Rare tape of Buddy Holly phone call to Decca Records
Buddy Holly perished in a plane crash 50 years ago today. Whether that was “the day the music died” depends on point of view, but it was clearly a watershed event in rock ‘n’ roll history.
Holly’s short career was beset by bad business dealings. On Feb. 28, 1957, Holly hooked up his reel-to-reel tape recorder to the phone and made a call to Decca Records, his label at the time, inquiring about a release from his contract. He then tried to persuade an executive, unsuccessfully, to let him re-record songs that had been cut in a disastrous Nashville session and tossed in the label vaults. One of those songs was “That’ll Be the Day,” which reached No. 1 late that year.
To listen to an mp3 of the conversation, click here. To read more on the situation surrounding the call, go here.
If you want to hear three of Holly’s hits, including “That’ll Be the Day,” try here.
