"Not Fade Away" is a song credited to Buddy Holly (originally under his first and middle names, Charles Hardin) and

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, radio station owner, and considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. Biography Petty was born in the small town of Clo ...

(although Petty's co-writing credit is likely to have been a formality) and first recorded by Holly and his band, the

Crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 8 ...

Original song

Holly and the Crickets recorded the song in

Clovis, New Mexico Clovis is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico. The city had a population of 37,775 as of the 2010 census, and a 2019 estimated population of 38,319. Clovis is located in the New Mexico portion of the Llano Estacado, in the ...

, on May 27, 1957, the same day the song "

Everyday Everyday or Every Day may refer to: Books * ''Every Day'' (novel), by David Levithan, 2012 Film * ''Every Day'' (2010 film), an American comedy-drama starring Liev Schreiber and Helen Hunt * ''Everyday'' (film), a 2012 British drama direct ...

" was recorded. The rhythmic pattern of "Not Fade Away" is a variant of the

Bo Diddley beat The Bo Diddley beat is a syncopated musical rhythm that is widely used in rock and roll and pop music. The beat is named after rhythm and blues musician Bo Diddley, who introduced and popularized the beat with his self-titled debut single, "Bo Di ...

, with the second stress occurring on the second rather than third beat of the first measure, which was an update of the "hambone" rhythm, or patted juba from

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

Jerry Allison Jerry Ivan Allison (August 31, 1939 – August 22, 2022) was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their hits "That'll Be the Day" and " Peggy Sue", recorded with Buddy Holly. His only solo chart en ...

, the drummer for the Crickets, pounded out the beat on a cardboard box. Allison, Holly's best friend, wrote some of the lyrics, though his name never appeared in the songwriting credits. Joe Mauldin played the double bass on this recording. It is likely that the

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

s were Holly, Allison, and

Niki Sullivan Niki Sullivan (June 23, 1937 – April 6, 2004) was an American rock and roll guitar player, born in South Gate, California. He was one of the three original members of Buddy Holly's backing band, the Crickets. Though he lost interest within a ...

, but this is not known for certain. "Not Fade Away" was originally released as the B-side of the hit single " Oh, Boy!" and was included on the album ''

The "Chirping" Crickets ''The "Chirping" Crickets'' is the debut album from the American rock and roll band the Crickets, led by Buddy Holly. It was the group's only album released during Holly's lifetime. In 2012, it was ranked number 420 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazi ...

'' (1957). The Crickets' recording never charted as a single.

Personnel

Buddy Holly and the Crickets * Buddy Holly – lead vocals, lead guitar, backing vocals *

– drums, card-box percussion * Joe B. Mauldin – contrabass *

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals

The Rolling Stones version

In 1964, the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

' cover of "Not Fade Away" was a major hit in the United Kingdom. It was the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of the band's first US single. The Rolling Stones' version of "Not Fade Away" was one of their first hits. Recorded in January 1964 and released by Decca Records on February 21, 1964, with " Little by Little" as the B-side, it was their first Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number three. London Records released the song in the US on March 6, 1964, as the band's first single there, with "

I Wanna Be Your Man "I Wanna Be Your Man" is a Lennon–McCartney-penned song first recorded and released as a single by the Rolling Stones, and then recorded by the Beatles. The song was primarily written by Paul McCartney, and finished by Lennon and McCartney in ...

" as the B-side. The single reached number 48 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart. Carr, Roy (1976). ''The Rolling Stones, an Illustrated Record''. London:

New English Library The New English Library was a United Kingdom book publishing company, which became an imprint of Hodder Headline. History New English Library (NEL) was created in 1961 by the Times Mirror Company of Los Angeles, with the takeover of two small ...

. It also reached number 44 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' pop singles chart in the U.S. and number 33 in Australia based on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

. "Not Fade Away" was not on the UK version of their debut album, ''

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

'', but was the opening track of the US version, released a month later as '' England's Newest Hitmakers''. ''

'' described it as "a wild, freewheeling full-sounding pounder that can take off in no time flat." It was a mainstay of the band's concerts in their early years, usually opening the shows. It was revived as the opening song in the band's

Voodoo Lounge Tour The Voodoo Lounge Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones to promote their 1994 album '' Voodoo Lounge''. This was their first tour without bassist Bill Wyman, and their first with touring bassist Darryl Jones, as an addition ...

, in 1994 and 1995.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon, except where noted: *

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

double tracked lead vocal, hand claps,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...

s *

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

twelve-string acoustic guitar, lead guitar *

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

* Bill Wyman bass * Charlie Watts drums

Charts

Other cover versions

The Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...

's 1971 recording of the song is on their eponymous second live album, and it was often performed live. * Rush recorded a version of "Not Fade Away" as their debut single in 1973, which peaked at number 88 in Canada. The single was released on the band's own Moon Records label, and is considered a rare collector's item today, as it has never been reissued on any format. *

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature int ...

included a funky, rock-and-roll version of "Not Fade Away" on her album, ''

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

'' (1978). Tucker's cover of this song peaked at number 70 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' pop singles chart in 1979. *

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in th ...

included the song in his 2022 solo album.

Explanatory notes

References

Sources

* * * {{authority control 1957 songs 1957 singles 1964 singles 1973 singles 2007 singles Buddy Holly songs The Rolling Stones songs Dick and Dee Dee songs Decca Records singles London Records singles Grateful Dead songs Sheryl Crow songs Rush (band) songs Songs written by Buddy Holly Song recordings produced by Andrew Loog Oldham Songs written by Norman Petty Brunswick Records singles The Crickets songs