Michelle and I were listening to a lot of Buddy Holly tonight, and man, what a great musical mind taken to soon.

Any fans here, and what are some of your faves?

"True Love Ways", "Cryin', Waitin', Hopin'", "Heartbeat", "That'll Be the Day", "Not Fade Away"...wow.

What is the best comp out there in terms of track selection and sound?

He was amazing, for sure. Love the songs you mentioned, as well as "Peggy Sue", "Rave On", "It's So Easy", and "It Doesn't Matter Anymore". I think the best sounding comp is probably "Buddy Holly- From The Original Master Tapes", pretty easy to find, and cheap from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000002O1U/?tag=imwan-20

A true genius. Only problem with FTOMT is that it has nothing from the apartment tapes. But it is Hoffman mastered from his MCA days and sounds great.

I don't think there is any official release of the apartment tapes, though, is there? If so, what album? I'd pick that up.

Excellent, thanks! Had no idea this was ever released.

When I mentioned FTOMT not including anything from the apartment tapes, I was meaning the songs unique to those recordings, even in overdubbed form. So it does not include “Crying, Waiting, Hoping”, “Learning The Game,” “Peggy Sue Got Married”, etc.

This is a pretty thorough overview:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001G9LV9I/?tag=imwan-20

There is also an entry in the Universal Gold series:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ATJZ4S/?tag=imwan-20

And this older 2-disc collection is the same tracklisting as Gold if not a complete clone:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000002OPE/?tag=imwan-20

FTMOT is worth having in anyone’s collection for sound quality, though.

Another vote for FTOMT. Been my go-to for Buddy since its release. Amazing sound!

Couldn't agree more with Pete's assessment that Buddy Holly was a genius. He's my favorite artist from that era (as much as I love Elvis, my favorite period of his career is late-'60s until the end). For years I've had this collection, possibly the first ever rock-era box set, on cassette:




About a decade ago this amazing 6-CD box set was released and it's my go-to BH collection:




But not everyone needs to have mega box sets so I will nominate this 2-CD compilation (which was already suggested above) as the gold standard for casual BH fans:

FTOMT and Gold and "the absolute essential 3 cd collection" here....have been tempted to get a Real Gone Jazz collection of six albums and singles

I love Buddy. "Rave On" is a killer go-to for me.
"Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues" is an underrated gem.

So, 50 Classic Recordings is a good one?

Are the sources good for the material?

What year did it come out?

I only ask, because the only Holly I have is on vinyl.

Personally my fave 50's rock star. He started it all, having a self-contained band that covered all the musical genres with perfection. I have many of his recordings as mentioned by others.

Here's a DVD you need to see or better yet add to your library. Paul McCartney's documentary of Buddy Holly which is so loving put together.



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002VGTBQ/?tag=imwan-20

Editorial Reviews

This is the definitive video biography of rock 'n roll legend Buddy Holly. Produced and hosted by former Beatle, Paul McCartney.

Losing Buddy was a true tragedy for rock and roll.

I have a friend that visited the crash site in 2017. It's on private property in the middle of a cornfield, but the owner is gracious enough to allow people to visit the site. There is a small memorial that has been set up by fans.

The building where Buddy played his last show is still in operation and is a wonderful tourist spot for midwestern rock and roll fans.

https://www.surfballroom.com/index.html

He was brilliant!

What always blows my mind is that the apartment tapes were recorded (and he lived) less than a block away from where I have lived for the last 27 years (and down the block from Electric Lady Studios).

Yes. This one. There are amazing covers by Bobby Fuller, and very recently, Ringo Starr.

I've long said that had Buddy lived, he would have been as much a mentor to Brian Wilson as Phil Spector was. I would love to know what he would be doing in the 60s and 70s. I'm sure that he would have continued to innovate and would have been as competitive with the best that The Beatles and Beach Boys were putting out to one-up each other.

I'd love to hear what Holly could have come up with after discovering LSD.

Would he have written a song called "Weezer"?

Would he have played himself on "The Young Ones"? Or "Kids In The Hall"?