this set is stil good but manages to make mistakes that prevent it from being definitive. Here is my running list - taking into account valuable opinions of others - of what's missing, what should not have been included, and what should have been done differently. I have disregarded live tracks, interviews and session work.

Missing:
- That's My Desire (overdubbed). The undubbed version from Disc 3 was repeated on Disc 6 in error.
- Wait Till the Sun Shines Nellie (mono - first dubbed version). The stereo, second dubbed version was used in error on both Disc 5 and Disc 6.
- Rock Around With Ollie Vee (partial outake)
- I'm Changin' All Those Changes (partial outake)
- Have You Ever Been Lonely (fourth version). The liner notes claim the fourth version is a duplicate of an earlier version, but they're wrong. Each of the four versions has a different, distinct ending.
- Words Of Love (acetate)*
- Everyday jingle*
- Peggy Sue jingle*

*These may be poor quality, but that didn't stop the lo-fi inclusion of Send Me Some Lovin' or It's Too Late on the set.

Also missing, but not so important:
- The unedited Smokey Joe's Cafe demo*
- Assorted studio chatter/intros/warm ups especially on the Nashville and strings sessions. Some studio chat appears on on the box set, so why they didn't include everything is a mystery. You can also hear such chatter on:
- The stereo remixes of the Jack Hansen overdubs that appeared on the vinyl box set which sound so much better than the mono.


Included but should not have been:
- Memories (Track 16, Disc 1) is poor quality dub of the overdubbed version.
- Both overdubbed version of "Reminiscing" are essentially the same. The Disc 6 version just has slightly more reverb than the one heard on Disc 5.
- The composite "Not Fade Away" outtake should have been done differently. Apparently, the beginning of the outtake is missing. To 'repair' this, somebody spliced on the beginning of the released take - overdubbed backing vocals and all. You can tell when the outtake begins because the backing vocals disappear. If you're going to include an faked track, go the whole hog and create one without the backing vocals (like the one heard on Purple Chick's Buddy Holly collection). Otherwise, I'd prefer the partial version.

Misc. comments:
- According to the liner notes, the only track for which we no longer have an undubbed version is "Wishing". But there's the undubbed version on Disc 6, listed as overdubbed and sequenced as such.
- The Don't Come Back Knockin' outtake is actually a composite of two alternate takes [plus some of the released take?], and should probably have been noted as such.

As you can see, if you're a completist, this box set isn't quite going to satisfy you. It probably shouldn't stop you from buying this set but, unless Universal issues a corrected version, you'll need to look around elsewhere for the missing material.

First available via Hip-O Select's own website from 30 October 2009, "Not Fade Away - The Complete Studio Recordings And More" saw its commercial US release on 23 November 2009 (delayed to 2 Dec 2009 in the UK). 203-tracks are housed on 6 label-themed CDs in an oversized hardback book - a worldwide limited edition of 7000 (non-numbered). As well as including almost the entirety of the 57-track "Down The Line Rarities" 2CD set from 2009, a further 8 are 'Previously Unreleased' with 14 more 'Previously Unreleased in the USA'. Here's a disc-by-disc breakdown first...

Disc 1 features 1949-1956, 35 Tracks, 76:22 minutes:
Tracks 1, 4-12 and 19-22 are from the 2CD set "Down The Line Rarities" (January 2009)
Tracks 2, 3, 14, 16, 24 and 25 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED in the USA
Tracks 13, 15, 17 and 18 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Tracks 23, 26, 27 and 28 are from the LP "That'll Be The Day" (April 1958)
Tracks 29, and 31-35 are from the LP "For The First Time Anywhere" (February 1983)
Track 30 is from the LP "Showcase" (May 1964)

Disc 2 features 1956-1957, 36 Tracks, 70:52 minutes:
Tracks 1-5, 7 and 9 are from the LP "That'll Be The Day" (April 1958)
Track 6 is from the 6LP Box Set "The Complete Buddy Holly" (March 1979)
Tracks 8, 10 and 14 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED in the USA
Tracks 11-13, 16-25, 30 and 34 are from the 2CD set "Down The Line Rarities" (January 2009)
Tracks 26-27 and 31 are from the LP "For The First Time Anywhere" (February 1983)
Tracks 28, 29 and 35 are from the LP "The Chirping Crickets" (November 1957)
Tracks 32, 33 and 36 are from the LP "Buddy Holly" (February 1958)
[NOTE: Track 15 "Have You Ever Been Lonely" is miscredited in the booklet as Track 13 and has no LP reference, but recording details make it from the

Disc 3 features 1957-1958, 34 Tracks, 72:45 minutes:
Tracks 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 22-24 and 29 are from the LP "Buddy Holly" (February 1958)
Tracks 3, 4, 6, 9, 30 and 32-34 are from the 2CD set "Down The Line Rarities" (Jan2009)
Tracks 5, 11 and 12 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Tracks 13-21 are from the LP "The Chirping Crickets" (November 1957)
Tracks 25-28 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED in the USA
Track 31 is from the LP "The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. II" (March 1960)

Disc 4 features 1958, 32 Tracks, 67:17 minutes:
Tracks 1-4, 11, 26-27, 30 and 32 are from 2CD set "Down The Line Rarities" (Jan 2009)
Tracks 5, 14, 17 (Mono "True Love Ways") and 23 are from the LP "The Buddy Holly Story, Vol.11" (March 1960)
Track 6 and 8 are from the LP "Holly In The Hills" (January 1965)
Track 7, 9-10, 12, 19 and 21 are from the LP "The Buddy Holly Story" (March 1959)
Track 13 is PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED in the USA
Track 15 is from the LP "Showcase" (May 1964)
Tracks 16, 18 (Stereo "True Love Ways"), 20 (Stereo "It Doesn't Matter Anymore"), 24 (Stereo "Moondreams") and 28-29 and 31 are from the 6LP Box Set "The Complete Buddy Holly" (March 1979)
Track 22 is from the LP "The Best Of Buddy Holly" (April 1966)
*** Track 25 is the 1958 original of "You're The One" and is miscredited as being from the 1968 overdubbed LP "Giant" (January 1969) ***

Disc 5 features 1958-1963, 33 Tracks, 72:40 minutes:
Tracks 1-9 are from the 2CD set "Down The Line Rarities" (January 2009)
Tracks 10-15 are from the LP "The Buddy Holly Story, Vol.11" (March 1960)
Tracks 16-23 and 33 are from the LP "Reminiscing" (February 1963)
Track 24 is from the LP "Holly In The Hills" (January 1965)
Track 25 is from the 2LP set "Buddy Holly - A Rock & Roll Collection" (August 1972)
Tracks 26-30 are from the 6LP Box Set "The Complete Buddy Holly" (March 1979)
Track 32 is from the LP "Showcase" (May 1964)
[NOTE: Track 31 is "Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie" and is uncredited to an LP]

Disc 6 features 1962-1968, 33 Tracks, 69:57 minutes:
Tracks 1-2 are from the LP "Holly In The Hills" (January 1965)
Tracks 3-4 is from the LP "Reminiscing" (February 1963)
Tracks 5-9, 15 and 21 are from the LP "Holly In The Hills" (January 1965)
Tracks 10-14 and 19 are from the LP "Showcase" (May 1964)
Tracks 16-18, 20 and 22-23 are from the 6LP Box Set "The Complete Buddy Holly" (March 1979)
Tracks 24-33 are from the LP "Giant" (January 1969)

PACKAGING and SOUND:
Worldwide Buddy Holly authority BILL GRIGGS acted as consultant, while long-time R'n'B and Doo Wop champ BILL DAHL does the knowledgeable and hugely affectionate liner notes. ANDY McKAIE was compiler and co-ordinator, while one of Universal's top engineers ERICK LABSON (nearly 1000 mastering credits to his name - including most of the Chess catalogue) did the remastering. The sound varies as you can imagine from the barely tolerable (demos) to the sublime (official studio tracks). For the most part I found the transfers warm and beautifully rendered throughout - "Little Baby" - a lesser-heard gem from his debut solo LP "Buddy Holly" now sounds just amazing (lyrics above).

Niggles - as you tell from a photograph of it, Hip-O Select knew they'd a prestigious project on their hands and pulled out the stops packaging-wise. It is a lovely thing to behold. Having said that - if Bear Family had done this - the book would have been a work-of-art - and new 'Buddy' stuff would festoon every page. The book is lovely don't get me wrong, but it's over all too soon. Also - Page 20 has a full-page black and white shot of Buddy alighting the tour bus on 19 Jan 1958 in the snow and it's just eerily beautiful - I wish they'd used it as the cover art instead of the rather naff and safe choice they did choose.

Summing up - fans have waited years for a CD replacement of their beloved "Complete Buddy Holly" 6LP/6MC Box Set from 1979 by the wonderful JOHN BEECHER and MALCOLM JONES - and this tastily presented homage is the closest they're going to get to it.

What an artist - and what a legacy. Rave on indeed...

PS: For fans, I've created an album-by-album Discography referencing the entire contents of this box (took me a while that) - it's available in a detailed pictorial version via my Blog Mark Barry's Reviews... - or as a printed version in the first 'comment' attached to this review...

I've been a Holly fan since he was alive. I still remember listening to the 45 rpm record my friend Billy Hartz played for me one afternoon after junior high: "That'll Be the Day" by Buddy Holly and the Crickets, on the Brunswick label. He had a photo of the group, and we quickly saw, with pleasure, that Buddy looked more like "us" than Elvis. He also had an article which revealed that the group was from Lubbock, Texas, and recorded the song in Clovis, New Mexico. My, they were exotic places to two kids living in central New Jersey! I never dreamed that in 1974 I'd move to Hobbs, NM, just a little over a hundred miles from Buddy's hometown and Normal Petty's Clovis studio. The other reviewers here have covered the music on this huge set better than I could, so I'll say relatively little about it. My son gave me the music from "Not Fade Away" as a Christmas present. Since I don't have the packaging, book, photos, legacy liner notes or session liner notes, I can't comment on those aspects of this expensive product. (I'd love to have a copy of the session notes someday, however. Maybe someone who reads this review can contact me and we can negotiate a deal just for that piece of Buddy's history.) As to the music, here you get everything that Buddy meant to record or preserve, from his early teen experiments to Texas studio demos with friend Bob Montgomery, to his solo sessions in Nashville for Decca under the misdirected guidance of producer Owen Bradley, to his famous hits and best efforts with the Crickets, done in Clovis, and finally to his solo tracks in New York City after his marriage. And then, there is more...you get posthumously overdubbed tracks, a great many of them because after Buddy's death his surviving tapes and masters were handled by three different producers at least, including Petty, who for my money did the best job, although no one knows whether Buddy would have agreed. Other reviewers have noted that the choice of the producers for this set to run three versions in a row of some songs does not make for the most satisfying casual listening. I agree, but this box was not created for the "casual" fan. There are plenty of "Greatest Hits" packages available for total pleasure Holly tunes. Buy this effort only if you really are a fanatic like myself and most of the other reviewers who have posted. Ten years ago, my son also gifted me with the famous "Complete Buddy Holly" box, on cassette, and that has not only most of the best that is on "Not Fade Away" (largely in single versions) but some interviews, and some live songs, and several records Buddy produced for others, including Waylon Jennings first two efforts. Those are worth having, so really dedicated Hollyites need both. Sadly, that 1979 set is on vinyl or tape from collectors, but not on CD. If you are still reading this, you really like Buddy, so I want to urge you to consider a trip to Lubbock and Clovis. The Norman Petty studio is still on Seventh Street in Clovis, just 100 miles northwest of Lubbock. Call the Clovis Chamber of Commerce about who to contact for tours. The owner inherited the place from Norman's widow, Vi, and inside are Norman's original speakers from the early '50's and original microphones, and the organ heard on "Take Your Time" and the celeste heard on "Everyday." There are scores of records on the walls, representing songs made there but released mostly by major labels via Petty's NYC connections. Roy Orbison recorded "Ooby-Doo" here first, although the hit version did not come until he moved to Sun Studios in Memphis. The famous Elvis song "Blue Christmas" was first demo'ed here, because it was written by a West Texas boy. Waylon's first songs were done here, produced by Buddy. The building has a fascinating history and seems filled with cheerful ghosts. I first toured it ten years ago, guided by Robert Linville, who with his partner Dave Bingham, were "The Roses" one of several Clovis groups used for backup vocals by Petty. (The Crickets did NOT sing on the records.) Four years ago I had a second tour, this one by Dave, the other half of "The Roses."
Paul McCartney filmed a documentary on Buddy partly in this studio in the 1980's. This spot, to me, is an American cultural treasure that should be permanently endowed for the benefit of rock and roll fans.

In Lubbock, there is a Buddy Holly museum, which contains scores of music business-related items, a lot of Buddy's personal possessions, and most powerfully, his wallet and glasses retrieved from his body after the plane crash. You can see the outside of his parents' 1958 home, in which Buddy and Maria were married, and the inside and outside of the church hosting his funeral, and his grave. At the right time of year, one can also go inside the Fairgrounds Coliseum, where Elvis did an early concert, and the not-yet-famous Buddy is shown in a photo among the crowd of fans surging toward him in the lobby. There are other Buddy sites as well. Lubbock pretty much ignored him until his death in terms of newspaper or television coverage, but now there is a statue of him near the Texas Tech campus. He never went to college, but his high school is still there, too.

I was the perfect age and had the perfect life status to become a Buddy Holly fan from the first hearing. About 12 when "That'll Be the Day" made him a star, skinny and ugly and totally untalented and mostly unhappy, his hits really grabbed me in the heart and brain and have never let go: "Oh Boy" and "Peggy Sue" and especially "Rave On" and "Everyday" but all the rest as well. (I was in the same audience as the real Peggy Sue at the Clovis Music Festival one year in the '80's as we listened to the original backup singing couple who did most of The Crickets songs if the Roses did not get the job. And in the Petty Studio there is the gold record awarded in 1982 when "Everyday" finally sold a million copies on its own.)

Enjoy the music. A lot on this enormous six-CD set will not be on your playlist on a regular basis, because the hit versions are clearly superior and polished and commercially pleasing. But to follow the tragic Buddy from age 12 until his death, and his numerous posthumous releases that went through the hands of others in the hopes of making more money for his labels, producers, widow and blood relatives, is an interesting journey indeed. I have a good son, who made his dad very happy twice by feeding his Holly habit. I hope Buddy, in his eternal life, somehow knows that he has never been forgotten by legions of lonely kids who got hope they too, could be successes in life in spite of not looking like movie stars or sounding like the rock idols of their teenage years.

Ok. Remember that 6lp box set that cam out in the late 70's? It was called "The Complete Buddy Holly." Now for years I have been looking high and low for that thing until I stopped in a record shop in the Village in NYC and there it was, a UK pressing with Norman Petty's autograph on the inside. I think that was 1997 maybe 1996, but I am digressing. It had almost everything Buddy Holly committed to tape with radio jingles and Buddy Holly producing other acts. It was at the time the most comprehensive collection of a rock and roll star at the time. The once it went out of print it was gone.

Now comes "Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings and More" a 6 CD box set from Hip-O-Select. This set contains all the hit recordings, re-recordings, un-dubbed and re-dubbed recordings that were released during and after Buddy Holly's short life. There are also home "wire" recordings from a 14-year-old Buddy recording in the Holley family home. The Garage Tapes and Apartment Tapes are here also.

Everything here has been sonically upgraded apart from the earliest home recordings. Overall, just from a historical standpoint it is an important document of the development and eventual exploited musical artist. You will be pleasantly surprised at the improvement, especially with the Nashville and Clovis tapes.

If you have not bought the previous 2 collections "Down The Line" and "Memorial Collection" than this would be the better choice. Not everything that could be here is for whatever reason but be glad that what survives is still available.

The package reminds me of a high school yearbook from the 50's containing an 80-page book with recording notes and pictures. The CD's are in a fold out display similar the Big Star box set.

Not surprisingly, this box set had caused some controversy just as the 1979 release did but it what is. If you just want the hits than get, the "Memorial Collection" if you want more than that, get this.

I don't know about casual listeners or newcomers to Buddy Holly, but to someone who has lived with and loved Holly's music from the original vinyls to the 6 LP set and on through the jungle of bootlegs, this box is a dream come true. It would be enough that the sound is so clear and the collection so near to complete. But the accompanying booklet opened the listening experience into new directions. At last one can make sense of the chronology, so therefore the artistic development, of Buddy Holly's music. The talent is always there, but check out the jump in confidence in BH's voice and delivery between the last of the garage tapes and his redo over in Clovis of Brown-Eyed Handsome Man (Disc 2, track 26). Something magical happened there, and with the book to reference, one can pinpoint (arguably!) the full blooming of the Holly sound to somewhere between December 1956 and January 1957.

For me, this set was full of such discoveries. Yes, the Memorial Collection and Rarities sets were quite fine (I didn't mind buying them -- how many more Holly purchases could be out there?), but for a full run of undubbed Buddy and Bob(with the overdubs to which to compare them), here they all are, on the box. Same goes for the garage tapes. Have you heard the Fireballs' overdubs too many times from your old albums? Listen to J.I's manic drums in the clean versions, alternates et al. You'll come away with your love of these cuts renewed. What about the mono vs. stereo debate on the Pythean Temple tracks? They're all here -- decide for yourself.

That said, there are a few omissions that would have made the box more complete. The undubbed Words of Love has just as good a sound quality as It's Too Late and Send Me Some Lovin' and is probably a more intriguing revisit. There's about a minute floating around of Buddy singing live to Jerry Lee Lewis' piano accompaniment (I believe they were on tour together in Australia), and one can only wish that more of that collaboration were recorded -- they really do jibe. Do we now have all the apartment tapes? I think not -- I'm pretty sure an alternate of Smokey Joe's Cafe exists. Anything else? There's also lots more interview material, and all those backup sessions for others (hopefully one day his session with Carolyn Hester will surface), but as for most of this backup work, I for one breathed a sigh of relief that the compilers of the box left it off.

Also, the reviewer who pointed out the wobbly-sounding cut used of the undubbed You're the One is correct -- it sounds better in other places, including the Memorial Collection.

It would be nice if someone put out a supplement to the box that fills in these holes, the way Charly's Jerry Lee Lewis: the Alternate Collection did for the Jerry Lee Bear Family box several years ago. But this is such a small drop in the overall flood of reward and pleasure that is this box. It is just wonderful to have.

I just purchased the "Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away: Complete Studio Recording and More" box set and I must say I'm very,very pleased. Although a touch pricy, it has virtually every studio recording he ever made for the various labels he was signed to. There are the outtakes, the overdubs, the multiple versions and some rare gems that haven't been easy to find in one package on CD in a long, long time. To say that the material available is extensive (200-plus tracks,) given his short career, is remarkable and a wonderful legacy to have.

This box set does not contain rare live versions or interviews that some music historians and die-hard collectors may have hoped to see, but as box sets go, this one is one of the much better ones around, especially in CD format. This, plus the fact that it contains six CDs and is part of a super coffee table book-type package makes it a treasured keepsake. If you are a serious fan of his music, you probably already have this or a similar collection in one form or another. If you are a casual, yet serious student or seeker of what real rock 'n' roll music is supposed to sound like, this is a must have.

The sound quality is excellent and the natural song progression from his pre-1955 days to his height in 1957-1959 and the subsequently released material following his passing in 1959 are meticulously well represented and show not just a fine musician and a crack backing band, but a true musical pioneer and a genuine cultural icon. Like a fine vintage wine, the music is best appreciated over time. Savour it, don't rush it.

In short, they don't make this kind of true rock 'n' roll music anymore, nor will we likely ever have another Buddy Holly again. If you actually care about what rock 'n' roll music was and is really all about, this would be a very wise purchase. It would make a a wonderful gift for a special occasion, Birthday or holiday giving for the truly passionate music fan.