Customer Reviews

Rave On: The Biography of Buddy Holly

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

 

 

I needed to read this book because all I knew about Buddy Holly, other than a dozen or so evergreen songs, was that movie, "The Buddy Holly Story," which is hardly accurate. Philip Norman gives you a much better sense of what Buddy's brief moment in the spotlight was all about.

It was brief, just over a year and a half from the time he and his band, the Crickets, hit the U.S. charts with "That'll Be The Day" in the summer of 1957 to the fateful flight from Mason City, Iowa on February 3, 1959. It's hard to imagine making as much of the time as Buddy Holly did of his, starting a career, a business partnership, and a family, not to mention writing music that revolutionized rock n' roll.

Norman gives you a good sense of how Holly did this, in a book that is a clear work of love, not ignoring negative elements of the story but striving to put them in less lurid context. One weakness of the book is that this sometimes gets in the way (Holly's alleged gambling problems, dwelt on in other books, is only mentioned once in passing, while a tale backup Cricket guitarist Niki Sullivan offers up about Holly getting a girl pregnant is thrown up only to be knocked down in backhanded fashion.) But the overwhelming sense one gets from reading "Rave On" is Norman's contention that Buddy had everything going for him except luck.

I liked especially the English context of this book. Norman, a British author, pays close attention to Holly and the Crickets' impact on the British music scene, where he was a bigger sensation than his native land. Occasionally, as when the Crickets visit the U.K. and Norman itemizes hotel expenses and suchlike, it gets a bit precious, but Holly, the first rocker to write his own songs and perform them in a band context, obviously was laying some groundwork here that the British would emulate with great success in the coming decade.

Norman also takes on Norman Petty, producer and manager of the Crickets who was either duplicitous by design or by accident. "To some, he was the person who made it possible for Buddy Holly to come alive; others feel he could hardly be more to blame for Buddy's death if he'd gone out into the Iowa snows with a machine gun and pointed it straight into the sky." Given Buddy's reason for joining the 1959 "Winter Dance Party" tour had to do with Petty's reluctance to part with money Holly earned under Petty's wing that Holly needed for himself and his pregnant wife, you can understand the bitterness.

Norman was able to get a look at Petty's files, tape transcripts, and the like, which cast some new light on the fellow Norman dubs "Clovis Man," if not enough to figure out exactly who he was or what he was about. Petty makes an interesting character; Norman got more use out of Brian Epstein in his Beatles book, "Shout," but when the Holly story finds itself in the strange Clovis, New Mexico studio space where Petty, his wife, and their butch female companion lived, the story picks up a bit.

Ultimately, the focus stays with Buddy, though, where it belongs. Norman explains just what it was about his music that made it so innovative, both uniquely of its time and timeless. It's amazing that he not only established a new sound but moved so far beyond it in such a short time. Maybe not so amazingly, his songs were often ignored in the United States (just 3 Top 10 hits, by himself or with the Crickets) while embraced with greater fervor overseas (his last single release, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," was a #1 hit in England, but peaked in the U.S. at, natch, #13.)

The last images of the book are the most arresting. Norman gets a rare peak at the overnight bag Holly carried with him on his fatal flight, still encrusted with dirt from that frozen farmland where his single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza slammed down, still containing a tube of toothpaste, a lint brush, and a comb still entwined with a few hairs that never turned gray.

This book didn't really breathe Buddy; it skims over a good deal and Norman fails to corroborate stories he offers up from single sources. But it's a nice book that captures who this fellow named Buddy Holly was, and why he left such a deep imprint on culture, both directly and through his many followers.

Norman's biography strips away many of the hitherto half-truths and speculations about the young rock and roll pioneer, whose death in a plane crash is an occurrence that most everyone in the Western world knows about, since it has mythologized Holly as rock and roll's first martyr.

What not many people know is the difficult and at times troubled existence that Holly led during his brief two years in the spotlight. Norman's book is best when he details the insidious influence of Holly's eccentric producer and "manager," Norman Petty, who orchestrated a devious plan to not only deprive Holly of ever collecting his due monies, but to pit Holly's two bandmates against him during the ugly legal wrangling, eventually tying Holly's hands and leaving him no choice but to tackle a grueling winter tour to raise cash for himself and his expectant wife.

While Norman's writing is sometimes weighed down with starstruck adulation, no other Holly biographer has written such a gripping and chilling account of Holly's final days. Many questions about the plane crash remain unanswered, as they probably will always be, but Norman's practical approach to the facts puts things into perspective without embracing some of the more outlandish hypotheses that have surfaced in recent years (such as Holly shooting the pilot in mid-flight). Norman acknowledges but does not pursue such tabloidish details, and though he comes across as a staunch Holly admirer, he presents his subject honestly.

This book is highly recommended to anyone who wants the most truthful chronicle of Buddy Holly's ill-fated but enormously influential life.

This book will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Buddy Holly, but from the perspective of Britain. Philip Norman seems astonished by things that are commonplace to Americans. It is not a big deal to drive a hundred miles, spend a couple of hours, and drive back. High school yearbooks are not a big deal. Eddie Cochran was not a big star in the USA; Dion was a big star. Little things like this can add up fast. I recommend this book, but not unreservedly.

A must read for Holly fans. Author Philip Norman exhibits both a great knowledge of the history or Rock and Roll and respect and even love for Buddy Holly the musician, and Buddy Holly the man. Strips away the hype surrounding Buddy's life and music in much the same way as "Last Train To Memphis" did with Elvis Presley, and transforms Holly from a nerdy-looking singer with a couple o modesf hits into a three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood person. I didn't really realize how much we lost in February, 1959 until I finished the book. Answers many of the questions I've always had about Buddy, and gives a good insight into what the rock 'n roll scene was really like in it's infancy, both in the studio and on the road

There's no shortage of books about Buddy Holly. Not knowing where to begin, I dived into Philip Norman's 1996 bio first. Norman is an engaging writer and I had no problem absorbing RAVE ON's 315 pages in the space of two days. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the book for anyone except casual music fans who don't need or expect anything more than the average rockstar hagiography. Because that's all this book is: nothing more, nothing less. In these pages we learn that Buddy Holly was a perfect being who never did anything wrong. If anything bad happened, or if a record didn't meet expectations, it must have been someone else's fault.

Don't get this book expecting to learn much about Lubbock, West Texas, or the region's music scene in the '40s and '50s. In common with most rock writers, Norman has no interest in or knowledge of country music, so the crucial formative years of 1940s-1954 are terribly botched as Norman stumbles through country, bluegrass, and western swing with no compass to guide him, confusing all three and greatly overstating the influence of bluegrass on Holly while understating western swing in the process. Had Norman known anything about the latter, for example, he would have known that western swing groups routinely used drummers, so his statement that Elvis's addition of a drummer to his band in 1955 was "an outrage" to country music fans is ludicrous. The fact that he states in the very next paragraph that Buddy got his drummer from a local western band demonstrates the limits of Norman's historical imagination, a failing that pervades the rest of the book. Facts are given, but context and nuance are often in short supply, or completely distorted. Why did Elvis and rock and roll catch on faster in conservative West Texas than almost anywhere else in America? Norman never asks the question, much less provides a believable answer.

Every music bio must have a boogeyman, and this is invariably -- predictably -- the musician's manager or record producer. Since Norman Petty served as both to Holly, he gets doubly roasted in RAVE ON. Petty's biggest crime is taking co-author credits on many songs that he did not write. But this was common practice in the music business in the 1950s. The rationale was that the artist's manager or producer gets half of the song in exchange for his labors and expense in promoting it. Petty wasn't claiming to be co-writer of Buddy's songs, just co-owner. This wasn't controversial at the time, and Buddy obviously had no problem with it until he split from Petty in late 1958. Philip Norman has no understanding of this context at all and spends page after page needlessly reminding us of Petty's supposedly devious song-stealing practices. Petty's other crimes include being devoutly religious, overly fastidious, and having a frigid wife. Thus, since Petty didn't fit the gun-toting, woman-chasing, whiskey-drinking western stereotype, he must have been homosexual. Nonsense. The fact that Petty was a perfectionist is the only reason anybody gave a darn about his recordings. They sounded great, and still do. And oh yeah, without Petty, Buddy Holly would probably have spent his life as an anonymous tile-setter. Petty deserves better than this.

RAVE ON's strongest chapter relates to Buddy's tour of England and his subsequent impact on the British rock and roll scene. While Buddy was popular in America, in England he was worshipped as an idol, and it was the British more than anyone who stoked the legend after his death. While Elvis seemed exotically larger than life, and a movie star, Buddy came across as an average, likeable bloke who demonstrated that you didn't have to be super-macho or look like Valentino to play rock and roll music. Norman was one such teenage admirer, so while he cannot write knowingly about West Texas, he certainly can provide insight into the profound effect that Buddy had on the British teenage psyche of the '50s. The Beatles and Stones were only the most prominent of Buddy's many English admirers. Norman helps explain that impact to Americans, who had largely forgotten Buddy after his tragic demise, and were shocked to hear a reprise of "Not Fade Away" and "Words of Love" in 1964-65.

All in all, a decent book, but I hope and expect that there are better books on Buddy Holly.

This book gives a thorough description of Buddy Holly's life and career.
Buddy Holly is well known,but the story here is told in depth.Philip Norman,who has also done other biographies such as The Beatles,Elton John and The Rolling Stones .He has written a great story of Buddys short career,as well as his life.It tells how he constructed his songs and the recording methods he used.It also tells of all the people he worked with to make some of the best songs ever written.

I'm not such a fan of Buddy Holly that I think he was the father, or King, or founder of Rock n Roll, but his music and business practices were certainly innovative for the time. (I wonder how his life and career would have developed had he lived) That said, I definitely recommend this book. It was very descriptive and entertaining to read. This book should have been the source material for the bio-pic that was made several years back! It's hard to imagine how frantic his life must have been during the last two years of his life, and as I got closer and closer to the last page--knowing how it's going to turn out--I found myself reading faster and faster, wishing this story had a different ending.

I didn't even want to finish this book, but felt I should before providing a review.

Author Philip Norman personally trashes Buddy Holly's producer/manager and his associates as if he's got a personal vendetta against them. The book is very unprofessional in tone. The bulk of the attack is speculative, and much of it is merely ad hominem. (This, from someone who admittedly couldn't have been further removed from the cultural context of which he writes.) It really struck me the wrong way. Especially since the people whose reputations he intended to ruin were deceased at the writing of the book.

I would also note that, while Norman openly acknowledges that Buddy Holly and his family were devout Christians, he takes repeated passive aggressive jabs at others in the book regarding their practice of Christianity. What's up with that?? I would have much preferred Norman left his bigotry at home.

I also picked up John Goldrosen and John Beecher's book, "Remembering Buddy," at the library, which seems a much more professional, informed and throrough biography.

On September 23, 1957, 4 months after its release, That'll be the Day stood at No.1 on both pop and r&b charts. Before reading this book watch Paul McCartney's Buddy Holly DVD and Gary Busey's DVD. Then go to the musical "Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story" at the Duchess Theatre, London August 7 2007-June 28 2008. This play ran for 12 and a half years in its original production at the Victoria Palace Theatre and subsequently in many cities across the US. (Seattle last February). Next go to Lubbock and check out the statue and the Buddy Holly Center on Crickets Avenue.
http://www.buddyhollycenter.org/. Then head over to Cleveland for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame display. And, finally go to Clear Lake on February 2. 2008 for the Fabulous Fifties show: The Crickets, Big Bopper, Jr., David Somerville of The Diamonds, The Chiffons, Sonny Burgess & The Pacers, The Belmonts. After all that you may then plop into your favorite ottoman and enjoy this book while watching the La Bamba DVD.

I really wish people would stop placing Buddy Holly's sex life on the stand. Really, if you want to make a sex story of him, write it and say this is an fiction book! Is that too hard to understand??? But, it was better than Ellis Amburn's book.