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Buddy Holly - 20 Golden Greats Audio CD

A fair review of the Buddy Holly "20 Golden Greats" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Buddy Holly reviews here, or go back to the Buddy Holly tabs.

Buddy Holly Band: Buddy Holly
Title: 20 Golden Greats
Rating:
Release Date: 2009-01-06
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: That'll Be the Day 2: Peggy Sue 3: Words of Love 4: Everyday 5: Not Fade Away 6: Oh, Boy! 7: Maybe Baby 8: Listen to Me 9: Heartbeat 10: Think It Over 11: It Doesn't Matter Anymore 12: It's So Easy 13: Well...All Right 14: Rave On 15: Raining in My Heart 16: True Love Ways 17: Peggy Sue Got Married 18: Bo Diddley 19: Brown Eyed Handsome Man 20: Wishing

STELLAR GOLD RECORD COMPILATION OF HITS

Assuming this is identical to the 1978 vinyl disc that I own. .

This is probably the best place to start for anyone who wants to learn about Buddy Holly and his music. Compiled by Holly expert John Beecher in England, it sold over 500,000 copies. The Gold Record was awarded to Norman Petty shortly before his death from leukemia in 1984.

These 20 tracks showcase a particularly brilliant stretch of Holly's extraordinary range and creativity. Unlike many artists, with Holly it was never, "here's Buddy and the Crickets doing this song, and here they are doing another song. . . ". Buddy approached each session as if he had never recorded a song before. He often created a completely new sound just for that song. The classic example is the single "Peggy Sue/Everyday". The two sides do not remotely resemble one another.

Three posthumous overdubs that charted as singles in the U. K. are here:

"Peggy Sue Got Married" is the Jack Hanson Orchestra overdub, 1960. "Bo Diddley" and "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" are Fireballs overdubs from the 1963 album "Reminiscing". "Wishing" is undubbed, and all other tracks are original releases in Holly's lifetime.

One wonders why MCA/USA has not reissued this stellar gold record compilation. Apparently the present catalog (old recordings) producers seem to be "purists" reluctant to release overdubs. I can't argue with that, except to say it keeps some fine Holly performances out of their catalog.

Meanwhile the Crickets have been screwed royally. . .

Unlike this album, MCA no longer credits the Crickets on its Buddy Holly releases. Even the Brunswick recordings ("That'll Be the Day") which were originally released as simply "The Crickets".

Perversely, adding insult to injury, someone in authority between 1985-1990 gave license to a group called the Picks to overdub any and all Holly songs with their vocal harmonies. These modern overdubs deface Holly's finest work, and are widely distributed as "Buddy Holly and the Picks".

As result, there are surely a lot of people out there who think Holly's band was the Picks, and that Holly and the Picks were not very good (they're not).

The price for this single disc CD is admittedly outrageous -- but if the sound quality is good it's worth every penny.

If you want to introduce someone to Holly, this is probably the most impressive CD you could give them.







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You can see a complete list of all Buddy Holly discography, or go back to the Buddy Holly tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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