Fact #153396
When:
Short story:
At his second recording session in Bradley's Barn studio, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Buddy Holly records his first versions of That'll Be The Day and Rock Around With Ollie Vee for Decca Records, with producer Owen Bradley. Holly's group at this point is called The Three Tunes, but will later become The Crickets.
Full article:
Jerry Allison (The Crickets) : Buddy and I went to see (Hollywood movie) The Searchers and, for a couple of days afterwards, we were mocking the way that John Wayne said, 'That'll be the day'. Then we wrote the song. The first time we recorded it was in Nashville for Decca Records. It was the summer of '56 and I had just gotten out of school. The producer (Owen Bradley) said, 'That's the worst song I've ever heard in my life.' That hurt my feelings 'cause it was the first song I'd written. We sent it to Roulette Records, but they turned it down 'cause they had signed Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen.
Sonny Curtis (The Crickets) : My dad's a farmer and we had a black man that helped us out called Willie Robertson. Willie's wife used to help my mama around the house sometimes – not on a full time basis 'cause we couldn't afford a maid, but just occasionally to help out with the ironing or house-cleaning. Her name was Ollie Vee but, beyond that, it's just a name. Rock Around With Ollie Vee has nothing to do with her. I just used her name.
I love Buddy's voice on that track, it's really nice. Grady Martin played rhythm, I played lead and Buddy didn't play anything at all. He just stood at the mike and sang which explains how little we knew in those days. Buddy should have been playing.
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Sonny Curtis (The Crickets) : My dad's a farmer and we had a black man that helped us out called Willie Robertson. Willie's wife used to help my mama around the house sometimes – not on a full time basis 'cause we couldn't afford a maid, but just occasionally to help out with the ironing or house-cleaning. Her name was Ollie Vee but, beyond that, it's just a name. Rock Around With Ollie Vee has nothing to do with her. I just used her name.
I love Buddy's voice on that track, it's really nice. Grady Martin played rhythm, I played lead and Buddy didn't play anything at all. He just stood at the mike and sang which explains how little we knew in those days. Buddy should have been playing.