The Texas Nashville Connection

The Texas Nashville Connection

Mar 23, 2022

Hello to all and how wonderful it is to be part of your time. Welcome to another write-up moment, in which we discuss the challenges of a pre-music legend and the irony of a song.

In January 1956, before he became famous 18 months later with song single "That'll be the day", American singer-songwriter and musician Buddy Holly, unsuccessfully recorded a number of songs in Nashville. Holly and his band, had a record deal, arriving to the conservative country studios to try and record music which was part-country but influenced by the rise of Rockabilly.

They recorded almost a dozen songs with producer Owen Bradley, however it did not seem the magic was working. And so... Nashville had no idea what to do with the Texas boys, who seemed nominally country but clearly weren't. It didn't help that Buddy had not yet learned the difference between having a record deal and having a hit.

Among the songs recorded at the first session was 'Blue Days, Black Nights', which is symbolic of the problem. It is clearly a country song but there is a light rock'n'roll backbeat added and Holly certainly sounds distinctive. But the recording may sound thin and despite the addition of echo, which gave Elvis' Sun sessions such vibrancy and a live feel, it sounds like a band embracing the moment. You can make your own opinion about this song... when I listen to it, I can hear that moment when country was nudging into rock'n'roll, even if the protagonists – artist and producer – didn't quite know where they were going.

Thanks for stopping by music lovers!

https://youtu.be/euc8kkyLkYk

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