Buddy Holly: Peggy Sue Got Married

Sneaking in my Media Monday Selection in the waning hours of February 3, I present to you a Buddy Holly song on this 55th anniversary of his death. Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa during the early morning hours of February 3, 1959. While I was just three years old at the time, I remember "the day that the music died." My brother came home from high school that afternoon saddened by the news that one of his rock ‘n roll icons had passed.

In honor of Holly, I've chosen a recording that later become one of his posthumous non-hit single releases. “Peggy Sue Got Married” was originally recorded in Buddy Holly’s New York apartment on December 8, 1958 – less than two months prior to his death. I'm featuring this acoustic version today, as it was the rendition used in the 1986 motion picture of the same name. The original reel-to-reel recording featured only Holly and his acoustic guitar.

In 1959, producer Jack Hansen took this sequel to Holly’s hit “Peggy Sue” and added session musicians and back up vocalists to complete the recording. While it charted at #13 in the UK, this September 1959 release was a flop in the US and failed to make it to the Hot 100. Another version recorded in 1964 featured The Fireballs for the instrumentation and was produced by Norman Petty using the original Holly acoustic track from New York.

Although, Buddy Holly died in 1959 – I'm reminded of the cover for “Buddy Holly and the Crickets’ 20 Golden Greats” LP from 1978 that echoed the sentiments that “Buddy Holly Lives.”  As long as we are playing his music, he lives on.