Buddy Holly: the British album

To mark what would have been Buddy Holly’s ninetieth birthday on 7 September, ALWYN TURNER selects an album’s worth of British covers of his songs.

The death of Buddy Holly on 3 February 1959 at the age of twenty-two is the greatest loss that rock music has ever suffered. It was just twenty months since he’d released his first hit single, and he’d barely started, but in that time he’d already covered an enormous amount of ground. Had he lived, he would surely have dominated American pop in the 60s.

The year before his death he toured Britain, playing twenty-five venues in as many days – most of them with two shows – and his influence here was probably greater than anywhere else. He fixed the standard format for a rock group of two guitars, bass and drums, inspired the Beatles to adopt an insect name in imitation of his group the Crickets, and bequeathed a collection of songs that have been extensively covered ever since.

This is my personal selection of twelve of the best versions of his work by British acts. In keeping the numbers down, I’ve had to exclude some big names, including the Beatles’ ‘Words of Love’, Elvis Costello’s ‘True Love Ways’ and Erasure’s ‘Everyday’. But feel free to listen to them as well.

A playlist is available on YouTube.

SIDE ONE:

1. La’s, ‘That’ll Be the Day’ (1989)
A remarkably faithful copy of the original arrangement, this adds nothing much, but it’s rather agreeable. And it’s nice to see Holly still seen as a touchstone for young groups.

2. Rolling Stones, ‘Not Fade Away’ (1964)
On the other hand, the first single by the Stones improved on the original, ramping up the Bo Diddley rhythm and setting a blueprint for the garage-rock that was to come.

3. Humble Pie, ‘Heartbeat’ (1969)
From their second album, Town and Country, this was very ’eavy and very ’umble (as Uriah Heep would have put it). Back in 1958, the B-side of Buddy’s single ‘Heartbeat’ had been…

4. Blind Faith, ‘Well Alright’ (1969)
This came from Blind Faith’s sole album, and was their debut single. It added a new guitar riff, which is a bold move, but then Eric Clapton was in his pomp at the time and feeling bold.

5. John Lennon, ‘Peggy Sue’ (1975)
Lennon’s Rock ’n’ Roll album isn’t very highly rated by critics, but it’s my favourite of his solo records, the one where we don’t have to worry about his personal issues and can just enjoy him indulging his love of first-generation rock.

6. Peter and Gordon, ‘True Love Ways’ (1965)
With a gorgeous arrangement by Geoff Love, this adds a key-change, which works splendidly. The original was a posthumous hit in Britain, but never made the American charts – this version did.

SIDE TWO:

1. Steeleye Span, ‘Rave On’ (1971)
The vocal harmonies of the Crickets seemed to suggest acapella versions – as Mud discovered when their version of ‘Oh Boy!’ went to #1 in 1975. I liked that at the time, but Steeleye Span’s ‘Rave On’ is a superior recording.

2. The Bunch, ‘Love’s Made a Fool of You’ (1972)
A folk-rock supergroup who only made one album, Rock On, the Bunch included Trevor Lucas (from Fotheringay), Richard Thompson, Linda Peters (as she then was) and Sandy Denny. The album is a collection of 1950s covers, and it’s a bit ho-hum, but this is nice.

3. Bridget St John, ‘Everyday’ (1972)
Still on the folksy vibe, here’s Bridget St John from her third album, released on John Peel’s Dandelion label. The song was also covered by Erasure in 2003.

4. Florence + the Machine, ‘Not Fade Away’ (2011)
There have been fewer covers in recent years, but the tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly included this fine re-working by Florence Welch (who I still think of as the granddaughter of the great journalist Colin Welch, and as the niece of the even greater Craig Brown).

5. Steve Hillage, ‘Not Fade Away (Glid Forever)’ (1977)
The third version of the song in this playlist, but justified (I think) since they’re all so very different.

6. Peter Skellern, ‘Raining in My Heart’ (1980)
Skellern treated this as though it were from the Great American Songbook, another entry in the lists of weather-related songs from the 1930s. And it’s utterly lovely.

My thanks to Anthony Teague for suggesting Peter & Gordon.

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