Customer Reviews

Very Best of

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This album features vintage Buddy Holly recordings embellished with new backup vocals by The Picks. Good choice authenticity-wise, because The Picks supplied the backing for many of Buddy's 1950s hits, but fervent Holly fans may bristle at some of the 1990s arrangements. The Picks are still in good voice, and the new vocal harmonies improve two of Buddy's oldies, "Come Back Baby" and "Take Your Time." The Picks also get style points for their contribution to "Listen to Me." But for the most part the new vocals intrude upon songs that didn't need them -- especially three of Holly's last compositions, "What to Do," "Learning the Game," and "That's What They Say," which had already been overdubbed to better effect in 1960, with The Ray Charles Singers. (And these Picks versions had already been subjected to instrumental overdubbing in 1964!)

This album's best audience is the enthusiast who is already familiar with the Holly originals: the vocal overdubs will have novelty value. If you're interested in The Picks and/or the technical aspects, it's a curio. If you don't know the original versions, try an older Holly album first, to avoid being misinformed about the genuine Buddy Holly sound.

Here we go again with "The Picks Sing Along With (and over) Buddy Holly", another version of the same collection of Buddy Holly tracks rendered ineffective by the heavy handed overdubbing of backing vocals by John Pickering and the rest of The Picks which drown out Buddy Holly's performance on most tracks.

Buy the original and ignore this stuff which The Picks have also released on

Buddy Holly & The Picks Greatest Hits [GP2047]
Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue (no mention of The Picks but they are there) [ETOCD029]
Buddy Holly 57-59 The Rarities Collection (faint mention of The Picks on front) PLATCO521
Buddy Holly & The Picks The Original Voices of The Crickets [CDNF088].
The Very Best Of Buddy Holly (faint mention of The Picks but they are there) (Metro330)
Forever 22

This album is once again an overdubbing of Buddy Holly with backing vocals by John Pickering and the rest of The Picks which drown out Buddy's performance on most tracks. Because of the familiarity of most fans with the original versions this adaptation does not work all that well. However it is a different point of view on Buddy's music and as such could be of value to the new buyer not familiar with the brilliant original versions.

I accept that The Picks want recognition for the half a dozen or so early tracks of Buddy's on which Norman Petty used them before replacing them with The Roses but does John Pickering really have to authorise all the different compilations of these tracks under different names so that people step into buying the same stuff over and over again !

All some or most of this stuff was also released on
Forever 22 [SMDCD293]
Buddy Holly & The Picks Greatest Hits [GP2047]
Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue (no mention of The Picks but they are there) [ETOCD029]
Buddy Holly 57-59 The Rarities Collection (faint mention of The Picks on front) PLATCO521
The Very Best Of Buddy Holly (no mention of The Picks but they are there) (Metro330)
Buddy Holly & The Picks The Original Voices of The Crickets [CDNF088].

Sorry Picks but you were never that important in the first place.