Buddy
November 6th, 2006
Hearts that are broken and love that’s untrue:
These go with learning the game.
When you love her and she doesn’t love you:
You’re only learning the game.
Timeless lyrics sang by a timeless man. You’ll never see photos of a wisened old Holly as his clock stopped prematurely on the 2nd of February 1959, when the small monoplane he chartered to his next concert in Fargo, North Dakota, crashed in a blizzard eight miles north of Clear Lake, Iowa.
Killed in the same crash were Ritchie “La Bamba” Valens, J. P. “Big Bopper” Richardson and the 21 year-old pilot Roger Peterson. Valens won the seat after a coin-toss with Tommy Allsup. Years later Allsup would open the “Head’s Up Saloon” to mark the moment when his life rested on the flip of a coin.
Waylon Jennings also narrowly escaped with his life after taking pity on the Big Bopper, who was suffering from the flu caused by a draughty tour bus, but still remains haunted by the playful banter he and Buddy exchanged before they went on the plane: Buddy joked that he hoped Waylon’s tour bus would “freeze up”, Waylon replied that he hoped Buddy’s “damn plane” would crash.
The tragic accident later became known as the “Day the Music Died”. Buddy’s legacy was an extensive catalogue of what would become classic Rock and Roll hits such as “Peggy Sue”, “Rave On”, “That’ll Be The Day” and “Well…Alright”. From these his style lived on, influencing many bands through the 60s, most notably The Beatles.
I saw The Buddy Holly Story about half a year ago and was very impressed with Gary Bussy’s performance. I also remember thinking how thoughtfully the script was constructed for a rock-biopic, much like Walk the Line the film was an interesting story in its own right–whether you’re a Johnny Cash fan or not. However there was some controversy regarding the portrayal of The Crickets (Buddy’s primary backing band) in addition to some factual inaccuracies, but I think these would come under “artistic license” as neither really detract from enjoying the film.
This was all brought back to me from seeing “Buddy” last weekend, which turned out to be the film set as a stage musical. I can’t tell you who played Buddy in the one that I saw, as the Theatre Royal seems to have cut expenses by providing only one programme for both Buddy performances, but from the photo I have a feeling it was Elliot Harper.
I’m a bit defensive when I hear impressions, probably from listening to so many murdered Elvis songs, but thankfully Harper achieved enough of Buddy’s trademark sounds, without compromising his own voice–I think only Buddy himself will ever get away with the amount of “hiccups” he put into his songs. Harper’s guitar work was also top notch, as was much of the backing band, especially Dean Elliot and his antics on the double bass, playing the part of The Cricket’s Joe B. Mauldin.
I remember the ending of The Buddy Holly Story as being particularly poignant, this was one area in which the musical was significantly different. Before the “Surf Ballroom” finale the curtain went down for about seven minutes, in which we were treated to some audience participation. I’m unsure of whether this was effective or not, at one point I could imagine it snowing outside, but seven minutes is a long time. On retrospect I suppose it was necessary to get the staging set up. William Kenning was a particularly good Big Bopper, and it brought a lump to my throat to think that his–rather twee, but innocent–act was cut short so abruptly.
The film ends with a freeze frame on Buddy with–I believe–one of his slower songs playing in the background. On stage the curtains went down, a spotlight cast onto a lone guitar and “True Love Ways” played in the background. The curtain then went up again and they played a bit more. There was also some bathos humour “Be careful, it’s snowing out there”, which brought some laughs from the audience, then it finished. I think the actors should have just taken the bow before the lone guitar and ended it there. Leaving the audience wanting more; as was the case in real life.
November 15th, 2006 at 1:15 am
Way to talk about death there, mate. Haha…
Sory about the lack of visiting… I’ve been drawn away from the computer for a while as I try to make money, make travel plans, go to school and do art, and somehow still make it out to the barn with about 7 hours of sleep per night.
Hope all is doing well.
December 4th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
[…] Like Simon and Garfunkel, they are also talented guitarists, playing chords and lead riffs with a country influence, most noticeable in the bouncy “Muskrat”. Appealing to the younger audience in the late 50s, they made a mark with such songs as “Wake Up Little Susie” and “Bye Bye Love”, the latter with the seemingly innocent jaunty rhythm, but with powerful lyrics, that perhaps passed under the radar to all but teenagers who could empathise with the sentiments they conveyed. This is reminiscent of Buddy Holly’s “Midnight Shift” that has similar as surprisingly dark undertones. They are also one of the few artists who can add any more to Buddy’s songs, with the excellent renditions of “That’ll Be The Day” and “Love Is Strange”. […]