8. The Crickets — The “Chirping” Crickets (1957)

NERDS

1. Growing up and through much of my life, I have resisted the notion of The Beatles as the most important rock act in history. That’s softened a bit over time, and there are plenty of Beatles tunes I love, but I always insisted on Buddy Holly in that debate. Buddy — and by the transient property, the Crickets — just felt more real, more authentic to me. But he died before he had a chance to lay much of a foundation, and he was never as big as the Beatles (obviously); in my wise old age, I’m strong enough to recognize I was being annoyingly contrarian in my old takes.
2. And yet…the Crickets popularized the four-piece band model. The Crickets showed you could write original rock music and perform it yourself, too. Heck, the Beatles came up with their name specifically as an homage to the Crickets (who once considered calling themselves the Beetles). Nevermind! Younger me was totally right! (ed note: I think I unconsciously used “heck” instead of “hell” there as a direct result of being in the 1957 mindset…)
3. For real though, I love Buddy Holly. The vocal gymnastics he does throughout “Oh Boy!” and “Not Fade Away” are a total joy. “That’ll Be The Day” is one of the all time greats. The rest of the band is great as well, with killer guitar solos on tunes like “I’m Lookin’ For Someone To Love.” This album is 25 minutes long; there’s no reason not to give it a spin.
4. Buddy Holly’s also one of the more fun “what if” questions in rock. This is the only LP featuring Holly released during his lifetime. Would he have had a Roy Orbison-type trajectory? Would he have reached The Beatles levels of fame, and would they have been as big as they were? Would rockabilly have become the dominant form of popular rock and roll music in America, rather than British rock?
5. Last note: I had no idea the Crickets carried on without Holly. They were in fact recording a second album without him while he was still alive. From what I can tell they were planning on getting back together after his solo tour (the one he never returned from), but still: pretty incredible longevity to continue performing into the 2000’s without your godhead front man for more than a year or so.

One Essential Song:

Listen on Spotify: