The Buddy Holly Story is a 1978 biographical film which tells the life story of rock musician Buddy Holly. It features an Academy Award-winning musical score, adapted by Joe Renzetti and Oscar-nominated lead performance by Gary Busey. The film also stars Don Stroud, Charles Martin Smith, Conrad Janis, William Jordan, and Maria Richwine, who played Maria Elena Holly. It was adapted by Robert Gittler from Buddy Holly: His Life and Music, the biography of Holly by John Goldrosen, and was directed by Steve Rash. (More from Wikipedia)
Buddy Holly’s band became known as the Crickets; they noticed crickets chirping in the studio one time while they were recording, or so the film The Buddy Holly Story maintains.
* * *
In the 1978 film, The Buddy Holly Story, Gary Busey stars as Buddy Holly in an Oscar-nominated performance; Busey even performs the songs himself rather than having them dubbed in, as is the usual custom. Gary Busey was previously in a rock band called Carp; I have a copy of their debut self-titled album, Carp that was released on Epic Records in 1969.
One of the most memorable scenes in the movie depicts a performance by Buddy Holly and the Crickets at the Apollo Theatre in 1957. As the applause dies away when the audience realizes that the band is white, Buddy says into the mike, “Well, we didn’t expect you either”, before launching into their set.
(June 2013/1)
