irrelephant: Buddy's Buddies

That elephant stole my glasses!!

Some time ago, it was announced that an all star tribute to legendary rock 'n' roll pioneer Buddy Holly would come out next June 28. Whoah, since then I'm jumping for joy! I remember listening to him at all times when I was a kid so, for me, this is the most exciting album release I've heard of and I'm counting the days. Yay!!

The record, a nineteen-track collection of his classic songs, entitled Rave On Buddy Holly, gathers some of today's best artists who share Holly’s insurgent rebel spirit, crossing generations and styles. Instead of being a straight cover album, musicians and singers were free to explore radically new interpretations, putting an exciting twist on the tracks.

Holly would be turning 75 this fall. His entire career spanned barely a year and a half until his death in a tragic plane crash back in 1959, where also were killed fellow rockers Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper). In the gawjus song by Don McLean, American Pie, he makes a reference to this day as "The Day The Music Died".

[Click the play button to listen to it and the blue one to read an interesting article about the lyrics].

Even so, Holly's music never died. His legend lives exerting a profound influence on virtually every part of the music soundscape. Evidence of that is the impressive and varied list of artists who recently lined up to pay homage to him. These are some of the tracks (and their original versions) included in the upcoming album.

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That'll Be The Day
Buddy Holly