Long, long time ago…. The death of Buddy Holly, in a plane crash in February 1959, sent a seismic shock through the then-infant world of rock’n’roll, and one that continues to resonate today. Of all the multitude of musical passings since then, still Holly – just 22 at the time – continues to haunt the musical imagination, as successive generations look back at the magnificent music that he made, and dreamed of all that he might have achieved thereafter.

Short-haired, clean cut and bespectacled, Holly might have been the most “un-rock-ish” looking star of his age. But as a songwriter, singer and performer, he was peerless.  February 3 1959 may not have been “the day the music died,” as Don Mclean sang in “American Pie.”  But it certainly took a long time to recover from the shock.

Headcat – the dream team gathering of Lemmy, Danny B Harvey and Slim Jim Phantom – certainly aren’t the first act to pay tribute to Holly. From legendary 60s producer Joe Meek (“Tribute to Buddy Holly”) to the off-duty Paul McCartney & Wings (Denny Laine’s Holly Days album), and onto ground breaking covers by everyone from the Rolling Stones to Steeleye Span, Melanie to Cat Power.

Headcat’s tribute, however, might well be the loudest, and most powerful, of them all.

The original sessions took place back in the summer of 1999, and were released in 2006 as part of Headcat’s acclaimed Fool’s Paradise debut album.  It was to these original masters that Danny returned while preparing this album, remastering his original mixes, rather than working with the released versions. The result is a fuller, more solid sound than ever before.

Danny relates the genesis of the albums, “When Lemmy, Slim Jim and I first teamed up to record a Headcat album, we knew it would be filled with songs we cherished and had always dreamed of recording. 

“Since we had the chance to pick any great artist we loved (like Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Carl Perkins etc), it’s a bit funny that nine out of the thirteen songs we recorded for our first record were Buddy Holly songs. To top it off and add the icing to the cake, we also recorded an instrumental version of “True Love Ways,” making it a cool ten Buddy Holly songs.” 

Now, the Holly tracks alone have been isolated, together with three previously unreleased alternate mixes, to create Headcat Plays Buddy Holly, 13 smoking hot slabs of riotous retro rock’n’roll, as performed by three masters of the form.

“At the time I was mixing the album, there were many harmony vocal tracks, all done by Lemmy, that I made multiple mixes of every track with different levels of harmony vocals, from no background vocals to all the harmonies I had recorded. This release includes three bonus mixes I made with no background vocals added, stripped down and bare.”

Of course Headcat were perfectly qualified to make a record like this. Lemmy grew up on Holly’s music – he was 11 when “Peggy Sue” gave Buddy and his band, The Crickets, their first UK hit, I October 1957, and their music was forever on the radio thereafter.  Slim Jim, of course, was one-third of the Stray Cats, who regularly covered Holly in concert; and Danny B Harvey’s Rockats, too, were firmly grounded in the 50s rockabilly milieu.

Danny continues, “I’m so exited this album is coming out,  showing how important Buddy Holly was to Lemmy, Slim Jim and I. We all love Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee and Little Richard, but as Lemmy said in his book White Line Fever, “Buddy Holly never did a bad track, as far as I could hear.” I’m sure that’s why our first album was mainly Buddy Holly songs.”

They don’t go for the obvious numbers, either.  “Not Fade Away” might have become a monster hit for the Stones, but it started life as the b-side of Stray Cats’ favorite “Oh Boy.”  “Fool’s Paradise,” too, was a b-side, credited to the Crickets alone (although of course Holly sang on it); “Take Your Time” was the flip of “Rave On”; and, while “Peggy Sue Got Married” and “True Love Ways” were major hits, they were released only after Holly died.

Others here, in the (admittedly loathsome) parlance of modern radio, could easily be described as “deep cuts.” but even they have a storied history behind them – “Crying Waiting Hoping” was a late 1970s single by Wreckless Eric; “Take Your Time” and “Tell Me How” were covered by The Hollies; “Learning The Game” was a Lemonheads favorite; “Well… Alright” has been revisited by Blind Faith (featuring Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood) and Santana.

And all are a towering monument to the sheer brilliance of Holly as a songwriter, and testament, too, to the deserved longevity of his music and legend. In Headcat’s hands, it’s easy to see why a skinny kid from Lubbock, Texas, is as much an integral a part of modern culture as he was to the birth of rock’n’roll, a full 70 years ago.

Plays Buddy Holly is released on CD and red./yellow split color vinyl on May 15. A digital EP featuring the alternate mixes of​“Fool’s Paradise,” “Peggy Sue Got Married” and “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” is released the same day.

• CD/VINYL: https://cleorecs.com/search?q=head+cat+plays+buddy+holly
• DIGITAL EP: https://orcd.co/headcat_playsbuddyhollyalternatemixes

Track listing

1. Fool’s Paradise
2. Tell Me How
3. Not Fade Away
4. Take Your Time
5. Well…All Right
6. Learning The Game
7. Peggy Sue Got Married
8. Crying, Waiting, Hoping
9. Love’s Made A Fool Of You
10. True Love Ways
11. Fool’s Paradise
12. Peggy Sue Got Married
13. Crying, Waiting, Hoping