CoronaVinyl Day 443 (H): 20 Golden Greats by Buddy Holly & The Crickets

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "H," and I went with Buddy Holly & The Crickets' 1978 compilation album 20 Golden Greats, also known as Buddy Holly Lives.

While Buddy Holly does not live, his short but prolific music career does live on.  Charles Hardin Holley lived a mere 22 years before he died in a plane crash 64 years and ten days ago in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa that also claimed the lives of Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.

Though he had only been making music for less than three years, much of which was with his backing band The Crickets -- which in part inspired a few guys from Liverpool, England to change their band name from The Quarrymen to The Beatles -- Holly put out three studio albums and dozens of singles.  He was one of the first artists of the Rock & Roll Era to write or co-write most of his own material, and many of his songs are considered classics of the early days of rock & roll.

20 Golden Greats features many of Holly & The Crickets' biggest hits, like "That'll Be The Day," "Rave On," "Peggy Sue," "Words of Love," "Everyday," "It's So Easy," "Not Fade Away," "Oh Boy!," "Maybe Baby," and "Think It Over."  In his short musical career, he had 8 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (either with the Crickets or solo), including 3 Top 10s and one #1s ("That'll Be The Day").  I've always like Buddy Holly, and having the chance to listen to this album several times over, what really struck me was how clearly he influenced The Beatles' early work.

The album reached #55 on the Billboard album chart, but topped the UK album chart.  It has also appeared on every incarnation of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time list, coming in at #166 on the most recent version from 2020 -- a testament to Holly's lasting legacy and influence on the generations of rockers that came after him.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Oh Boy!"
On a side packed with heavy hitters, I went with "Oh Boy!" because Holly's voice is a little gritter than usual, and the song is a fast-paced little slice of early rock & roll heaven.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Well...All Right"
I picked "Well...All Right" because I'm a huge fan of Blind Faith's cover.  It's also a little different than most of Holly's other work, kind of pulsating between soft and a little louder, with a driving drum beat and what sounds like a tin can or something.