Charles Hardin Holley: September 7, 1936–February 3, 1959

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✪ Charles Hardin Holley known by his stage name  Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of 1950s Rock and Roll. Holly was born into a musical family in Lubbock, Texas, during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his older two siblings.

Holly’s unique singing style was characterized by his vocal hiccups and alternations between his regular voice and falsetto; a technique he developed acquired after hearing Elvis in 1955 on the Louisiana Hayride Show. Holly’s “stuttering vocals” were frequently complemented by his percussive guitar playing, solos, stops, bent notes, and rhythm and blues chord progressions. He often strummed downstrokes.

Holly bought his first Fender Stratocaster, which became his signature guitar, at Harrod Music in Lubbock. His innovative playing style was characterized by its blending of chunky rhythm and high string lead work. Holly would play his first 1954 Stratocaster until it was stolen during a tour stop in Michigan in 1957. To replace it, he purchased a 1957 model before a show in Detroit. Holly owned four or five Stratocasters during his career.

At the beginning of their music careers, Holly and his group originally wore business suits. When they met the Everly Brothers, Don Everly took the band to Phil’s Men’s Shop in New York City and introduced them to Ivy League clothes. The brothers also advised Holly to replace his old-fashioned glasses with horn-rimmed glasses, which had been popularized by Steve Allen. Holly bought a pair of glasses made in Mexico from Lubbock optometrist Dr. J. Davis Armistead. Teenagers in the United States started to request this style of glasses, which were later popularly known as “Buddy Holly glasses.”

Holly was considered highly innovative at the time for writing his own material, his experimentation with double tracking and his use of orchestration. He is also said to have “pioneered and popularized the now-standard” use of two guitars, bass, and drums by rock bands.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted Holly in 1986, saying his contributions “changed the face of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Holly developed techniques of overdubbing and reverb and also used innovative arrangements and instrumentation later implemented by other artists. Holly became one of the most influential pioneers of rock and roll who had a lasting influence on genre performers of the 1960s.

Charles Hardin Holley (spelled “-ey”) was born in Lubbock, Texas, on September 7, 1936, the youngest of four children of Lawrence Odell “L.O.” Holley (1901–1985) and Ella Pauline Drake (1902–1990).

Holly was of mostly English and Welsh descent and had small amounts of Native American ancestry as well. From early childhood, Holly was nicknamed “Buddy.” During the Great Depression, the Holleys frequently moved their place of residence within Lubbock as L.O. changed jobs several times. Buddy Holly was baptized a Baptist, and the family were active members of the Tabernacle Baptist Church.

The Holley family had a sincere interest in music. All of the family members except L.O. could play at least one instrument, read music or sing. The elder Holley brothers performed in local talent shows; and on one occasion, Buddy joined them on violin. Since he could not play violin, his brother Larry greased the bow so it would not make any sound. The brothers often won the talent contests.

At age 11 and at his mother’s urging, Buddy took piano lessons but abandoned them after nine months. He then switched to the guitar after he saw a classmate playing and singing on the school bus. Buddy’s parents initially bought him a steel guitar, but he insisted that he wanted a guitar like his older brother’s. His parents bought him an acoustic guitar from a local pawnshop.

During his early childhood, Holly was greatkly influenced by the music of Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, Bill Monroe, Hank Snow, Bob Wills and the Carter Family. At Roscoe Wilson Elementary School, Holly became friends with Bob Montgomery, and the two played together. They both listened to radio programs such as Grand Ole Opry on WSM, Louisiana Hayride on KWKH, and the Big D Jamboree.

In 1952 Holly and Jack Neal participated together as a duo billed as Buddy and Jack in a talent contest hosted on a local television show. After Neal left, he was replaced by Bob Montgomery, and they were then billed as Buddy and Bob. They soon started performing on the Sunday Party show on KDAV in 1953 and performed live gigs in Lubbock.

At that time, Holly was also influenced by late-night radio stations that played blues and rhythm and blues (R&B). He would sit in his car and tune to distant AM radio stations which could only be received late at night after local transmissions ceased. Holly would eventually come to modify his music by blending his earlier country and western influence with R&B.

By 1955, after graduating from Lubbock High School, Holly decided to pursue a full-time career in music. He was further encouraged after seeing Elvis Presley perform live in Lubbock. In February, Holly opened for Presley at the Fair Park Coliseum, in April at the Cotton Club, and again in June at the Coliseum.

Holly signed with Decca Records in February 1956. In the contract, Decca accidentally misspelled Holly’s surname as “Holly.” From then on he would be known as Buddy Holly, instead of his real name Holley.

On January 26, 1956, Holly attended his first formal recording session, which was produced by Owen Bradley. He would attend two more sessions in Nashville, but with the producer selecting the session musicians and arrangements, Holly became increasingly frustrated by his lack of creative control over his own music.

Holly was unhappy with the results of his time with Decca. Inspired by the success of Buddy Knox’s “Party Doll” and Jimmy Bowen’s “I’m Stickin’ with You,” Holly visited Norman Petty at his recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico, who produced and promoted both of those singles.

Holly’s group recorded a demo of “That’ll Be the Day:” a song they had previously recorded in Nashville. In June 1956, Holly along with his older brother Larry as well as Allison and Sonny Curtis wentto see the film The Searchers, starring John Wayne, in which Wayne repeatedly used the phrase “That’ll be the day.” Now playing lead guitar, Holly had finally achieved the sound he desired. “That’ll Be the Day” was released on July 27, 1957.

Norman Petty reasoned correctly that disc jockeys would be reluctant to play and promote multiple new records by the same artist, but would have no problem playing these same records if they were credited to different performers. Holly himself was unaware of this strategy. In a 1957 radio interview with Dale Lowery, Holly said, “We have three records going out right now. Of course, the first one was ‘That’ll Be the Day’, the first one released. Then we have a new one out by The Crickets, called ‘Oh Boy!’ and ‘Not Fade Away’, and then there’s one out, it’s the same group but it’s under my name — I don’t know why they did it that way, but it went out under my name –– called ‘Peggy Sue’ and ‘Everyday’.” Holly’s records were released with labels reading “Buddy Holly” or “The Crickets;” however, the band was never credited on records as “Buddy Holly and the Crickets” until 1962, when a compilation album was released.“

Encouraged by the single’s success, Holly appeared on American Bandstand, hosted by Dick Clark on ABC, on August 26. “That’ll Be the Day” topped the US “Best Sellers in Stores” chart on September 23 and was number one on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in November.

Meanwhile, for their return to recording, Petty arranged a session in Oklahoma City, where he was performing with his own band. While the band drove to the location, the producer set up a makeshift studio. The rest of the songs needed for an album and singles were recorded; Petty later dubbed the material in Clovis. The resulting album, The “Chirping” Crickets, was released on November 27, 1957.

Holly and the Crickets performed “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue” on The Ed Sullivan Show on December 1, 1957. On January 8, 1958, Holly and the Crickets joined America’s Greatest Teenage Recording Stars tour. On January 25, Holly recorded “Rave On.”

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The next day, he made his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, singing “Oh, Boy!” Holly next departed to perform in Honolulu, Hawaii, on January 27; and then started a week-long tour of Australia billed as the Big Show with Paul Anka, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jodie Sands. In March, the band toured the United Kingdom, playing 50 shows in 25 days.

During a visit to the offices of Peer-Southern, Holly met María Elena Santiago. He asked her out on their first meeting and proposed marriage to her on their first date. The wedding took place on August 15. Norman Petty had tried to dissuade Holly from marriage; he felt that it would disappoint Holly’s public and damage his career.

Holly and Santiago frequented many of New York’s music venues, including the Village Gate, Blue Note, Village Vanguard and Johnny Johnson’s. Santiago later said that Holly was keen to learn the fingerstyle of flamenco guitar and that he would often visit her aunt’s home to play the piano there. Holly planned collaborations between soul singers and Rock and Roll. He also wanted to record an album with Ray Charles and Mahalia Jackson. Holly also had ambitions to work in film and had registered for acting classes with Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio.

Santiago often accompanied Holly on his tours. To hide her marriage to Holly, she was presented as the Crickets’ secretary. She took care of the laundry and equipment set-up and collected the concert revenues. Santiago kept the money for the band instead of its habitual transfer to Petty in New Mexico.

In September, Holly returned to Clovis for a new recording session, which yielded “Reminiscing” and “Come Back Baby.” During the session, he ventured into producing by recording Lubbock DJ Waylon Jennings.

Holly became increasingly interested in the New York music recording, and publishing scene. Holly and Santiago settled in Apartment 4H of the Brevoort Apartments at 11 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village, where he recorded a series of acoustic songs, including “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” and “What to Do.”

Holly’s final studio session was recorded on October 21, 1958 at the Pythian Temple on West 70th Street (now a luxury condominium). Known by Holly fans as “the string sessions” it included an innovative collaboration with an 18-piece ensemble composed of former members of the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

The four songs recorded during the 3+¹⁄₂-hour session were:

“True Love Ways” (written by Buddy Holly),

“Moondreams” (written by Norman Petty),

“Raining in My Heart” (written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant) and

“It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” (written by Paul Anka)

Holly vacationed with his wife in Lubbock and visited Jennings’s radio station in December 1958. For the start of the Winter Dance Party tour, he assembled a band consisting of Waylon Jennings (electric bass), Tommy Allsup (guitar), and Carl Bunch (drums). Holly and Jennings left for New York City, arriving on January 15, 1959. Jennings stayed at Holly’s apartment by Washington Square Park.

The Winter Dance Party tour began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 23, 1959. The amount of travel involved created logistical problems, as the distance between venues had not been considered when scheduling performances. Adding to the problem, the unheated tour buses twice broke down in freezing weather, with dire consequences. Holly’s drummer, Carl Bunch, was hospitalized for frostbite to his toes (sustained while aboard the bus), so Holly decided to seek other transportation.

On February 2, before their appearance in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered a four-seat Beechcraft Bonanza airplane for Jennings, Allsup, and himself, from Dwyer Flying Service in Mason City, Iowa. Holly’s idea was to depart following the show at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake and fly to their next venue, in Moorhead, Minnesota, via Fargo, North Dakota, allowing them time to rest and launder their clothes and avoid an arduous bus journey.

Immediately after the Clear Lake show (which ended just before midnight), Allsup agreed to flip a coin for the seat on the plane with Ritchie Valens. Valens called heads and when he won, he reportedly said, “That’s the first time I’ve ever won anything in my life.” Allsup would later open a restaurant/bar in Fort Worth, Texas, called the Heads Up Saloon. Waylon Jennings voluntarily gave up his seat to J. P. Richardson (the Big Bopper) who had influenza and complained that the tour bus was too cold and uncomfortable for a man of his size.

The pilot, Roger Peterson, took off in inclement weather, even though he was not certified to fly by instruments only. Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on February 3, 1959, Holly, Valens, Richardson, and Peterson were killed when the aircraft crashed into a cornfield five miles northwest of Clear Lake shortly after takeoff. The three musicians, who were ejected from the fuselage upon impact, all sustained severe head and chest injuries. Holly was only 22 years old. The subsequent accident report did not mention a gun belonging to Holly which was found by a farmer two months later after the crash. 

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Santiago watched the first reports of Holly’s death on television. The following day, she suffered a miscarriage. Holly’s mother, who heard the news on the radio in Lubbock, Texas, screamed and collapsed.

Santiago did not attend Buddy’s funeral and has never visited his gravesite. In an interview, she later told the Avalanche-Journal, “In a way, I blame myself. I was not feeling well when he left. I was two weeks pregnant, and I wanted Buddy to stay with me, but he had scheduled that tour. It was the only time I wasn’t with him. And I blame myself because I know that, if only I had gone along, Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane.”

Buddy Holly left behind dozens of unfinished recordings — solo transcriptions of his new compositions, informal jam sessions with bandmates, and tapes demonstrating songs intended for other artists. The last known recordings made in Holly’s apartment in late 1958, were his last six original songs.

Holly’s funeral was held on February 7, 1959, at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lubbock. The service was officiated by Ben D. Johnson, who had presided at the Hollys’ wedding just months earlier. Holly’s body was interred in the City of Lubbock Cemetery in the eastern part of the city. Holly’s headstone carries the correct spelling of his surname (Holley) and a carving of his Fender Stratocaster guitar. ✪