- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: BUDDY HOLLY MUSICAL OPENS
- Date: 22nd November 2004
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST JOEL ZUMA, WHO PLAYS LITTLE RICHARD SAYING: "Buddy Holly and Little Richard, one, they both do Rock 'n Roll, they're Rock 'n Roll kings, and they're both in the same era, sort of the 50's, they used to perform a lot together, in that era, where black and white performers were not really performing together. So Buddy and Little Richard were one
- Embargoed: 7th December 2004 12:00
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- Location: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
- Country: South Africa
- Reuters ID: LVA1TH06TJFT8NAPXDSVRJDZNII8
- Story Text: Richard Loring's new musical production "That'll be the day" is named after Buddy Holly's No. 1 Hit in the USA and UK, and tells the compelling story of the legendary music star who was immortalized when his plane crashed in a snow storm on February 3, 1959.
Just as the reaction from Rock 'n Roll fans from around the world to his death was one of the horror and disbelief, so it is almost impossible, fifty years on, to talk about the legendary figures of Rock 'n Roll without paying homage to Buddy Holly.
The use of large television screens as the setting to the story, is not only a first for South Africa, but deliberate, as Buddy Holly was one of the original 50's Roll 'n Roll stars to be discovered by millions of television viewers through America's "Ed Sullivan Show" and Britain's "Sunday Night at the London Palladium".
His timeless music "Peggy Sue", "Oh Boy", "Raining in my Heart" and many more takes the audience on a musical journey from the USA to Hawaii to Australia and to the London Palladium in the UK, during which time he is joined on stage with the larger than life Big Bopper (Chantilly Lace) , the pelvis thrusting Richie Valens (La Bamba) , Jerry Lee Lewis (Great Balls of Fire) and Little Richard (Tutti Frutti). This unique sound was created by the simplest of recording techniques, double tracking. Double tracking uses two tape recorders. The basic cut is laid on one tape. That tape is then played back while second recorder picks up the first tape plus any studio additions. Double tracking allowed Holly to sing harmony to his own lead vocals and also play both lead and rhythm guitar. The current reign of the 16-, even 32-track tape, renders the layered Holly sound particularly remarkable.
"Words of Love," by Buddy Holly, was released as a single on Coral Records, another subsidiary of Decca, at about the same time. The decision to release Holly as a solo artist was Petty's. He saw in Holly a potential for superstardom. The strategic attempt at double exposure paid off later, although Buddy's first solo effort failed.
The song was quite successfully covered by The Diamonds, fresh from slot one with "Little Darlin'."
Meanwhile, "That'll Be The Day" was making history.
Audiences begged for a first-eye look of the group that made it.
Don McLean in his poignant song, "American Pie", describes Buddy Holly's death as "the day the music died", but time has shown that the music and "the legend of Buddy Holly" lives on. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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