Jerry Allison released a single in 1958 under his middle name, Ivan. It only reached No. 68 on the charts. However, as a drummer and songwriter with Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Allison had much more success.
Videos by American Songwriter
The Crickets started in Lubbock, Texas, and went on to make a noise that reached the entire world. Allison met Buddy Holley (yup, spelled “Holley”) while they were both attending Hutchinson Junior High School. The two performed as a duo for a spell until Holley heard that budding rock ‘n’ roll superstar Elvis Presley didn’t have a drummer. Allison was out—but only for a while.
When the future King of Rock ‘n’ Roll added D.J. Fontana on drums, Allison was asked back into the fold. They played local events like gas station openings and roller rinks with a rotating cast of band members. Holley secured a record deal with Decca in Nashville, and when the contract was to be signed, the ‘e’ in Holly was left off. Holley became Holly, and the singer used that spelling from then on.
The one-year Decca deal failed to amount to much success. A new agreement was signed with Decca’s rock label, Brunswick Records. An interesting aspect of the career of Buddy Holly and the Crickets is that it’s a dual story. Records were released on Brunswick under the name The Crickets, while another Decca subsidiary, Coral Records, released recordings under the name Buddy Holly. Jerry Allison had a hand in the writing of songs that were credited to The Crickets as well as to Buddy Holly. Here are the five biggest Allison was in on writing.
1. “That’ll Be the Day” by The Crickets, written by Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly, and Norman Petty
In May 1956, The Searchers, starring John Wayne, was released. The main character utters the line “That’ll be the day” several times. And that was the inspiration for the song. In July, Holly, Allison, guitarist Sonny Curtis, and bassist Don Guess first recorded the song in Nashville. It remained unreleased as Holly’s other recordings had failed to create much noise. Then the song was restructured and re-recorded in Clovis, New Mexico. The results were much more successful.
The problem was that Holly’s Decca contract had a clause in it restricting him from rerecording any songs that were recorded in Nashville. Producer Norman Petty came up with the idea of releasing it under the name of The Crickets to avoid any trouble with Decca. Petty was given partial writing credit, even though he was not actually involved. All the jockeying ended up being worth the trouble: the re-recording hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. A few years later, it was also one of the first recordings made by a young band in Liverpool that was going by the name of The Quarrymen. That recording was eventually released on The Beatles Anthology 1 in 1995.
2. “Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly, written by Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly, and Norman Petty
Holly originally sang this song as “Cindy Lou” in reference to his niece. However, Allison had been dating Peggy Sue Gerron and convinced Holly to change the name. As the song was being recorded, Allison stumbled on the drums and caused several extra takes. Allison later said that Holly threatened to change the name back to “Cindy Lou” if the drummer couldn’t get the part right.
3. “Think It Over” by The Crickets, written by Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly, and Norman Petty
On the fourth single released under the name The Crickets, Norman Petty again gets writing credit. Shortly after its release, Holly and The Crickets parted ways. The lead singer wanted to stay in New York City with his new wife, while The Crickets wished to return home to Texas. It was agreed that The Crickets could keep the name, and they recruited Sonny Curtis to front the band. Holly continued releasing songs and had a few more hits before he was killed in a small plane crash on February 3, 1959—”The Day the Music Died.”
[RELATED: The Story Behind “The Day the Music Died”]
4. “More Than I Can Say” by The Crickets, written by Jerry Allison and Sonny Curtis
The Crickets continued, and recorded the classic album In Style with The Crickets. As they were on their way to the studio, they were trying to come up with the first line of the song they were about to record. Curtis and Allison kept trying different alternatives, and nothing fit. They used Whoa Whoa, Yay Yayee as a placeholder but couldn’t find the right line to insert. They arrived at the studio without an answer. Whoa Whoa, Yay Yayee turned out to be the hook of the song. It was a Top 30 hit that was also covered by The Beatles in their early stage act. Leo Sayer had a worldwide smash with it in 1980, as well.
5. “I’m Not a Bad Guy” by The Crickets, written by Jerry Allison
In 1962, Allison’s “I’m Not a Bad Guy” was chosen as the B-side of the single “Don’t Ever Change.” It didn’t get any attention on the charts, but it was covered a few years later by British singer Heinz. Producer Joe Meek worked his magic and made it a great version.
Jerry Allison was a kid just out of high school who went on a rocketship ride. He found himself on The Ed Sullivan Show and traveling to Europe and Australia. He watched a British band with a different insect name (albeit spelled wrong) become the biggest band in rock history after citing The Crickets as a major influence. And he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
If you told him in 1953 that he would achieve all of this, you gotta think his reply would’ve been, “That’ll be the day!”
Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
