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The Crickets
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
The Crickets were an American rock 'n' roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed in January 1957 by singer and songwriter Buddy Holly. The original line-up consisted of Holly on vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. Holly had been recording demos with friends since 1954 and had made an unsuccessful album for Decca in 1956. Real success came when producer Norman Petty recorded his music in Clovis, New Mexico. Because Holly had already recorded under his own name, he needed a new group name. The band members first looked at names of birds and then moved on to insects. They very nearly settled on Beetles.
Music and breakthrough
That'll Be the Day was released in May 1957 and reached number one on the American Top 100 in September. The debut album was called The Chirping Crickets. Petty had the recordings released under two names, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, so that DJs would play the records more often. In August 1957 they were the first white act to appear at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and in 1958 they played fifty concerts in twenty-five days in the United Kingdom. Holly then went on alone and was killed in a plane crash in 1959. The Crickets continued to perform and record in changing line-ups, into the twenty-first century.
Influence
What matters most for pop history is their set-up: guitar, bass and drums, playing their own songs. It became the model for later rock bands. The Beatles took their name partly as a tribute to the Crickets, and added a pun of their own: beetles for the insects, and beat for the rhythm.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 1957The “Chirping” Crickets
- 1960In Style With The Crickets
- 1962Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets
- 1963Something Old, Something New, Something Blue, Somethin’ Else!
- 1971Rockin’ 50’s Rock n’ Roll
- 1973Bubblegum, Bop, Ballad and Boogies
- 1973Remnants
- 1974A Long Way From Lubbock
- 1974Rare Items
- 1988T‐Shirt
- 1993Double Exposure
- 1996Too Much Monday Morning
- 2004The Crickets and Their Buddies
- 2005About Time Too!
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 3: The BeatlesNL Reader
- Magazine: De jukebox gaat de film inNL Magazine