New York, NY (Top40 Charts / Universal Music Enterprises) Decca/UMe is pleased to announce the U.S. release of
Buddy Holly with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: True Love Ways, a stunning new collection of
Buddy Holly's most beloved hits set to brand new orchestrations. The album is available now for digital purchase and streaming, and for preorder on CD and 2LP vinyl.Decca/UMe is pleased to announce the U.S. release of
Buddy Holly with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: True Love Ways, a stunning new collection of
Buddy Holly's most beloved hits set to brand new orchestrations. The album is available now for digital purchase and streaming, and for preorder on CD and 2LP vinyl.
February 3, 2019 is the 60th anniversary of
Buddy Holly's tragic plane crash death at the age of 22. That day became known as "The Day the
Music Died," famously referenced in Don McLean's song, "American Pie." Holly is survived by his wife
Maria Elena, to whom he had been married for less than a year.
True Love Ways (the name of the song written for Buddy's wife,
Maria Elena) features
Buddy Holly's distinctive original vocals and guitar playing, set to exquisite arrangements newly recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at London's
Angel Studios. The album is produced by Nick Patrick, the man behind successful orchestral albums for Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, The Beach Boys, and The Carpenters.
True Love Ways is the poignant realization of a dream Holly first explored just four months before his tragic death. On October 21, 1958, Holly embarked on a musical adventure he would have continued, had he had the chance. He entered the Decca Studios in New York for a three-and-a-half-hour recording session with an 18-piece orchestra, fronted by Dick Jacobs, known for bringing strings to rock & roll. They recorded four tracks: "True Love Ways," "Raining In My Heart," "Moondreams," and "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," all of which are soaked in strings, clearly demonstrating a new direction for Holly's music.
Holly's widow,
Maria Elena, explains that her husband thought then that the rock & roll era had peaked: "Buddy felt orchestral music in a popular vein was where the future lay, so he wanted to write, record, explore and innovate that style. So what better combination than the Royal Philharmonic and Buddy's music. It's just beautiful."
Maria Elena also recalls
Buddy telling her he learned to play the violin as a child and later, he had fantasized about writing film scores.
True Love Ways' orchestral arrangements invigorate, rather than overwhelm, Holly's originating rock & roll style, preserving the energy of the songs he recorded with The Crickets. "
Everyday" shines anew, with playful pizzicato strings and percussion alighting around Holly's original vocals. "Peggy Sue," whose namesake recently died at age 78, is carried along by percussion reminiscent of a cowboy movie score, with a cinematic string climax. The new orchestral versions of "That'll Be The Day" and "
Oh Boy" are warm and exciting turns for the beloved classics. "Heartbeat," the last song Holly released, retains its rockabilly guitar, while the new arrangement's strings serve to lift the spirits even higher.
"This is what
Buddy would've wanted done." - Larry Holley,
Buddy Holly's brother
Note to Editors:
Buddy Holly signed with Decca Records in 1956.
Holly's music has inspired such music legends as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Elton John.
The
Beatles drew inspiration for the band's name from Holly's band, The Crickets. The first song recorded by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and
George Harrison (in 1958, as members of the pre-Beatles group, The Quarrymen) was a cover of Holly's "That'll Be The Day."
A rock & roll pioneer, Holly defined the genre's traditional line-up of two guitars, bass and drums, and he was one of the first to write, perform and sing his own songs.
Buddy Holly will forever be associated with his thick, horn-rimmed glasses and Fender Stratocaster.
