''Memorial Collection'' is a 2009 compilation album of American

singer–songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted th ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

pioneer Buddy Holly's master takes and

hit singles A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

, including some rare recordings. Along with '' Down the Line: Rarities'', this album was released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Holly's death (February 3, 1959).

Reception

In an interview with the '' Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'', Holly's eldest brother Larry Holley commented before hearing both this compilation and ''Down the Line: Rarities'', " María lena Hollytold me I was definitely going to just break down and cry when I hear all these CDs, because they've cleaned them (the songs) all up and Buddy's music never has come across so pure before." The critical reception for ''Memorial Collection'' was fairly positive. The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine compliments the collection's progression in Holly's work, while he says that several bootleg recordings, including a ten-disc collection, have more music. Robert Christgau, writing for ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...

'', thinks that the album could easily have fit on to two discs and says that the most interesting songs on the collection were the "undubbed" recordings. Ed Ward, writing for '' Paste'', complimented Erick Labson's remastering, which he thinks made the recordings clearer than he's ever heard them. He feels that Buddy's New York City recordings produced by

Dick Jacobs Dick Jacobs (29 March 1918 – 20 May 1988) was an American musician, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, music director and an artists-and-repertoire director for several record labels (Coral, Decca, Brunswick and Springboard). He h ...

were the low part of the collection, but that Buddy's apartment tapes were much better. Stephen M. Deusner of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

feels that the ''Memorial Collection'' not completely needed most of the songs were already released on ''From the Master Tapes'' and ''Buddy Holly Collection'', but he feels that the ''Memorial Collection'' still has several interesting tracks, like those with Bob Montgomery, and feels that the "undubbed" recordings add to the collection, but he feels that several of the "finished" recordings should have been included also. The ''

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. It was first known for its ...

'' review of the album by Barry Walters gave a basic description of the album and summarizes Buddy Holly's career. ''Memorial Collection'' generally got higher ratings from critics than ''Down the Line: Rarities''.

Track listing

Personnel

The following people contributed to ''Memorial Collection'': * Buddy Holly – vocals,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Bob Montgomery – vocals, guitar *Larry Welborn – bass *

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 ...

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Sonny Curtis Sonny Curtis (born May 9, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for his collaborations with Buddy Holly, he was a member of the Crickets and continued with the band after Holly's death. Curtis's best known compositions include " Wa ...

– fiddle on "Soft Place in My Heart", guitar *Don Guess – bass *

Grady Martin Thomas Grady Martin (January 17, 1929 – December 3, 2001) was an American session guitarist in country music and rockabilly. A member of The Nashville A-Team, he played guitar on hits such as Marty Robbins' " El Paso", Loretta Lynn's " Co ...

– guitar *Doug Kirkham – percussion * Owen Bradley – producer *

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 ...

– celeste on "Everyday", organ on "Take Your Time", producer *

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

– guitar on "Modern Don Juan" *

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatu ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

on "Modern Don Juan" *Farris Coursey – drums on "Modern Don Juan" *E. R. "Dutch" McMillin – alto saxophone on "Modern Don Juan" *

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 ...

–

background vocal Background may refer to: Performing arts and stagecraft * Background actor * Background artist * Background light * Background music * Background story * Background vocals * ''Background'' (play), a 1950 play by Warren Chetham-Strode Record ...

s, guitar *June Clark – background vocals *Gary Tollet – background vocals *Ramona Tollet – background vocals * Joe B. Mauldin – bass *Vi Petty – piano *Bill Pickering – background vocals *John Pickering – background vocals *Bob Lapham – background vocals *C. W. Kendall Jr. – piano *

Bob Thiele Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals * Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

– producer on "Rave On" *

Al Caiola Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of ...

– guitar *Donald Arnone – guitar *Bob Linville – background vocals *Ray Bush – background vocals *David Bigham – background vocals *

Tommy Allsup Thomas Douglas Allsup (November 24, 1931 – January 11, 2017) was an American rockabilly and swing musician. Personal life Allsup was born near Owasso, Oklahoma in 1931, and was an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. Allsup had a son, ...

– guitar *George Alwood – bass *Bo Clarke – drums *Al Chernet – guitar * George Barnes – guitar *Sanford Bloch – bass *Ernest Hayes – piano *

Sam "The Man" Taylor Samuel Leroy Taylor, Jr. (July 12, 1916 – October 5, 1990), Sam Taylor Biography ''AllMusic'' known as Sam "The Man" Taylor, was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, and blues tenor saxophonist. Taylor was born in Lexington, Tennessee, United St ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

Panama Francis David Albert "Panama" Francis (December 21, 1918 – November 13, 2001) was an American swing jazz drummer who played on numerous hit recordings in the 1950s. Early life Francis was born in Miami, Florida, on December 21, 1918. His father was ...

– drums *Philip Krous – drums *Helen Way – background vocals *Harriet Young – background vocals *Maeretha Stewart – background vocals *Theresa Merritt – background vocals *

– producer, orchestra director *

King Curtis Curtis Ousley (born Curtis Montgomery; February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musician ...

– tenor saxophone on "Reminiscing" * Abraham "Boomie" Richman – tenor saxophone on "True Love Ways" *

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

–

handclap A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), ...

s on "You're the One" *Ray "Slim" Corbin – handclaps on "You're the One" *Andy McKaie – compilation producer *Erick Labson –

digital remastering Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

Release details

References

External links

*
Buddy Holly - Geffen
- Buddy Holly's artist page at the Geffen label website {{Authority control Buddy Holly compilation albums 2009 compilation albums Albums produced by Owen Bradley Albums produced by Bob Thiele Albums produced by Norman Petty Compilation albums published posthumously