DESCRIPTION:
Holly saw Elvis Presley sing in Lubbock in 1955, and began to incorporate a rockabilly style, similar to the Sun Records sound, which had a strong rhythm acoustic and slap bass.[5] On October 15, 1955, Holly, along with Bob Montgomery and Larry Welborn, opened the bill for Presley[6] in Lubbock, catching the eye of a Nashville talent scout.[8] Holly's transition to rock continued when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets at a local show organized by Eddie Crandall, the manager for Marty Robbins.[6]





Buddy Holly and The Crickets in 1957 (top to bottom: Allison, Holly and Mauldin)
Following this performance, Decca Records signed him to a contract in February 1956, misspelling his name as "Holly".[6] He thereafter adopted the misspelled name for his professional career. Holly formed his own band, later to be called The Crickets, consisting of Holly (lead guitar and vocals), Niki Sullivan (guitar), Joe B. Mauldin (bass), and Jerry Allison (drums). They went to Nashville for three recording sessions with producer Owen Bradley.[9] However, Holly chafed under a restrictive atmosphere that allowed him little input.[9] Among the tracks he recorded was an early version of "That'll Be The Day", which took its title from a line that John Wayne's character says repeatedly in the 1956 film The Searchers.[10] (This initial version of the song played more slowly and about half an octave higher than the later hit version.) Decca released two singles, "Blue Days, Black Nights" and "Modern Don Juan", that failed to make an impression. On January 22, 1957, Decca informed Holly his contract would not be renewed,[6] insisting, however, that he could not record the same songs for anyone else for five years.