Rave On Buddy

Buddy Holly died exactly 50 years ago. Rock'n'roll wasn't even 5 years old and one of its pioneers was dead. Along with the Big Bopper and Richie Valens, Holly perished one freezing February night because of the pressures the music industry was exerting, even then. The pilot also died , taking with him a talent so huge that his influence and image still reverberate around the planet to this day. 

Everyone knows at least one of his songs, most know 3 or 4 and even the least knowledgeable music fan will recognise more and not necessarily be aware it is one of Holly's compositions. The back catalogue, owned by Fab Macca, thumbs aloft McCartney is small but perfect and should the man have lived, who knows what he was planning next. They even made a posthumous hit out of some demos he recorded - Peggy Sue Got Married.

If you look at his record lables, they are listed as being co-written, however, this is normal for records from that era. When managers all wanted their larger than justified slice of the action, they threw themselves on the writing credits. This greed led to Holly not receiving his fair dues. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't a huge star in his day. A lot of the records became big after the crash, but he could have lived a fuller life if he didn't have to chase the money so much on the punishing tour circuit. This led to is untimely demise and robbed the world of an original talent.

He was a kind and, maybe, too generous man, although not a total pushover. He managed to rile the prudish Ed Sullivan and refused to kowtow to his demands. Sullivan had his instrument turned down so he just shouted to be heard. He didn't suffer fools but his pandering to the financial restraints imposed by his management saw him pay the ultimate price.

Dig out the greatest hits, download it, whatever. Just listen once more to the timeless songs. The music didn't die that day but it was severely damaged for a while and its progress delayed by years.