Book Review: Not Fade Away – The Life and Music of Buddy Holly -by John Gribbin

FEBRUARY 3, 1959 will be remembered by most as ‘the day the music died’, a phrase immortalised in the lyrics of the timeless Don McLean hit, American Pie.

This was the darkest of days for early rock ‘n’ roll as it was the day that brought with it the untimely and premature demise of three massive music icons at the time: Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and JP ‘Big Bopper’ Richardson, in a tragic plane crash.

For those who are unfamiliar with the short, yet enormously influential music career of Buddy Holly, and would like to learn more about the young man who made rock ‘n’ roll history before and after his death, Not Fade Away – The Life and Music of Buddy Holly by John Gribbin, is a good place to start.

YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ:

https://vryheidherald.co.za/64254/book-review-green-mile-stephen-king/

An accomplished writer, Gribbin predominantly writes about science and trained as an astrophysicist. Not Fade Away is his first ever non-science title.

The book is neither a long, nor difficult read and is an overview of Holly’s short career, with glimpses into his accomplishments and his influence on bands like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and even Blink 182 to name just a few.

First published in the UK by Icon Books in 2012, Not Fade Away deals with Holly’s upbringing, his own childhood musical influences in the form of country and bluegrass music and his astonishingly swift rise to stardom as frontman for The Crickets, as well as his abrupt and tragic demise, and is well worth the read if you have an afternoon or so to spend with Gribbin’s tribute to the legend that was Buddy Holly.

ALSO READ:

https://vryheidherald.co.za/63688/book-review-reaper-man-pic/

“Buddy Holly didn’t give birth to rock ‘n’ roll, but he sure rocked the cradle.” – Carl Perkins.