Buddy Holly - Words Of Love ('Echo Chamber Demo')

(The very underrated, IMO) Words of Love as many, or at least those who have not been privy to recent box sets, have never heard it! This is one of a few 'demos'/tests Buddy cut on April 8th, 1957. Per Bill Griggs' can-never-be-praised-enough Buddy Holly Day-By-Day:

"April 8, 1957 (Monday): A Buddy Holly and The Crickets recording session at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis produced "Words of Love" (and "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues")..."Words of Love" became Buddy's first attempt at overdubbing."

In my book, it's quite possibly the most haunting track Buddy ever laid...even more-so than the Apartment Tapes.

This was one of the first uses, if not THE first use, of the infamous echo chamber at Norman Petty Studios...which had been put together by Buddy, his dad, and brothers. Buddy handed up tile to the three said men from a room below during an all-night project sometime in February or March '57...a project interestingly not acknowledged outside of just two or three sources (Day-By-Day not being one of them...a little surprised at that).

Despite the Sonic Chirp vanity card being there, the audio (which, most notably, can be found on Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings and More) and picture are not mine, and are the property of their rightful owners.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• buddy holly
• the crickets
• demo
• norman petty
• norman petty studios
• echo chamber
• clovis
• new mexico
• SonicChirp
• Lone Star

[taupe63]

Always fascinating to hear such "raw" versions. Like the apartment tapes or the alternate take of "Peggy Sue". Thanks a lot for posting.

[SonicChirp]

@taupe63: You're very welcome. :) I think it is very much neck and neck with The Apartment Tapes for the most ethereal recordings Buddy ever did. As I told another friend recently, I very, VERY occasionally like to take my iPod and put it on the Apartment Tapes playlist with or without this recording thrown in for good measure, and listen with all of the lights off. It is not only chilling, but I'm always crying when the final song closes.

[MrAlsfan5]

He sure packed a lot of hits into a very short time. He was one of the main contributors to early rock and roll along with Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis. So sad he died so young.

[ivanzbuddy]

I've often wonderd if this was the demo that The Diamonds heard before they recorded"Words of Love"....which became the very first Buddy Holly song to break into the Billboard Hot 100

[buuddyh58]

What's fascinating about this is not only did Buddy overdub his own voice but he also overdubbed the guitar work as you will notice in the guitar riff between verses.

[jstinnett75]

awesome peace of history, thanks for sharing!!!

[2SugarsPleeze]

GOLD DUST!

thumbs UP!

[WrixV2]

Bill Griggs was my friend and a friend of my parents. Dad went to Lubbock with Buddy, although not in the same class(year). I worked on the original Music Festival with Doug Nelson and on the attempt to revive the Lindsey Theatre as well as being a part of making a video with Doug and KTXT for Paul McCartney for the opening of the UK Buddy Holly Celebration. I still now a lot of the old guard and the musical history of Lubbock and Austin, especially the Stubb's era.

[BuddyFantastic]

Certainly has that "haunting" sound to it, this recording. Just as if the man himself decided to sing this classic tune, from beyond this world.

[ode2joy4u]

Bill Griggs was the most dedicated lover of Buddy Holly that I had the pleasure to meet several times. His efforts to spread Buddy's music to new audiences can never be overstated. I was sad to hear of his passing. I've no doubt that he and Buddy are together again.