From Rolling Stone:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story?id=6475833&pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=sing\
le1

Buddy Holly Not Fading Away
Late rockers' brothers, band members pay tribute in Texas

In April, Buddy Holly's brothers Larry and Travis; his former bandmates
Tommy Allsup, Larry Welborn and Carl Bunch; and members of his
twang-rock disciples the Flatlanders and the Mavericks gathered in Azle,
Texas, to record Stay All Night -- Buddy Holly's Country Roots. Out
September 7th, the twenty-track compilation features new recordings of
songs Holly cut his teeth on and incorporated into his own songwriting.
It also includes a pair of Holly's own unreleased tracks, "I Saw the
Moon Cry Last Night" and "I Hear the Lord Calling For Me," that he and
Jack Neal first played on their weekly radio show on KDAV in Lubbock,
Texas.

Holly, one of the first rock stars to write his own songs, wracked up
hits such as "That'll Be the Day," "It's So Easy," "Peggy Sue," "Maybe
Baby" and "Not Fade Away," before his death at the age of twenty-two in
the 1959 plane crash that also claimed the lives of Ritchie Valens and
the Big Bopper, in what became known as "The Day the Music Died."

Growing up the youngest of four children in Lubbock, the horn-rimmed
Buddy was never regarded as particularly musical by older brothers Larry
and Travis. "Buddy had tried the violin and he didn't like it and we
just didn't figure he had any talent at all," says Larry Holley (Buddy
would later drop the "e" from his last name). "But you know a kid's got
to come to a certain age and find an instrument. The first song I heard
him learning was 'Lovesick Blues' by Hank Williams. And then it was Hank
Thompson and Marty Robbins, and eventually he got to listening to the
radio at night to people who blues-ed things up. About the time Elvis
came out, he thought that was really nice and he learned to do
everything by Elvis real quick. First thing we knew, we turned around
and he was playing better than we could."

Holly's mother used to sing with her twin sister and encouraged her
youngest son's earliest songwriting efforts. "Buddy must have took after
mother because mother was always sort of guiding him on his songs," says
Larry. "She'd say, 'I can write a song,' and he'd say, 'Oh mother, you
can't write a song.' She said, 'What about this? Maybe, baby, if I had
you.' Buddy picked up on it and first thing you know he had it. She was
the one to give him that. Buddy would get an idea from somebody and then
make a song out of it. He'd make up a song over night."

In addition to the blues and country from radio, Holly was exposed to
gospel music in church, and on Stay All Night his brothers perform a
pair of standards -- "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again," and
"Softly and Tenderly" -- still played during services in their hometown.

The young Buddy got the ultimate stamp of approval in high school when
his band opened for Elvis Presley. "He got a group together and began to
realize he might be able to make it in the music industry," says Travis.
"Elvis told him 'You're ready now.'"

Covered and cited as an influence by the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the
Grateful Dead, among many others, Holly's body of work continues to hold
up more than forty-five years after his death. "He had more talent in
his little finger than most people have now," says Travis. "He was so
versatile and innovative. He could take old songs that came back through
the Appalachians from the coal mining days and make them sound brand
new."

A CD release concert featuring many of the musicians from Stay All Night
will be held at the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, Texas, on September
3rd. For more information about the album, go to westtexasroots.com.


COLIN DEVENISH
(Posted Sep 03, 2004)