On alot of Buddy Holly websites, the recodings he made for Decca in Nashville kinda of get written off as futile early efforts that really arent worth listening to. However, (after I realized the CD Buddy Holly:The Great was the Decca sessions...shame on me lol) alot of my favourite Buddy songs came from those sessions;Rock Around With Ollie Vee, Blue Days Black Nights,Girl On My Mind, as well as a very good version of That'll Be The Day in an echo chamber(I prefer the other version but its good just the same). Now, I dont know about any of you, but I fail to notice the"country"sond that supposedly came out of any of these recordings. They sound just as rock n roll as the last Holly song recorded....Plus, I dont see how these didnt get the publics attention and were all pretty sucky sellers....Most of theses are just as good as any other song Buddy recorded, and sometimes better! Mabey it was just bad timing...I mean, Buddy never changed his style, so why would the public pretty much brush him off one minute, and then love him the next?

So I guess Im the only one that likes these recordings uh? What a shame, there all really good......

Probably my favorite Decca record would be Changing All Those Changes, though they are all good. That's one thing I really admire about the guy....he was never happy with just one way of the song. He had to mess around with absoulutely every technique possible, sometimes creating new techniques in the process. Like when That'll Be The Day was re-released. He went back into the studio and changed it up. There's at least 2 versions of Love Me, 2 of Baby Won't You Come Out Tonight, a sax-version and then a normal version of Ollie Vee, at least 2 versions of Peggy Sue ( more than 3 if the calypso efforts were recorded) 2 of That'll Be the Day.....the guy just wouldn't quit.
I find that there is a sound difference in Buddy's Nashville recordings, but then again, there's a sound difference on every single one of his records!
Girl On My Mind is interesting, it sounds like that note hurt. Although it's still a good song. Buddy couldn't ruin a song if he wanted to.

The high note on the end of adore? I actually think he pulled that off brillantly, and it sounded like it was completly in his range, like it wasnt a struggle to get up there. I love Girl On My Mind....so fun to sing along to...

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I find that there is a sound difference in Buddy's Nashville recordings, but then again, there's a sound difference on every single one of his records!

Well, just about everybody who recorded with Owen Bradley in Nashville back then made a comment about the acoustics of Bradley's "studio"... It was a Quonset hut, made of corrugated sheetmetal, like a giant oil drum split vertically and laying on its side. So, if you think the Nashville sessions sound like they recorded Buddy at the bottom of a barrel, that's as close to the truth as anything!

Ok, true, but except for the echo chamber version of That'll Be The Day(in which Buddy sounds like hes singing through his nose the whole time) all the recordings sound just as crisp, clean and Buddy Hollyish as anything else he recorded...I really cant hear that big of a difference. Sure a few of the songs sound as if theres a bit of a country influence (Dont Come Back Knockin comes to mind) but then you listen to a track like Ollie Vee, and that sounds as if it was done in 59. Mabey this is all just the Buddy Holly Story putting ideas into my head....damn you Steve Rash...

Ben Hall, in the Real Buddy Holly Story, is quoted as saying that Buddy was rather disappointed that they (Nashville) wouldn't let him use drums, cause he was used to that, but truth was, they didn't know how to record drums.
Some of the backbeat in the Decca recordings I've decided is just either Sonny or Buddy hitting their strings with a pick without having the guitar ampliefied, so all's that's heard is this kinda clicking noise, but on other tracks there's some definite drumming going on. What's going on? Please don't tell me that was overdubbed, though if anything, it probably was.

I was just reading something on the Bill Griggs' message board about the Decca recordings, and this thought came into my mind. I knew before that under contract to Decca, Buddy couldn't record those certain songs for another 5 years. Add 5 years to 1956, and you get 1961. So had Buddy not been so headstrong, would he still be alive today, just another anonymous person in Lubbock, maybe a producer but no real hit song to his name? Interesting thought, but I'm still kinda glad that he was headstrong enough to say to hell with them and still record, still be a hit, still leave us with so much great music.

No, the Decca embargo of 5 years didn't make any difference, in the end. Even though they considered the Nashville sessions a waste of time and money, Decca was going to hold the rights to all those songs for 5 years (including That'll Be The Day)... If Buddy tried to re-record and release those songs with any other company, Decca would sue his ass off. Buddy tried to get Decca to release the rights to the Nashville sessions, after Decca said the music was lousy, but they wouldn't budge.

Well, Buddy lied to Decca when he told them he had no plans to re-record any of those songs---he had already re-recorded That'll Be The Day, anyway, and got it released through Brunswick Records under the name The Crickets...

When Decca figured out Buddy had lied to them, they started to bring legal action, but SURPRISE, it turned out that Brunswick was a division of Decca! They would've been suing themselves! That is hilarious to me...I wonder if Buddy tied that knot in Decca's tail by himself, or if Norman Petty coached him?

Ok, I have one response to this...idiots. How stupid can you get? First of all, any one who thinks Buddys music is crap must be a complete mental retard, secondly, why would Brunswick sign him if they we're a division of Decca? Surley they must've known of the Nashville sessions, and if not in detail, the must have had a copy of the contract and known that it was revoked. I wish I couldve been standing there with a camera when those retards over at Decca saw Buddys name at the number one spot on the charts....*laughs and shakes head*

Well, when you hear that one company is "a division of" another company, that doesn't necessarily mean that they work together closely or even know what the other is doing. It's like two or more completely unrelated companies joined only by a legal document somewhere.

That was how Buddy slipped it by Decca, submitting his revised work under the name The Crickets through one of their branch divisions, Brunswick---Brunswick didn't have a clue about the identities or previous works of Buddy Holly and The Crickets. Paul Cohen (the double-talking president of Decca) probably shat right in his pants when he learned that Brunswick was one of his own, so he couldn't sue them.

Indeed, when Decca realized that Brunswick's That'll Be The Day was suddenly climbing the charts like a bullet, Decca rushed to release the Nashville sessions (especially the Nashville version of That'll Be The Day)---hoping to capitalize on Buddy Holly's impending fame.

And this is the kicker---Decca was right about the Nashville sessions... Nobody bought it, it didn't go anywhere, and Decca had just wasted more money by releasing it. LOL... However, if they hadn't released it, we wouldn't have those Nashville recordings available today---they might still be in a vault at Decca, or even destroyed long ago.

lol, ya that is a pretty big kick in the ass. I dont get why they didnt sell though....what, did all the teenagers at that time suddenly go deaf or something? Its the same Buddy, same style, they cant hate him one second and love him the next. Granted not everyones gonna love every song done by an artist, but for them to be a complete flop? Mabey Decca just didnt know how to market their products...

Ok, I have learned some new information (whether its true or not I'll leave up to you), that might explain why the Decca recordings sucked so much ass on the charts. Apparently, after the first session, Buddy was so displeased that the jackasses wouldnt let him do his own thing that he went to Clovis, to Norm Pettys studio, and laid down "Rock Around With Ollie Vee", "Changind All Those Changes", "That'll Be The Day" and "Ting A Ling". If this is true, that would explain why theres drums in all those songs, how That'll Be The Day was done in an echo chamber, and why they sound...Buddy Hollyish I guess you would call it. They were'nt Decca recordings, they were done in Clovis! But, Buddy handed them over to Decca, in hopes of conveying what he wanted to do, and in hopes that they would follow along. Owen Bradley deemed "That'll Be The Day" as the worst song he'd ever heard and that was that. So, Buddy, still with his career in mind, thought they might go with it if the songs were recorded in Nashville using the Decca musicans. They only song that they re-did was "Rock Around With Ollie Vee", but it was never realesed. So, no drums were ever overdubbed in to that song, they were in the original, as with all the others I listed. The great Decca recordings (well the most of them) really arent form Decca at all, but were precieved as that because Buddy, being so young and new the bussiness, didnt have the sense to just let them listen as an example, but instead completly handed them over. (sorry Buddy, luv ya, but you shouldnt have been so trusting)

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Hmmm. Have to ask Bill about that, or look it up in his great volume of Buddy Holly reference material.

But, as I always understood it, Buddy was scouted by Decca right there in Lubbock (when he performed onstage during an Elvis appearance), and this led to his contract with Decca and the sessions at "Bradley's Barn" in Nashville---where all of those heavily-echoed, country-style tunes were laid down (including Rock Around With Ollie Vee, Changing All Those Changes, Blue Days Black Nights, Ting A Ling and That'll Be The Day)...

Buddy may not have been pleased with the Nashville sessions, but Decca thought the music really sucked---they chose not to do anything with the tracks (except throw them in the vault), and let Buddy's contract expire after only a year.

When Buddy realized that Decca wasn't even going to try to market his Nashville efforts, he got with Norman Petty in Clovis and laid down his version of That'll Be The Day, because he and The Crickets and Norman knew that it was a hot song---but he was plenty concerned about Decca still holding the rights to TBTD and other songs. That's when Buddy tried to convince Paul Cohen (president of Decca) to release the rights to the Nashville songs back to him.

Cohen was suspicious, I think, and told Buddy that all those songs were exclusive property of Decca for a period of no less than 5 years, and that nobody could re-record them for that period of time. Mr. Cohen even asked Buddy (I'm paraphrasing here): "You haven't re-recorded any of those songs, have you?" and Buddy replied, "No, sir."

Well, Buddy lied. He already had his new & improved version of That'll Be The Day in the can with Norman Petty, and now he had to find a way to get it released without Decca suing his ass off.

And that is how it came to be that Buddy & Norman pulled a switcheroo on Decca by offering That'll Be The Day to Brunswick---a division of Decca. Smart damned move.

Well, ya I know that, this is just what the site told me, and not too many sites go into detail about the Decca efforts. But, Im kinda standing by what I said earlier, because they didnt have drums in Nashville, but they did in Clovis, and its never been mentioned that the Decca recordings were overdubbed.Plus, there are two versions of "Rock Around With Ollie Vee", the one we're all familiar with was laid in Clovis and the other version, with saxophones, a difference in the solo, and a horrible mic system, was laid in Nashville.Buddy wasnt in Nashville the entire time, he went back to Lubbock, where its only a matter of an hours drive (as put by J.I) to Clovis. It makes sense that he would want to go there and do the songs his way, because Decca wouldnt even give him a chance to show them what he wanted to do, and they couldnt stop him form recording them elsewhere. Anyways, definatly something to ask Bill Griggs about...although Im not so sure I trust him anymore as the undisputed information center for Buddy Holly.

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.although Im not so sure I trust him anymore as the undisputed information center for Buddy Holly.

Huh? Why not trust him? The guy has devoted his entire life to Buddy Holly research, and has met and become friends with virtually all of the major people in Buddy Holly's life. When has he ever been proven wrong? And who could prove him wrong? He's like the ultimate authority.

first of all, the decca sessions DID utilize drums on some songs. JI was the one playing on songs like 'rock around with ollie vee', 'that'll be the day' etc..... and those songs were recorded in nashville in 1956. there were actually three nashville sessions, and it's true that on the first one, there were no drums. that's when 'love me', 'don't come back knockin'' and two other songs were recorded. and decca DID release a single from this session - it was 'blue days, black nights' with 'love me' on the flip side.

the second session included jerry allison, and hence, there were drums on these songs. out of this session came two of holly's best - 'ting-a-ling' and 'rock around with ollie vee'.

nothing was released from this session.

on the third and final session, they re-recorded 'rock around with ollie vee', but only nashville session players accompanied buddy at this session.

the problem with a lot of this was that no one in nashville had a clue how to record someone like buddy. they just wanted a rock artist on their label. in the words of don guess 'buddy wasn't ever meek', and it's likely that he rubbed some people in nashville the wrong way. cohen definitely didn't like buddy, and that may explain why nothing was released, except 'blue days'. it's also possible that the other songs weren't released because no one in nashville knew exactly how to market rock n' roll, let alone record it.

owen bradley later said that 'buddy proved he was right' after having heard the norman petty produced version of 'that'll be the day'.

one other thing - it's standard for a label
that's invested money in songs and recording, to keep the rights to those songs and recordings for a given time period. that is nothing unusual. so decca was well within its rights to keep those songs in their vaults.
many records are made, but never released, for any one of a number of reasons.

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