Oct 21st in Pop History

On this day, October 21st, in…

• 1958 - Buddy Holly recorded his last studio session. Buddy Holly and the Crickets recorded True Love Ways, Moondreams, It Doesn't Matter Anymore, and Raining in my Heart.

True Love Ways is a song attributed to Norman Petty and Buddy Holly, and recorded with the Dick Jacobs Orchestra on October 21, 1958, four months before the singer's death. It was first released on the posthumous album The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2, in March 1960.

This and It Doesn't Matter Any More were Buddy's first recordings to use orchestral string arrangements, which accentuated his vocal mannerisms. The strings were arranged by Dick Jacobs. The song True Love Ways was a love song for his wife, Elena.

Buddy Holly's wife (pictured above with him) was immortalised as the “widowed bride” in Don McLean’s American Pie (a 1971 pop song), which mourns the “Day the Music Died.” Maria Elena Holly, now 88, had only been married for six months when her 22-year-old husband's plane crashed, in February, 1959.

True Love Ways on Spotify:

True Love Ways • Buddy Holly

Best of Buddy Holly (My Playlist) on Spotify:

Best of Buddy Holly

Here is a video of Buddy Holly and the Crickets performing That’ll Be The Day live on The Ed Sullivan Show on December 1, 1957.

This video from The Buddy Holly Story movie, is a clip of Buddy Holly (brilliantly played by Gary Busey), performing True Love Ways on stage at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 2, 1959. This would be his last performance — Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper would perish later that night when their small plane flew into a severe snowstorm.

Also, on this day, October 21st, in:

• 1957 - Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley goes to # 1 in America. A couple weeks later Presley plays a convict-turned-singing sensation in the movie of the same name