1001 Albums #8

The “Chirping” Crickets by The Crickets is not something I had ever heard of, at least I thought so until I heard the first song “Oh Boy!” The reason many of us would not know this band is because its lead singer, writer and talent had died in a plane crash. The plane crash was so famous that it had a title and a song written about it. “The Day the Music Died” was the day Buddy Holly and a few other artist died in a plane crash on the way to a concert. The twice #1 hit which mentions this event was “American Pie” which was by Don McLean and covered by Madonna. Holly was only 22 years old.

This is another case of I heard a couple songs by an artist and I judged all the songs to be the same. I was wrong. I actually like the other songs on the album much better than the two hit songs “That’ll Be the Day” and “Oh Boy!” I think “Not Fade Away” is the only song that I really like enough to listen to on purpose.

Either way, Buddy Holly’s influence on rock and roll cannot be denied. The Beatles, Elton John, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan have claimed him as the influence for their musical careers. He influenced so many people at such a young age so imagine what the young people of today could do if they were encouraged by the older generation. 

All the songs are near the 2 minute mark so it will not take you long to listen to it. I would not buy the album because I did not like it enough to own it. If I bought a song it would be “Not Fade Away” on iTunes. Is anyone listening to these albums?