Search - Buddy Holly :: Down the Line: The Rarities (Dig) (Slip)

A Great and Long-Awaited Release

Kevin Belmonte | York, ME USA | 01/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The release of the Buddy Holly album "Down the Line: Rarities" is as welcome as it has been long awaited. The 59 tracks on this two disc set span the length of his all-too-brief career--from a 1949 recording of Hank Snow's My Two-Timin' Woman--to January 1959, when the songs collectively known as The Apartment Tapes were recorded.

And what a ten years it was, chronicled through songs that have been carefully remastered through use of the best in digital technology. Never-released performances from Buddy and his friend Bob Montgomery appear in this collection, revealing how deeply bluegrass and country shaped Buddy's musical development. The set of songs known as The Garage Tapes are a highlight as well. Buddy and fellow Crickets J.I. Allison and Joe B. Mauldin fairly tear through an array of cover tunes--Chuck Berry's "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man," Little Richard's "Rip It Up," Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes," and Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll." In a pre-release interview, J.I. Allison recalled what these recording sessions were like: "Many of the tunes were done just in Buddy's garage, but I remember doing a few of them like `Bo Diddley' and `Brown-Eyed Handsome Man,' way out West at Petty's studio in Clovis, NM. The line-up was Buddy, myself on drums, Sonny Curtis on guitar and Don Guess on bass."

Many of the tracks on "Down the Line: Rarities" were overdubbed in the years following Buddy's death with new backing vocals and instrumentation. Now, for the first time, these overdubs have been removed, restoring the tracks to the sound they had when first recorded by Buddy and his friends. A writer for Reuters got it right in describing the result as a series of "musical revelations." At last, the talents of all who took part in these recordings can be heard and fully appreciated.

For me, and I suspect many others, the centerpiece of this collection will be the set of songs known as The Apartment Tapes. Great care has been given to the digital transfer of these songs, largely recorded as tracks that Buddy sang while playing his acoustic guitar. They sound superb--very much as though Buddy had recorded a set of songs "unplugged" for an intimate gathering of friends. Original songs like "Learning the Game" and "That Makes It Tough" appear alongside excellent covers like "Dearest" and "Love is Strange"--performances that for me recall the depth and flowering of Buddy's talent as present in songs like "Well, Alright" and "Words of Love."

When I bought "Down the Line: Rarities," I sat down and listened to The Apartment Tapes straight through. I was deeply moved when I heard Buddy sing "memories will follow me forever," a line from "That Makes It Tough." I thought of that lyric in light of all the people who have cherished memories of the way his music has touched their lives. And so it seems only fitting as well that with this release, such memories in music as were left to us after Buddy's death will endure, as will an enhanced appreciation for his unique and groundbreaking musical gift."

Finally!!

Michael A. Anderson | 01/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"50 years after his untimely death comes some real rarities. Most have been available on bootleg compilations for years, but there are some nice surprises as the early Buddy And Bob stuff undubbed. For those that want the best sound (like me) and collect Buddy's music, this is a must own collection."

Not Fade Away

Phil J. Levine | Tang Gardens | 01/30/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I confess from the outset that I have been a true believer in all things Buddy for more than 3 decades, and can recite by heart the lyrics to even the more obscure Holly songs without a second thought.



That said, I approached this collection with some trepidation for, as you might assume, I have a rather extensive Buddy collection (mostly records please...CDs are for punks!) including the most impressive Box Set that was issued many years ago. However, even I was impressed by the songs on this collection, most especially the second CD--better known in Holly-land as the "Apartment Tapes' made in NYC only weeks before his tragic departure. Kudos to both the eternally lovely Marie Elena Holly and the rest of those in charge of Buddy's estate for putting out this wonderful collection of songs that again and again raise the eternal question of "what if..."



Listening to the, essentially, solo songs on the second CD the mind boggles when you remind yourself that he was but a child, really, at only 22. He'd already mastered songwriting to a level that few would ever come near...in fact, such was the pervasiveness of Buddy's influence, that a young Minnesotan named Robert Zimmerman was among those who saw one of the last Buddy shows in early 1959...the young lad, better known now as Bob Dylan, said that when he saw Buddy it looked as though "he had a halo around him.'



Indeed. Listening to the angelic voice on the second CD on songs such as Fool's Paradise, That's My Desire and one of the most heartbreaking of all, the beatific 'Dearest', it's not hard to picture the bespectacled young Texan with a guitar, a smile and a halo above him.

Perhaps that's why we lost him so young...God realized that even He didn't want to wait another 50 years to get a front row to a Holly concert.



There have been many other tragic losses of great musicians, but none more than the loss of Buddy Holly at 22. The fact that we are here, a half century later, extolling the virtues of songs he wrote before he reached his 23rd birthday speaks for itself.

Sadly, we are just left to wonder again and again what might have been...and, as the song says, "memories will follow him forever...and that makes it tough..."



Still, as this wonderful collection proves, with all due respect to Mr McLean, the music didn't die...and continues to rave on, year after year after year."