Black Holly

The 1979 six-LP collection The Complete Buddy Holly was arguably the music industry’s first ever box set. Until now, however, legal obstacles have prevented a comprehensive CD overview of the output of the Texas-born 1950s rocker who released material both under his own name and that of The Crickets.

Despite the fact that his career was so tragically curtailed when he died in the fateful plane crash on 3rd February 1959, in which The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens also perished, Buddy Holly remains as one of the most important and innovative songwriters and performers of the rock ‘n’ roll era. With a style that uniquely blended country and R&B influences from his background in Texas, and under the guidance of writer/producer Norman Petty, Buddy Holly and The Crickets had a landmark US and UK No. 1 in 1957 with “That’ll Be The Day”, which was followed by a string of memorable classics with Holly recording both with The Crickets and as a solo artist, until fate intervened only eighteen months after his chart debut.

The 1979 six-LP collection The Complete Buddy Holly was arguably the music industry’s first ever box set. Until now, however, legal obstacles have prevented a comprehensive CD overview of the output of the Texas-born 1950s rocker who released material both under his own name and that of The Crickets.