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".
Peggy Sue
Buddy Holly Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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
Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty Peggy Sue
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
Oh well, I love you gal and I need you Peggy Sue
I love you Peggy Sue
With a love so rare and true
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
Well I love you gal, I want you Peggy Sue
Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty Peggy Sue
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
Oh well, I love you gal yes I need you Peggy Sue
I love you Peggy Sue
With a love so rare and true
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
Oh well I love you gal, and I want you Peggy Sue
Oh well, I love you gal and I want you Peggy Sue
Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" is a classic 1950s rock and roll song that tells a love story about Peggy Sue, who makes the singer's heart yearn and ache when she is not around. The lyrics describe the singer's affection for Peggy Sue and his deep love for her. The chorus repeats her name, emphasizing her importance in the singer's life.
Throughout the song, the singer expresses his love and need for Peggy Sue. He describes her beauty, using the word "pretty" several times to emphasize how he feels about her. The repetition of the line "Oh well, I love you gal, yes, I love you Peggy Sue" highlights the singer's utmost devotion and adoration for her.
The lyrics convey the feeling of longing and heartbreak, as the singer is separated from Peggy Sue, causing him to feel blue without her. The song's lively and upbeat rhythm adds to the overall sentiment of the song, creating a contrast between the lyrics' sadness and the music's upbeat energy.
Line by Line Meaning
If you knew Peggy Sue
If you knew the girl named Peggy Sue
Then you'd know why I feel blue without Peggy
If you knew her, you'd understand why I'm sad when she's not around
My Peggy Sue
She is my Peggy Sue
Oh well, I love you gal, yes, I love you Peggy Sue
I really do love her
Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue
Again, she is Peggy Sue
Oh how my heart yearns for you
I long for her
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
She is mine, she belongs to me
Oh well, I love you gal, yes, I love you Peggy Sue
I love her more than anything else
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty Peggy Sue
She is very beautiful
Oh well, I love you gal and I need you Peggy Sue
I need her in my life, I can't live without her
I love you Peggy Sue
I really do love her
With a love so rare and true
My love for her is special and genuine
Well I love you gal, I want you Peggy Sue
I want her to be mine forever
Oh well, I love you gal yes I need you Peggy Sue
Once again, I need her in my life, I can't imagine living without her
Oh well I love you gal, and I want you Peggy Sue
I want her to be with me always, I love her so much
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Norman Petty, Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mcbillygoat2413
Petty’s Echo Chamber
Another thing that contributed to the “Clovis Sound” wasn’t actually in the studio at all. “Norman built an echo chamber in the A-frame attic of his father’s garage next door,” says Stull. “Buddy Holly’s family was in the tile business and they took a bunch of scrap ceramic tile and put pieces all over the attic, which was about 100’ long and 50’ wide, to create reflective surfaces. On one side, Norman placed an old speaker in a wooden case that looked like the sort of speaker used in schools to make announcements, and on the other side he had a microphone. He also had some big pieces of sewer tile standing up in there, which the sound would hit and curve around to break up any standing waves. He would send the sound from his studio all the way over to that attic and then the microphone would pick it up and that sound would be sent back to the studio."
The echo chamber can be heard on all of the recordings Holly made at the Clovis studio, though it is particularly evident on “Peggy Sue” due to a clever production move by Petty.
“Norman only used one microphone on the drums. On the intro to [Peggy Sue], you hear the drummer playing a paradiddle on a tom as Norman switches the echo on and off every two beats, from dry to wet,“ says Stull. Another nice touch was putting a mic close to the strings of Holly’s electric guitar to pick up the unamplified acoustic sound of the pick strumming the strings, which was blended with the slightly muffled sound of the amplified rhythm guitar.”
The chord solo during “Peggy Sue” also presented a challenge – one that Petty couldn’t solve with creative engineering. “When it came time to play that louder and much brighter rhythm solo, Buddy needed to change from the darker pickup setting to the treble pickup setting,” explains Stull. “But he couldn’t do it and play at the same time, so fellow Cricket Niki Sullivan knelt next to him and reached up to switch the guitar from one setting to another.”
-Billy Stull
@peggysue1960
I was named after this song. Daddy used to strum his guitar and sing this to me while he was alive. He died when I was 12. Still one of my fondest memories. Thank You Daddy!
@sandrabradstreet
I named my daughter Peggy Sue after this song
@BrandonCaparas
I'm so sorry 💔
@huarenxivonne9662
F
@USMC_BABE38
My mom's middle name is sue
@DaMiN866
tut mir echt leid für dich.
aber ist ein schöner name hattest bestimmt nen tollen daddy🙂
@imadhoney
To think he died only at age 22... That's how old I am now... Truly a genius, way ahead of his time, who shaped generations of music. RIP Buddy.
@CuteNekoHibiki
He died way too young. At age 22., He should have lived longer than that.
@garycharles7221
And he influenced the most influential band of all time the Beatles. Genius gone too early
@draculasneeze6681
Dion DiMucci (sic) from Dio n and the Belmonts has a great youtube movie where he talks about what an incredible entreprenuer Buddy was (HD The true Buddy Holly story). His music was amazing, but he was a really impressive go-getter - at only 22. RIP.