Before there were the Beatles, there was Buddy Holly. The American rock ‘n’ roller was a massive influence on the future members of the Fab Four while they were still young lads in Liverpool. In fact, the first record that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison ever cut together was a cover of Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day” in 1958. When the three musicians were still settling on a name, Lennon suggested they perform as “The Crickets” as an homage to Holly. (McCartney thought it was too similar and said no.)
The future Beatles were just a few of countless music lovers who watched Holly introduce a whole new era of rock ‘n’ roll. But it wasn’t just his sound that drew the Beatles to Holly and the Crickets like musical moths to a fast-burning flame.
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Buddy Holly Inspired The Beatles In More Ways Than One
When we think of Buddy Holly, two things typically come to mind: the crème de la crème of early American rock music and his signature horn-rimmed glasses. The future members of the Beatles clung onto both. Not only did the Liverpudlians fall in love with this new style of rock from across the pond. But for glasses-wearing John Lennon, Holly was also a huge stylistic influence.
“All these years later, it’s difficult to just say what it was about a person,” Paul McCartney recalled in a later interview. “But then I think you were looking at all the stars, like Elvis and, over in England, Cliff Rich and stuff, and they were all really good-looking fellas, you know. Then, Buddy came along, and he was a fellow with glasses. You’d never really seen anyone with glasses, you know. It always seemed that anyone who had glasses couldn’t make it as a singer.”
“But suddenly, this singer appeared, you know, the big horn-rimmed specs, and we were getting ready to start the Beatles and thinking of making a group. So, John Lennon, who normally wore the horn-rimmed specs but always took them off on-stage, he was now able to put them on and see the world.”
The Texas Native Provided The Fab Four With Their First Record
Before the Beatles would reach their final form, they performed under the Quarrymen, the Silver Beetles, and a number of other stage names. The core trio consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, with Ringo Starr entering the picture some time later. In the late 1950s, the first three musicians took a bus ride to Phillips Sound Recording Service, which was a home studio in Liverpool run by Percy F. Phillips. The young men paid 17 shillings and threepence for one shellac record, onto which they recorded Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day.”
The entire process was over in about 15 minutes, according to McCartney. Once they got their single, they took turns keeping it for one week each. Quarrymen pianist John “Duff” Lowe ended up with the shellac record the longest, keeping it for over two decades before McCartney eventually bought it back for an undisclosed price that he would later call “inflated,” per Anthology.
In a 1990 interview with Guitar Player, McCartney said songs like Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day” “burned themselves into my being. I wouldn’t want to get them out, ever. That’s something I’m really proud to have burned into my soul, branded in me.”
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