The Real Buddy Holly Story

From the Cover Notes

The Real Buddy Holly Story is the definitive story of the "undisputed father of Rock Music", Buddy Holly. Produced and hosted by former Beatle, Paul McCartney, this brilliant and enlightened program is the most authoritative biography ever assembled on the life of the American pop icon, and contains rare film clips, unreleased performance footage and features interviews with McCartney, Keith Richards, Phil and Don Everly, Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison and more.

McCartney guides us through stories and songs of the legendary hitmaker and the tremendous influence he had on popular music. Rare performance footage includes Buddy Holly performing That'll Be The Day and Oh Boy!, McCartney performing Holly's immortal Words of Love, and the Rolling Stones perfoming Not Fade Away.

The Real Buddy Holly Story is a celebration of the life of a true American idol.

Reviews

"As a big time fan for over 50 years I only recently purchased this excellent documentary as I thought I knew it all ; I did not. Hosted by fellow fan Paul McCartney , most of the interviews and historic performance clips I have seen before , but then I have been collecting Information and studying the great man's work avidly since the late 50s , and still I found some new material here.

For those interested in the life and work of Charles Hardin [Buddy ] Holly , but not totally nuts like me , here is a very informative , packaged documentary giving an opportunity to see him in action and to listen to his closest friends [Jerry Allison , Joe B Mauldin and Sonny Curtis - The Crickets ] and family [Larry and Travis - his brothers ] share their memories of that time in their lives when they lived and worked , from childhood through to stardom, with Buddy.

Lots of tales some funny some sad , but all interesting. As for his lasting influence on contemporary music none sums it up better than Keith Richards of The Stones " They were a complete band--they didn't need anyone else " How true : Buddy wrote , arranged , recorded and performed his own songs . No one told him what or how to record . He was an innovator and one hell of a rock and roll singer and guitarist.

See him perform his hits like Peggy Sue and That'll Be The Day. This is an absolute must for anyone interested in early rock and roll and Buddy Holly and The Crickets in particular. The Beatles loved Buddy's music and it shows through Paul's sincere commentary. At 86 minutes this is great value and a collectors item."

Review by Alexander Bryce

The title of this DVD misleads a bit, implying that we are going to get the lowdown, the inside story, the scoop. That's not really the case.

Produced by Paul McCartney, the owner of Buddy's music catalogue, the documentary is a tribute. Holly's short life yielded no scandals, so I was not expecting dirt, but the feature glides past Holly's feud with Norman Petty and other such unpleasantness. I would like to have heard more about these matters.

The title really refers to the fact that the video intends to correct distortions of fact in Gary Busey's entertaining but fictionalized "The Buddy Holly Story." This it does well. The interviews with Holly's family and bandmates are charming and informative. I especially enjoyed the reminiscences of Phil and Don Everly, two well-spoken men whose recollections are always interesting.

What really makes this production memorable, though, is the footage of Holly performing live. I had never seen his "Ed Sullivan" appearance, and most of the film taken by fans was also new to me. It's sad that there isn't more of such material, but who knew that so little time remained to film him? The DVD collects a lot of what is available, edited and presented very ably. And, as always, it is impossible to hear Buddy Holly's material without lamenting the loss of this talented, innovative rock pioneer.

Paul McCartney does a bit of narration and contributes a casual, acoustic version of "Words of Love." His low-keyed participation is appropriate; the ex-Beatle does not want to compete with the man he is showcasing. I recommend this this feature to all Buddy Holly fans. However, despite the title, don't expect revelatory or controversial content.

Review by Dr Diablo

DVD - 86 Minutes

Produced by MPL Communications / BBC
Distrinuted by WhiteStar D1790
released 26 October 2004