This Album Has Made Me Finally Like Buddy Holly

Album Review #9 of 100: The eponymous debut album from Buddy Holly

Although I’ve been aware of Buddy Holly since I first started listening to music in the 1970s, I’ve never given his music much of a chance.

Was it because his music was released in the 1950s and that made it “ancient” to me? No, definitely not. I’ve always liked music from the 1950s.

Was it because the two songs I knew the best by Buddy Holly, “Peggy Sue” and “Everyday,” were songs that annoyed me so incredibly much that I could barely stand listening to them?

Yes. That was the reason. Those two songs were enough of Buddy Holly for me, thanks!

Part of me has always felt a little bad for disliking those songs so much. After all, Buddy Holly is a legend and was one of the first stars of rock and roll. I’ve told myself many times over the years that I should like him and not judge him on just those two songs.

As part of the 100 New Albums In 2022 Challenge I’m doing, I’m trying to listen to and review at least one album from every year between 1956 (when rock and roll unofficially began) and now. A few days ago, I decided to choose an album from 1958 to listen to and review. I looked through a list of albums released that year and saw Buddy Holly’s eponymous (I love that word) debut album.

I told myself to be fair to Buddy and give the album a try — even though it had both “Peggy Sue” and “Everyday” on it.

I’m very glad I did. I actually like just about all of the songs on it. The album opens with “I’m Gonna Love You Too,” a song I’d previously been unfamiliar with:

It grabbed ahold of me right from the opening notes! It’s got fun music and catchy vocals. The song very pleasantly surprised me and is one of my favorites on the album.

While doing research for this article, I learned that Blondie remade “I’m Gonna Love You Too” for their 1978 album Parallel Lines. Although I prefer Buddy’s original version, Blondie does a pretty good job of covering it:

Another one of my favorites from Buddy Holly is “Look At Me:”

What a great song! Why wasn’t it a hit instead of “Peggy Sue” and “Everyday???”

So, what is my problem with those two songs, anyway? Why am I being so mean about them? What did they ever do to hurt me? Why do I keep asking questions about myself? What in the world is wrong with me?

Well, only my therapist knows the answers to those last two questions. As for “Peggy Sue” and “Everyday,” let me elaborate a bit. While I admit that both of them are catchy-sounding songs, they’ve just never “done it” for me.

I think “Peggy Sue” is way, way, way, way too repetitive. And yes, I know I just repeated “way” a few times there while talking about something else being repetitive. I was being ironic, okay? I’m sure good ‘ol Peggy Sue-ooh-ooh would understand.

As for “Everyday,” I’d probably like it much, much more if it weren’t for the “ah-hey, ah-hey, hey” parts. Those “ah-heys” have always turned me off of the song.

However, I do love the version of “Everyday” that James Taylor released in 1985:

It doesn’t have any “ah-heys” in it. Thank you for that, Sweet Baby James.

Aside from “Peggy Sue” and “Everyday,” I like everything else on the album quite a bit. In addition to the songs I already mentioned, some of my other favorites from the album are “Ready Teddy,” “Words Of Love,” and “You’re So Square (Baby, I Don’t Care.)”

If I had to pick a favorite song on Buddy Holly, I’d probably go with “Rave On:”

It’s very short, but it’s a very fun rock and roll song!

Overall, I was very impressed with the Buddy Holly album. I’m very glad I listened to it. It’s changed my opinions about Buddy Holly’s music and I have a much greater appreciation of it now.

Out of 5 possible stars, I give the Buddy Holly album…drumroll, please…4 stars!

Here’s the album on Spotify. This version of it contains 5 bonus tracks that were not on the original release, including the hit “Think It Over.”

As I said above, this review is part of the 100 New Albums in 2022 Challenge I’m participating in. Here is the original post about it by Nia Simone McLeod. Others participating in the challenge are Rob Janicke, Kevin Alexander, M. Berg, Mary DeVries, Nicole Brown, and Steve Devine. Come and join us. It’s a fun challenge!

If you’re interested (and even if you’re not), here are all of the albums I’ve reviewed for the challenge:

Thank you for reading! If you enjoy stories on Medium but are limited in the amount you can read because you don’t have a membership, please consider joining so you can gain full access to every story from myself and thousands of other writers. If you’d like to join, here is my referral link. Have a nice day!

P.S. to fellow music writer and music lover David Acaster — I know you love Buddy Holly. Please don’t hate me for what I said about “Peggy Sue” and “Everyday.” I hope forgiveness from you comes my way…ah-hey, ah-hey, hey.