He was born in Lubbock, Texas, to a musical family during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his siblings. His style was influenced by gospel music, country music, and rhythm and blues acts, and he performed in Lubbock with his friends from high school. He made his first appearance on local television in 1952, and the following year he formed the group "Buddy and Bob" with his friend Bob Montgomery. In 1955, after opening for Elvis Presley, he decided to pursue a career in music. He opened for Presley three times that year; his band's style shifted from country and western to entirely rock and roll. In October that year, when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets, he was spotted by Nashville scout Eddie Crandall, who helped him get a contract with Decca Records.
Holly's recording sessions at Decca were produced by Owen Bradley. Unhappy with Bradley's control in the studio and with the sound he achieved there, he went to producer Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico, and recorded a demo of "That'll Be the Day", among other songs. Petty became the band's manager and sent the demo to Brunswick Records, which released it as a single credited to "The Crickets", which became the name of Holly's band. In September 1957, as the band toured, "That'll Be the Day" topped the US "Best Sellers in Stores" chart and the UK Singles Chart. Its success was followed in October by another major hit, "Peggy Sue".
The album Chirping Crickets, released in November 1957, reached number five on the UK Albums Chart. Holly made his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in January 1958 and soon after, toured Australia and then the UK. In early 1959, he assembled a new band, consisting of future country music star Waylon Jennings (bass), famed session musician Tommy Allsup (guitar), and Carl Bunch (drums), and embarked on a tour of the midwestern U.S. After a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, he chartered an airplane to travel to his next show, in Moorhead, Minnesota. Soon after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing him, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson in a tragedy later referred to by Don McLean as "The Day the Music Died".
During his short career, Holly wrote, recorded, and produced his own material. He is often regarded as the artist who defined the traditional rock-and-roll lineup of two guitars, bass, and drums. He was a major influence on later popular music artists, including Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Weezer, and Elton John. He was among the first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 13 in its list of "100 Greatest Artists".
Brown-Eyed Handsome Man
Buddy Holly Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He was sitting in the witness stand
The judge's wife called up the district attorney
Said free that brown eyed man
You want your job you better free that brown eyed man
Flying across the desert in a TWA
I saw a woman walking across the sand
To reach a brown eyed handsome man
Her destination was a brown eyed handsome man
Way back in history three thousand years
Back ever since the world began
There's been a whole lot of good women shedding tears
For a brown eyed handsome man
A lot of trouble - was a brown eyed handsome man
The beautiful daughter couldn't make up her mind
Between a doctor and a lawyer man
Her mother told her darling go out and find yourself
A brown eyed handsome man
That's what your daddy is a brown eyed handsome man
Milo Venus was a beautiful lass
She had the world in the palm of her hand
But she lost both her arms in a wrestling match
To win a brown eyed handsome man
She fought and won herself a brown eyed handsome man
Well, two, three the count with nobody on
He hit a high fly into the stand
Rounding third he was headed for home
It was a brown eyed handsome man
That won the game - it was a brown eyed handsome man
Buddy Holly's Brown-Eyed Handsome Man describes what seems to be an African American man's life, from getting arrested for being jobless, to being idolized and chased after by various women, and even being a sports hero. The song points out how the brown-eyed man is constantly underestimated by society, despite being talented and successful. The judge's wife calls for the DA to release the man from jail, essentially blaming institutional racism for his arrest. The song then travels across the world to India, where a woman is walking 30 miles across the desert to meet a brown-eyed handsome man in Bombay. The song seems to be celebrating this man's appeal to women across geographies and cultures.
Line by Line Meaning
Arrested on charges of unemployment
He got arrested due to his lack of employment
He was sitting in the witness stand
He was awaiting trial and sitting in the witness stand
The judge's wife called up the district attorney
The judge's wife called the district attorney
Said free that brown eyed man
She demanded to release the brown-eyed man from custody
You want your job you better free that brown eyed man
If you want to keep your job, you better release the brown-eyed man
Flying across the desert in a TWA
He was flying across the desert in a TWA airplane
I saw a woman walking across the sand
He observed a woman walking across the sand
She been a-walkin' thirty miles en route to Bombay
She had walked thirty miles towards Bombay
To reach a brown eyed handsome man
Her destination was to reach a brown-eyed handsome man
Her destination was a brown eyed handsome man
She had to reach a brown-eyed handsome man as her destination
Way back in history three thousand years
Three thousand years ago in history
Back ever since the world began
Since the world's creation
There's been a whole lot of good women shedding tears
Many women have cried in vain over a man
For a brown eyed handsome man
Over a charismatic brown-eye man
A lot of trouble - was a brown eyed handsome man
A brown-eyed handsome man has caused many troubles
The beautiful daughter couldn't make up her mind
The stunning daughter was hesitant in her decision-making
Between a doctor and a lawyer man
She couldn't choose between a doctor and a lawyer man
Her mother told her darling go out and find yourself
Her mother advised her daughter to go out and discover a man
A brown eyed handsome man
A brown-eyed handsome man is what she should look for
That's what your daddy is a brown eyed handsome man
Her father is an example of a brown-eyed handsome man
Milo Venus was a beautiful lass
Milo Venus was a stunning girl
She had the world in the palm of her hand
She had the world and her life under control
But she lost both her arms in a wrestling match
She lost her arms while wrestling
To win a brown eyed handsome man
She did all that to gain the affection of a brown-eyed handsome man
Well, two, three the count with nobody on
With a two-three count and no one on base
He hit a high fly into the stand
He hit a high fly-ball into the stands
Rounding third he was headed for home
Rounding off third base, he was heading home
It was a brown eyed handsome man
The player who won the game was a brown-eyed handsome man
That won the game - it was a brown eyed handsome man
A highlight of the game was a victory by a brown-eyed handsome man
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: CHUCK BERRY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@yeastxtract1853
Lyrics:
Arrested on charges of unemployment
He was sitting in the witness stand
The judge's wife called up the district attorney
Said free that brown eyed man
You want your job you better free that brown eyed man
Flying across the desert in a TWA
I saw a woman walking across the sand
She been a-walkin' thirty miles en route to Bombay
To reach a brown eyed handsome man
Her destination was a brown eyed handsome man
Way back in history three thousand years
Back ever since the world began
There's been a whole lot of good women shedding tears
For a brown eyed handsome man
A lot of trouble, was a brown eyed handsome man
Well the beautiful daughter couldn't make up her mind
Between a doctor and a lawyer man
Her mother told her darling go out and find yourself
A brown eyed handsome man
That's what your daddy is a brown eyed handsome man
Well DeMilo's Venus was a beautiful lass
She had the world in the palm of her hand
But she lost both her arms in a wrestling match
To win a brown eyed handsome man
She fought and won herself a brown eyed handsome man
Well, two, three the count with nobody on
He hit a high fly into the stand
Rounding third he was headed for home
It was a brown eyed handsome man
That won the game, it was a brown eyed handsome man
@tomvaughn9667
I saw him perform this live in Lamesa Texas in 1956. It is still the best concert I have ever seen. I still wonder how it is possible that any human being could have so much talent. He was beyond human.
@ChihuahuaboyDH
Tom Vaughn It often makes me wonder had Buddy Holly had not gotten on that plane, that he'd have been dubbed "The King of Rock & Roll" instead of Elvis? I think so!
Buddy Holly was a GENIUS!!!
@jennifursun3303
ChihuahuaboyDH if i were asked, i would blame his record producer for making him go on that tour. still feel sorry for the late Waylon Jennings he never got over it
@tomvaughn9667
ChihuahuaboyDH I personaly think that Buddy Holley, Bo Didley, and Chuck Berry should be considered the co-founders of Classic Rock, the greatest music ever. Check out Buddy's version of Bo Didley, that song and Brown eyed handsome man were the first Classic Rock songs I ever heard and I still consider them the best.
@johnblake2045
ChihuahuaboyDH He should be the king of Rock and Roll even now...I don't get the huge appeal of Elvis at all at best he was a good performer but none of the ideas were his own ever, all of his songs were either written by somebody else or they were covers and he played guitar less and less as time went on. Elvis was really hardly anything more than a pretty face for both the music industry hollywood and other such things to exploit. He was more the just Bieber of his day more than anything.
@johnblake2045
Tom Vaughn Man you got to see him? Crazy lucky! My parents were to young in the 50's and I wasnt born till the 80's so we got crap luck in that department
@tonytrotta9322
Classic song by Buddy Holly - Nobody plays or sings it better!
Buddy doesn't miss a beat - the man was ahead of his time!
Crank this classic song up!
@hollpoll
This is a track found after his death, the guitar backing was added by Norman Petty (his manager) using the Fireballs instrumental group , just so you know
@tonytrotta9322
@@hollpoll Thanks for the info. Yes I knew many were overdubbed recordings to finish. There is a studio version on Y-tube too and it is outstanding as well. Buddy Holly used to open for Elvis Presley at the Texas State Fairs and they were friends. Take care!
@RobertJones-ne6qr
His bass player did justice to this tune, not taking anything away from Buddy, but Waylon filled a void created by Buddy's passing, their both greatly missed.