My introduction to this week's tune actually came from a cover version by the wondrous Nanci Griffith on a tribute album--Not Fade Away (Remembering Buddy Holly) [Yet again, no Wikipedia entry--WTF?]. I really enjoyed her version of it, so I checked out the original and was absolutely blown away. As luck would have it, I went on a Buddy Holly kick last fall and listened to his greatest hits about a thousand times so I'm well prepped for this week's post....
I wrote about Buddy Holly in Vol. XCVI, and as he has sadly remained dead since then I'll let that bio paragraph stand. I did note, however, as I read through that post that I had failed to mention Holly's discography--he released three studio albums and nineteen singles before his death (with a surprising lack of commercial success considering his legacy--none of his albums charted and he only had two top five singles). Since his death, twenty-nine compilations and nine more singles have been released.
Fun Fact: He was born Charles Holley, and my guess is that most people do not know his birth name was Charles (I didn't). Second, Holley became Holly because when he signed his first recording contract his name was misspelled and it remained Holly thereafter.
"Well...All Right" was actually released as the B-side of the song "Heartbeat," which originally appeared on the rather biographically entitled The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2. The song was the second to last single released before his death, while the album was released posthumously. The song only reached #82 (kinda sorta with a bullet?) in America, but it hit #30 in the U.K. The album did not chart here in the States but peaked at #7 in Great Britain (so many cool kids in the British Isles!).
While there is much to like about "Well...All Right"--it's a paean to the confidence of young love, Holly's vocals are just this side of perfect, it captures so much in two minutes and fourteen seconds, and musically it's as catchy as catchy can be--for me it's all about Holly's acoustic guitar. It's not that often that a single instrument can make an entire song for me, but there's an exuberance to his playing--he almost makes it sound like a ukulele, which is an instrument I love hearing--that transcends everything else. In and out, up and down, circling all around--whether its overdubbing or feedback the guitar brings it all home like the waves coming to the shore. In the end, it's a delightful sample of rock and roll's roots, and of an artist we lost far too soon who was coming into his own musically.
Lyric Sheet: "Well all right so I'm being foolish/Well all right let people know/About the dreams and wishes you wish/In the night when lights are low..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
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