"That'll Be the Day" is a song written by

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

and

Jerry Allison Jerry Ivan Allison (August 31, 1939 – August 22, 2022) was an American musician. He was 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 cha ...

. It was first recorded by Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes in 1956 and was re-recorded in 1957 by Holly and his new band, the Crickets. Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes' version was released several months after the Crickets' version, which achieved widespread success. Holly's producer,

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, and radio station owner. He is considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. With Vi Ann Petty—his wife and vocalist—he ...

, was credited as a co-writer, although he did not contribute to the composition. Many other versions have been recorded. It was the first song recorded (as a demonstration disc) by

the Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several school friends, the ...

, a

skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...

group from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

that evolved into

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. The song appeared in the 1973

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

film ''

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat ...

'' and was on the

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

soundtrack album '' 41 Original Hits from the Soundtrack of American Graffiti'' with dialogue by

Wolfman Jack Robert Weston Smith (January 21, 1938July 1, 1995), known as Wolfman Jack, was an American disc jockey active for over three decades. He was famous for his gravelly voice, and credited it with his success, saying, "It's kept meat and potatoes on ...

, which was certified triple platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

and which peaked at #10 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

album chart. The 1957 recording was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

(for over a million US sales) by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) in 1969. It was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 1998. It was placed in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

, a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States", in 2005.

Background

In June 1956, Holly along with his older brother Larry as well as Allison and Sonny Curtis went to see the film '' The Searchers'', starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

, in which Wayne repeatedly used the phrase "that'll be the day". This line of dialogue inspired the young musicians.

Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes' version

The song was first recorded by Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

at Bradley Studios in Nashville, on July 22, 1956. Decca, displeased with Holly's previous two singles, did not issue recordings from this session. After the song was re-recorded by the Crickets in 1957 and became a hit, Decca released the original recording as a single (Decca D30434) on September 2, 1957, with "Rock Around with Ollie Vee" as the B-side. It was also the title track of the 1958 album '' That'll Be the Day''. Despite Holly's newfound stardom, the single did not chart.

The Crickets' version

Holly's contract with Decca prohibited him from re-recording any of the songs recorded in the 1956 Nashville sessions for five years, even if Decca never released them. To evade this restriction, the producer Norman Petty credited the Crickets as the artist on his re-recording of "That'll Be the Day" for

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History 1916–1929 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...

. Brunswick was a subsidiary of Decca. Once the cat was out of the bag, Decca re-signed Holly to another of its subsidiaries,

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head ...

, so he ended up with two recording contracts. Recordings with the Crickets were to be issued by Brunswick, and the recordings under Holly's name were to be on Coral, although the Crickets played on several of them. The second recording of the song was made on February 25, 1957, seven months after the first, at the Norman Petty studios in Clovis, New Mexico, and issued by Brunswick on July 27, 1957. This version is on the debut album by the Crickets, '' The "Chirping" Crickets'', issued on November 27, 1957. The recording was made with everyone performing and without additional overdubs. The B-side of the record, "I'm Looking for Someone to Love" was recorded at the same session with the same backup singers. The Brunswick recording of "That'll Be the Day" is considered a classic of rock and roll. It was ranked number 39 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''s list of the " 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Chart performance

The Brunswick single was a number-one hit on ''Billboard'' magazine's Best Sellers in Stores chart in 1957. It went to number two on ''Billboards R&B singles chart. The song peaked at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1957 and stayed in that position for three weeks. On December 20, 1969, a reissue of the single by

was awarded a "gold single" by the RIAA. On September 20, 1986, the song appeared on the UK Singles Chart at number 85 and left the chart a week later.

Charts

Certifications

Personnel

July 22, 1956, Bradley Studios, Nashville *Buddy Holly – vocals, lead guitar *Sonny Curtis – rhythm guitar *Don Guess – bass *Jerry Allison – drums February 25, 1957, Norman Petty Recording Studio *

– lead guitar and vocals * Larry Welborn – bass * Jerry Allison – drums * Niki Sullivan – acoustic guitar and background vocals * Gary Tollett – background vocals * Ramona Tollett – background vocals

Linda Ronstadt version

Background

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

recorded "That'll Be the Day" for her 1976 Grammy Award-winning

platinum album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

'' Hasten Down the Wind'', produced by Peter Asher and issued by Asylum Records. Her version reached number 11 on both the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is 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 ...

'' Top 100 and number 27 on the ''Billboard'' Country Singles chart. In Canada, her version peaked at number 2 on the singles chart and was the 35th biggest hit of 1976. It also made the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

charts in the United States and Canada. This recording is included on the album '' Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits'' (1976) and on the 2011 tribute album '' Listen to Me: Buddy Holly''.

Chart performance

References

Bibliography

* Amburn, Ellis (1995). ''Buddy Holly: A Biography''.

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

External links

Lyrics of this song
* * {{Authority control 1956 songs 1957 debut singles 1976 singles Buddy Holly songs The Crickets songs Pure Prairie League songs The Quarrymen songs Linda Ronstadt songs UK singles chart number-one singles United States National Recording Registry recordings Songs written by Buddy Holly Songs written by Jerry Allison Music of New Mexico Curry County, New Mexico Billboard Top 100 number-one singles Music published by MPL Music Publishing Song recordings produced by Norman Petty Brunswick Records singles Decca Records singles Asylum Records singles Coral Records singles