The Very Best of

by

Buddy Holly and The Crickets

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I got this especially for the song Moondreams which is not the easiest song to get of his.It was the 4th song in that famous recording session that produced such classics as Raining In My Heart,True Love Ways and It Doesn't Matter Anymore.

This double CD has also got alot of not so easy to get songs as well.It's a great compilation.

With Buddy Holly you end up milking the well,trying to find theat real gem.Surprizingly there is quite a few.He recorded so many songs in his short career.

I'm going to list my top ten Buddy Holly songs -

1 Raining In My Heart

2 Maybe Baby

3 Peggy Sue

4 It Doesn't Matter Anymore

5 Oh Boy

6 It's So Easy

7 Everyday

8 Heartbeat

9 True Love Ways

10 Not Fade Away

There is also alot of other good songs, but not qiute as good as these.

The annoying thing about Buddy Holly, is that here's this bloke who wrote all these magnificent songs,and he died soon after.Even though so many years have passed,we can still enjoy these tunes as if we are travelling back in time.

I have read books on him,searched the internet for information, and bought video's on him.But still at the end of all that he was only realy in the bigtime a couple of years.He had been recording songs for some years prior to his big hits.

There is so many question marks hanging over him.I think to myself, what if he had of lived,would have we had the Beatles? I mean they were very influenced by him, as were many other singers.Would have he been able to continue to dash out a number of great songs years later?No doubt the music died that day.The song says The Father Son and the holy ghost took the last train for the coast,but i don't agree with certain religious views on that. Life's what you make of it,and they must have been aware of the fact they were getting into a plane,in the early hours of the morning,into a snow storm with an inexperienced pilot.Who is resposible for that?

Some people believe God has something to do with this,i just do not agree with that line of thinking.It was a tragedy nothing else.

It is of coarse most tragic for family and friends of his of his death.From a fans perspective all it means is we are not going to get any more new songs,and to ponder what if this what if that.

** This release was originally on sale for c.$40, and my rating and review both reflect this - the Amazon.com price has been reduced since I wrote the review.

This 50-track/2-CD compilation features all of Buddy Holly's big hits, plus a wide selection of some of his minor hits, B-sides and a dozen or so album only tracks. Although not re-mastered, the sound quality is pretty good (just a little 'muddy' here and there) and, as best as I can tell, the songs are the original versions. However, as a compilation, I feel it is ill-conceived; my reasons for saying this are two-fold - completists will either, seek out a variety of Buddy's other albums or, go for the 2009 60-track/3-CD 'Memorial Collection' (currently, $10 cheaper); whereas, those who simply want a convenient collection of his best known songs will choose another, less expensive compilation. A compilation I would recommend is the original 36-track(*see footnote) version of The Very Best of Buddy Holly(and the Crickets) - to all intents and purposes, this is the same album as the one being reviewed, except that the last 14 tracks on CD2 are not included (I think these are mainly album only tracks). The album had been discontinued, but it is available once again priced at c.$15.

Unusually for a 1950s rock 'n' roller, Buddy wrote and arranged many of his songs; he also played lead guitar and a number of other instruments. Some of his songs are notable for their innovative (at that time) arrangements and playing - including the pizzicato strings on 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore' and the 'fade-in/fade-out' drumming on 'Peggy Sue'. I never thought Buddy was a fantastic singer, but he was good enough and he always made the most of what he had; his vocals could be quite idiosyncratic - notably his 'hiccup' phrasing which can be heard on 'Rave On' and a number of other songs.

1957 and 1958 were Buddy Holly's most successful years but, in the months just prior to his death, his popularity in the US had started to wane, and after 1958 his chart successes diminished drastically. However, in the UK, he continued to have more than a dozen minor hits (including some re-releases) right up until 1964 and beyond. As in the US, Buddy was immensely popular in the UK also and, even to this day, he is remembered with much affection by his fans. En route to the next gig of a scheduled tour, his chartered light aircraft crashed, at around 1am on Tuesday 3 February 1959, in a frozen field near Clear Lake, Iowa - 'the day the music died'. He, together with the Big Bopper ('Chantilly Lace'), Ritchie Valens ('La Bamba') and the pilot, suffered serious multiple injuries and they must have all died instantly - Buddy was 22 when he died.

* Note on discography : The 36-track compilation was originally released in the UK (Universal Music TV) in 1999, and this includes an additional track at the very end - 'Not Fade Away'; the 2004 re-release (MCA-UK) does not include 'Not Fade Away'.