The Crickets was an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed… Read Full Bio ↴The Crickets was an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day" (written by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison), released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the US Billboard Top 100 chart on 16 September 1957. The sleeve of their first album, The "Chirping" Crickets, showed the band line-up at the time: Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums, and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. The Crickets helped set the template for subsequent rock bands, with their guitar-bass-drums line-up, performing their own self-written material. After Holly's death in 1959 the band continued to tour and record into the 1960s and beyond, with other band members through to the 21st century.

It is said not to be the case that The Crickets chose their name while listening to a playback of "I'm Gonna Love You Too" ; rather, the name was chosen while going through an encyclopedia of names. Other names had been considered including The Scoundrels and The Spiders. Holly's manager (Norman Petty) and owner of the Norman Petty Studio in Clovis ,NM, decided to keep the chirping in the record, but this is in no way tied to the origin of the band's name. In real life, they chose the name due to huge number of crickets in Texas that particular time of year. It should be worth noting that they almost chose the name The Beetles (it is said that John Lennon later named his band in homage to Holly and The Crickets).

Rhythm guitarist Sullivan wasn't comfortable with the amount of traveling and to a lesser extent, he didn't fit in with Jerry and Joe B. For the same reason, Jerry and Joe were not ready to leave small town Lubbock for big city NY. The big move was the real reason why The Crickets initially broke up, but Holly was not daunted by the breakup; he chose a new back-up band for the Winter Dance Party Tour. The new band consisted of Tommy Allsup, Waylon Jennings and Carl Bunch on drums. Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper were booked on the tour with Holly and his new band. Dion and newcomer Frankie Sardo also performed on this particular tour. But after about 4 months, Jerry and Joe B began to have second thoughts about the breakup of the band. They had planned to fly to Moorehead, MN, and surprise their friend. Destiny stepped in and the music world suffered its first tragic accident February 3, 1959.

The Crickets (Jerry and Joe) continued to record on their own with guitarist Sonny Curtis and vocalist Earl Sinks. The album Remnants was released in 1973 with band members Allison, Curtis, Albert Lee, Ric Grech, Steve Krikorian (later known as Tonio K.), Carol Montgomery, and Nick VanMaarth.

In the film The Buddy Holly Story, the story of the band was altered drastically and includes many inaccuracies. Due to The Crickets selling the rights to another studio, their film counterparts' names were changed for legal reasons. In addition, there are only two Crickets -- a bass player clearly being Mauldin and a drummer modeled on Allison, and the character of Sullivan and his quitting the band is omitted entirely. The real Crickets were outraged on being portrayed as racists, as well as the latter scene in which they appear at Holly's door wanting to reunite. In reality, they had discussed with Holly, shortly before his death, about going on a reunion tour.

The Crickets released The Crickets and Their Buddies in 2004, featuring classics from all parts of their career, with performances by several prominent artists, including Eric Clapton, Rodney Crowell, Waylon Jennings, Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Graham Nash, and Bobby Vee.

On 28 October 2008, The Crickets were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN. On 14 April 2012, The Crickets were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On February 6, 2016, "The Crickets & Buddies" performed in Clear Lake, Iowa, at the Surf Ballroom, the site of Holly's last performance. Members of previous line-ups appeared, including Sonny Curtis, Glen D. Hardin, Albert Lee, Tommy Allsup, Gordon Payne and others. After the show, Allison announced that it was the group's final performance.

Baby I Don't Care
The Crickets Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You don't like crazy music, you don't like rockin' bands
You just want to go to a movie show, and sit their holdin' hands
You're so square, baby I don't care

I don't know why my heart blips, I only know it does
I wonder why I love you baby, I guess it's just because
You're so square, baby I don't care

You don't know any dance steps, but I do-a-hoo-hoo
I only know why I love you like I do, a-do, a-do, a-do

I don't know why my heart blips, I only know it does
I wonder why I love you baby, I guess it's just because
You're so square, baby I don't care

I don't know why my heart blips, I only know it does
I wonder why I love you baby, I guess it's just because
You're so square, baby I don't care

Baby I don't care
Baby I don't care, care care, care care

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Crickets' song "Baby I Don't Care" are about a guy who is in love with a girl who doesn't share his taste in music or dancing. The girl is more interested in going to movies and holding hands rather than going to see rock bands and dancing. Despite these differences, the guy is still enamored with the girl and doesn't care that they don't share the same interests. He just loves her for who she is, even if she's "so square."

The song highlights the idea of accepting someone for who they are, even if they may not fit expected norms or interests. The repetition of the phrase "baby I don't care" emphasizes this idea, emphasizing that the guy's love for the girl goes beyond any superficial differences or societal expectations. The use of repetitive and catchy phrases and the upbeat rock and roll style of the music make the song an early classic of the genre.

Line by Line Meaning

You don't like crazy music, you don't like rockin' bands
You don't enjoy wild music or bands that rock out.

You just want to go to a movie show, and sit their holdin' hands
You'd rather watch movies and hold hands than listen to loud music.

You're so square, baby I don't care
You have a traditional taste in entertainment, but that doesn't matter to me.

I don't know why my heart blips, I only know it does
I can't explain why my heart flutters, but it happens when I'm around you.

I wonder why I love you baby, I guess it's just because
I don't have a specific reason for loving you, I just do.

You don't know any dance steps, but I do-a-hoo-hoo
You may not be the best dancer, but that's okay because I am.

You're so square, baby I don't care
You have a traditional taste in entertainment, but that doesn't matter to me.

Baby I don't care
I don't care about any of the differences between us, I love you regardless.

Baby I don't care, care care, care care
I really don't care about anything other than my love for you.

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JERRY LEIBER, MIKE STOLLER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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