Customer Reviews

Not Fade Away: Remembering Buddy Holly

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4 star:		(3)
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I wouldn't go so far as to say, as Milner does in "American Graffiti," that "rock-n-roll's been going downhill ever since Buddy Holly died," but I will say that this CD demonstrates the enduring power of the legendary Texan's music.

These interpretations show us that strong musicality has the power to uplift simple love lyrics. The best example is the Mavericks' lovely rendition of "True Love Ways." Recite the lyrics out loud to yourself and you may gag. But listen to them when they are set to Holly's lovely melody and a clear, sincere voicing and you might find yourself getting teary-eyed.

The other reviews singled out Nancy Griffith's work on "Well...All Right," which is another gem, but I liked Mary Chapin Carpenter's and Kevin Montgomery's duet on the less well known "Wishing" even better.

Of the foot-stompers, Marty Stuart and Steve Earle have it going on with "Crying, Waiting and Hoping" and Los Lobos contributed a nice growling turn on "Midnight Shift."

As this brief overview suggests, there is no shortage of talent here, and the takes by each of the artists involved avoid slavish imitation. Good choice for old-time rock-n-roll fans and country devotees alike.

Sixties group The Hollies named themselves after him and they open this set with a remix of Buddy's original version of Peggy Sue got married. Modern recording technology is amazing, but I admit that I would have preferred the Hollies to do their own version rather than mix their vocals with Buddy's.

The remaining recordings were all (as far as I know) completely new for this album and feature a mix of rock and country performers. Buddy's former band, The Crickets, lend their support to Nanci Griffith on Well all right and to The Band on Not fade away.

My favorite track here is It doesn't matter anymore, featuring outstanding guitar picking by Dave Edmunds and brilliant singing by Suzy Bogguss. Actually, I think all the tracks are great, except Peggy Sue got married which is merely OK. You have to like both country and rock music to agree with me. If you only like one of these genres, you may only like some of the tracks here.

Despite a recording career cut short by death, Buddy's influence on pop, rock and country music is substantial. This is a fitting tribute album, although it would have been nice to have more than twelve tracks.

To my mind Buddy Holly was the best musician of all the fifties rock n roll acts .Mind ,I say "musician" not "singer" for while a perfectly talented singer he was outclassed vocally by Presley and the Killer .However,he possessed a great deal of musical insight and applied the fruits of his wide listening to create a substantial musical legacy in a tragically brief time span .
This 1996 tribute to Holly is a labour of love and a worthwhile album in its own right .Predominantly a country music affair it gives a number of stellar performers the chance to pay tribute to a lasting influence in American musis.
It has its weaknessses -the opening track Peggy Sue Got Married ,which features Holly's own vocal grafted onto a new version by the Hollies is over arranged and for me it simply does not work .Also the take on Midnight Shift by Los Lobos is too plodding for my taste .Yet all else is fine and in some cases better than that.
The soaring version of True Love Ways by the Mavericks is passionate and beautiful;Nanci Griffith and the Crickets add something new to Well All Right make it sound well at ease in her usual "folkabilly" style;the perfect pitch of Suzy Boguss on It Doesn't Matter Anymore comes close to the original,while other highlights include a nice version of Think It over from the Tractors.

Check out the duet between Steve Earle and Marty Stuart on Crying ,Waiting ,Hoping for new insights into a Holly song,;listen to the Bo Diddly-ish attack on Not Fade Away by the Band and the Crickets but above listen to the simplest arrangement of all on the most affecting track of the lot-the reflective take on Learning the Game by the great Waylon Jennings.With a simple guitar accompaniment he cuts to the heart of the song bringing the gravitas of the years to the deceptively simple song .Its called experience and its priceless.
This does not Buddy down even when adhering closely to the original arrangement as in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band cut of Maybe Baby

A pleasing album.

I like a little (older style) country from my youth (Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Charlie Pride, etc.), but stick primarily to pop and a little alternative rock. I love Buddy Holly's music so I gave this album a try after seeing a special on The Nashville Network. This has become one of my favorite albums to listen to over and over again. I especially enjoy Nanci Griffith's performance, but the entire album is fantastic. This proves yet again what a staggering loss the music world suffered when we lost Buddy Holly.

As soon as I saw this was available in 1996, I asked for it as a Holiday gift. What a great present! I was only 8 months old when Buddy died, but I as a teenager I just became attached to his music. This album was a real treat. Each artist gave their own interpretation to Buddy's music. All songs sounded special in there own way. The most amazing thing is that Buddy's vocals were put on the first track with the Hollies. Also having the original Crickets on the album was the icing on the cake. A real great album that I've enjoyed these past 2 years.

I'm a big Nanci Griffith fan and I was fortunate enough to see Nanci and the Crickets perform together - they were so good together. Nanci counts Buddy Holly and the Crickets as one of her many influences and you can tell that singing with the Crickets was a dream come true for her. It sounds fantastic!

Buddy Holly's career only lasted a couple of years and he was only 21 or so when he was killed. Thus, it's astonishing that we are still listening to his music forty-plus years later. Holly's music was innovative. Modern groups use dozens of musicians to produce sounds not as original as Holly did with a four piece band.

This is a good tribute album. The best version of a Holly song here is "Midnight Shift" by Los Lobos, a hard-rocking, smoky, mysterious tune. I don't know the song in the original Holly version. Also good are "Maybe Baby" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and "Not Fade Away" by the Band and the Crickets. The mix of Buddy Holly's voice with a new background and the Hollies on "Peggy Sue Got Married" is also kind of cool. But where is Holly's most famous song, "Peggy Sue" with its absolutely unique, unforgettable, machine gun rhythm?

I suspect we'll still be listening to Buddy Holly in 2050 and new interpretations of his songs will appear every decade or so. He's one of the best from the early days of rock and roll.

This disc is a nice tribute to the music of Buddy. Two tracks stand out for me, Cryin, Waitin, Hopin by Earle and Stuart.Its raw, gut bucket music. The Ely-Snider version of Oh Boy! is the best cover, including Doug Sahms' version, contained in "Live Texas Tornado" I have heard. The guitar and bass work is thundering. These boys did Holly right.The rest of the cd is nice and was done with great respect for Holly. All except the Hollies watered down version of Peggy Sue Got Married.

All in all a solid cd for the collection.

This is a pretty awesome Tribute to Buddy Holly -- They all did a fantasic job of Re-Recording some of Buddy's classics. If you are a fan of Buddy I really have to say this is a must have for any collection. Buddy was Light years ahead of his time and I firmly believe that had he not come along, Music we listen to today would be very different, Even the Beatles admit they were heavily influnced by Buddy and even covered a few of his songs in their early years.

I wish Buddy was still alive.The people who sing Buddy's song's sound good.I recommend this to anyone who hasn't heard it.