The complete, video biography of rock 'n' roll legend Buddy Holly, produced and hosted by Paul McCartney. This entertaining and enlightening show is the most definitive biography of Buddy Holly ever assembled, featuring in... more »terviews with members of The Crickets and many of Buddy Holly's family and friends who knew him best. Includes rare performances and Paul McCartney performs several of Buddy Holly's songs.« less
"... it really does. I had a chance to see this video when it was shown on my local educational public television station quite a few years back. For those who are true Buddy Holly fans, this is an absolute must to add to your collection of Holly memoralibia. The interviews are top-rate and are probably the most accurate I have seen as they are from the people most closely connected to Buddy Holly and give a closer look and insight into both his musical as well as his personal life. This is one video you will definitely want to keep and watch over and over again (I still do every February)."
Buddy Holly Is A Legend
Y2bjs Reviews | Melbourne Australia | 04/30/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This mans music was pure genius.I dont care how old it is this man was the most tragic thing to happen to rock and roll when he died.I wasnt even born when he got on that plane,but you cant go through life and not hear his music.
The one thing that you enjoy seeing about musicians is their film clips.But with Buddy Holly there is not many available.
But here is some rare clips,and interviews with family members and friends.Well put together.I like to see the places where he lived and visited in his short career.Its all here.
While i am a Beatle fan i would have rathered they talked about Buddy Holly more than filling space with Paul McCartneys versions of the songs.Now im not saying i didnt enjoy them,i just felt there should be more Buddy Holly information instead.
But upon saying that this is a real informative video and almost everything you want to know about him is here.
Buddy is the true master of Rock and Roll.Often it makes me wonder what he would have done had he lived.But as it says in the DVD,The Beatles were inspired by him,would they have had the same success had Buddy Holly lived?And The Rolling Stones first hit was a Beatles song,seems to me he started a chain reaction."
Worth Viewing Many Times
C. W. Emblom | Ishpeming, Michigan USA | 12/25/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Watching Buddy Holly perform such songs as Peggy Sue, That'll be the Day, and Oh Boy is worth the price of the video alone. It is also interesting to learn about his career from its roots in Lubbock, Texas, until its untimely end on February 3, 1959. A revealing interview with Tommy Allsup, a band member on the Winter Dance Party, is provided. Interviews with his Crickets' band members are also very interesting and informative."
Heartbreaking but glorious
Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 09/27/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Great music documentary. Paul McCartney produced this heartfelt tribute as an antidote to the more lurid Gary Busey docudrama that came out the year before. McCartney goes on the road to re-tell the story of the geeky kid from Lubbock, Texas who helped refine rockabilly into rock'n'roll, and who set the template for the singer-as-songwriter model later taken up by the Beatles. Holly's story is both astounding and underwhelming -- extensive footage of his shabby hometown helps underscore how humble his background was and how tenuous his success, and -- as Keith Richards points out -- how amazing it was that Holly organized a band capable of elevating themselves out of the C&W world they came from. It turns out there's very little footage of Holly performing live -- this short film apparently includes all of it -- but it's fascinating to see his transformation from a nervous kid into a savvy showman, just prior to his untimely death. In a series of charming, low-key interviews with Holly's old bandmates and contemporaries such as the Everly Brothers, the early world of rock and roll is wonderfully evoked, and the tenuous passing of the torch from a soft pop-destined America to a rock-hungry Britain is convincingly portrayed. (Plus, check out that all-too-brief guitar break on "That'll Be The Day"... was Buddy Holly the founding member of the Buzzcocks?!? Who knew?)"
A Must-have for Holly-philes old and young! Aug 2, 2002
Mavis G. Piercey | Fall River, HRM, Nova Scotia Canada | 08/02/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm grateful to Paul McCartney for making this video for 2 reasons. First, with all due respect to Gary Busey who is a great actor in his own right, that movie wasn't Buddy. It's impossible to play a Legend who was and still is larger than life. Second, The Real Buddy Holly Story explains in part why he was as great as he was - he had the perfect setting for his genius to flourish, with a down-to-earth, supportive and loving family & good childhood friends of long duration who shared his interests & worked with him without (it seems) harboring any rivalry or animosity over his growing fame. He seems to have had an innate belief in his own ability to be a great musician, and the dogged determination to let nothing deter him. Most of all, this video helped me to appreciate the simple, basic honesty of Buddy Holly's music and the circumstances under which it was produced. It has a timeless quality that is a far cry from what passes for R&R nowadays! I was 16 years old when The Music came to a crashing halt in a frozen Iowa cornfield. Now, 43 years later, I will watch this movie over and over, each time finding something in it I hadn't noticed before."