Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holley (7 September 1936 – 3 February 1959), better known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and a pioneer of rock and roll. Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his death in an airplane crash, Holly inspired and influenced many contemporary and later musicians.

All songs written by Buddy Holly, except as noted.

• Maybe baby I'll have you,
  Maybe baby you'll be true.
  Maybe baby I'll have you for me. (All for me)

  It's funny honey you don't care-a-are,
  You never listen to my prayer-a-yer,
  Maybe baby you will love me someday (someday).

  • Maybe Baby, written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty (1957)

• It's so easy to fall in love — it's so easy to fall in love.
  People tell me love is for fools,
  So here I go breaking all of the rules.
  • It's So Easy, written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty (1958)

• Sometimes we'll sigh — sometimes we'll cry
  And we'll know why just you and I know true love ways.
  • True Love Ways, written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty (1958)

• You recall a girl that's been in nearly every song?
  This is what I heard of course the story could be wrong.

  She's the one — I've been told
  Now she's wearing a band of gold.
  Peggy Sue got married not long ago.

  • Peggy Sue Got Married (1959)

• Crying, waiting, hoping, that you'll come back.
  I just can't seem to get you off my mind.
  Crying, waiting, hoping, that you'll come back.
  You're the one I love and I think about you all the time.
  • Crying (1959)

• All of my love — all of my kissin’
  You don’t know what you’ve been a-missin’
  Oh boy — when you’re with me — oh boy
  The world will see that you were meant for me
  • Oh Boy!, written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman, and Norman Petty

• I'm a-gonna tell you how it's gonna be,
  You're gonna give your love to me.
  I wanna love you night and day,
  You know my love a-not fade away.
  A-well, you know my love a-not fade away.
  • Not Fade Away, written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty

• That'll be the day — when you say goodbye.
  That'll be the day — when you make me cry.
  You say you're gonna leave — you know it's a lie, 'cause
  That'll be the day when I die.
  • That'll Be the Day, written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty

• If you knew Peggy Sue — then you'd know why I feel blue
  Without Peggy — my Peggy Sue.
  Oh well, I love you gal — yes, I love you Peggy Sue.

  Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue — oh how my heart yearns for you.
  Oh Peggy — my Peggy Sue.
  Oh well, I love you gal — yes, I love you Peggy Sue.

  • Peggy Sue, written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty

• Everyday — it's a gettin' closer,
  Goin' faster than a roller coaster.
  Love like yours will surely come my way
  A hey — a hey hey.
  • Everyday, written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty

• Hold me close and tell me how you feel
  Tell me love is real.
  • Words of Love

• Words of love you whisper soft and true
  Darling I love you.
  • Words Of Love

Sorted alphabetically by author or source

• I just want to say that one time when I was about sixteen or seventeen years old, I went to see Buddy Holly play … at a Duluth National Guard Armory and I was three feet away from him. … And he LOOKED at me. And I just have some kind of feeling that he was — I don't know how or why — but I know he was with us all the time when we were making this record in some kind of way.
  • Bob Dylan, acceptance speech for Best Album of the Year, 1998 Grammy Awards, Radio City Music Hall, New York City (25 February 1998); YouTube video from channel Videoarcheology (Retrieved on 2014-03-15)

• A long long time ago
  I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
  And I knew if I had my chance
  That I could make those people dance
  And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
  But February made me shiver
  With every paper I'd deliver
  Bad news on the doorstep
  I couldn't take one more step
  I can't remember if I cried
  When I read about his widowed bride
  But something touched me deep inside
  The Day the Music Died.
  • Don McLean, in American Pie, on American Pie (1971)

• Conspiracy theorists might have it otherwise, but any mystery relating to Buddy Holly's death has nothing to do with the plane crash. Far more intriguing is why the six marvellous songs he wrote shortly before he was killed should be among the most angst–ridden in the entire canon of rock. … Whatever the reason, Holly's last compositions were a wonderful achievement. Heard as he recorded them, without the overdubs, his voice is crystal clear yet raw with emotion. Close your eyes and, 50 years later, Buddy Holly is singing directly to you from across the room.
  • Julian Lloyd Webber, in "Buddy Holly 50th anniversary: Unhappy Buddy" in The Telegraph (2 February 2009)

• Buddy Holly and the Crickets had the most influence on the Beatles.
  • Ian Whitcomb, in Show 27 - The British Are Coming! The British Art Coming!: The U.S.A. is invaded by a wave of long-haired English rockers. [Part 1] : UNT Digital Library. Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu (1969). Retrieved on 2011-01-15.

• Buddy Holly news archives at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
• Buddy Holly and the Crickets.com
• Buddy Holly Lives.info
• Buddy Holly on IMDb
• Buddy Holly – sessions and cover songs
• "Buddy Holly 50th anniversary: Unhappy Buddy" by Julian Lloyd Webber, in The Telegraph (2 February 2009)
• 'The Day the Music Died' at The Death of Rock: The Archive
• The Texas Experience – John Connally Presents Buddy Holly