Biography: Norman Petty
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Born in 1929, Norman Petty learned to play the piano as a young child in the Southwest. In 1948, he moved to Texas where he worked part-time as a recording engineer. Along with his wife Violet Ann on piano and Jack Vaughn on guitar, he started the Norman Petty Trio. He soon realized that he wanted to help other artists with their recording careers and he set up NorVaJak, a recording studio and label in Clovis, New Mexico in 1954. In 1957, Norman signed up as the manager and producer for Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Norman Petty encouraged Buddy to experiment with his music while encouraging the group as a whole by helping with arrangements and improving his own recording skills. |
In 1958, Buddy Holly split from Norman Petty and went to live in New York with his wife Maria Elena. After Buddy’s tragic plane crash death on February 3rd, 1959, Norman acquired the rights to some of Buddy Holly’s unreleased songs and released then with some overdubbing – which led to criticism from fans and critics. He managed, however, to make hit songs out of the Buddy Holly tapes. In the early 1970’s, Norman Petty sold his rights to Buddy’s songs to Paul McCartney who now owns then under his publishing company – MPL Communications
Norman Petty has also been credited in working with Buddy Knox, Roy Orbison, Sting-A-Longs and Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs.
Norman Petty continued to operate his Clovis studio up until his death in Lubbock on August 15, 1984.
Read more on Norman Petty at http://music.msn.com/artist/?artist=16090655
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