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.

Not Fade Away
The Crickets Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop

I'm gonna tell you how it's gonna be
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
You're gonna give your love to me
Bop-bop-bop-bop
I want to love you night and day

'Bop-bop-bop-bop
You know my loving not fade away
Bop-bop-bop-bop
Well you know my loving not fade away
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop

My love bigger than a Cadillac
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
I'll try to show it when you're driving me back
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
Your love for me got to be real
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
For you to know just how I feel
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
A love for real not fade away
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
'Bop-bop-bop-bop

Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop

I'm gonna tell you how it's gonna be
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
You're gonna give your love to me
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
Love to last more than one day
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
Love is loving and not fade away
Bop-bop-bop-bop
Love is loving and not fade away
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
'Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop

Bop-bop-bop-bop
Bop-bop-bop-bop

Overall Meaning

The Crickets/Buddy Holly's song "Not Fade Away" is a love song with a catchy beat that channels the early rock and roll sound of the late 1950s. The song's simplicity in the lyrics is meant to capture the freshness and excitement of young love, with the singer outlining how their significant other should feel and act towards them. The lyrics are straightforward, with the repetition of "bop-bop-bop-bop" emphasizing the rhythmic roots of the song.

The opening verse of the song is the singer telling their love interest what they expect from them: "You're gonna give your love to me/ I want to love you night and day/ You know my loving not fade away." In the next verse, the singer expresses how big their love is - "My love bigger than a Cadillac/ I'll try to show it when you're driving me back" - and how they want their partner's love to be reciprocated genuinely. The final verse repeats the expectations laid out in the opening.

Line by Line Meaning

Bop-bop-bop-bop
Instrumental chorus

I'm gonna tell you how it's gonna be
I'll explain how this relationship will work

'Bop-bop-bop-bop You're gonna give your love to me
You'll love me and only me

I want to love you night and day
I want to love you all the time, always

You know my loving not fade away
You know my love is enduring and lasting

Well you know my loving not fade away
You already know that my love won't fade

'Bop-bop-bop-bop
Instrumental chorus

My love bigger than a Cadillac
My love is huge, immense

I'll try to show it when you're driving me back
I will make it evident when you take me home

Your love for me got to be real
Your love for me has to be genuine

For you to know just how I feel
So that you'll understand how I feel