The Real Buddy Holly Story

Rating:
Summary: THE REAL Buddy Holly Story
Review: Excellent documentary from Paul McCartney setting the record straight on the true Holly legend and legacy with pertinent interviews from the people who knew him first and best, his brothers Larry and Travis Holley (yes..that is the correct spelling of the family name!), original Crickets Jerry ("J.I.") Allison and Joe ("Joe B.") Mauldin, plus current Cricket member Sonny Curtis (writer of "Rock Around With Ollie Vee, "I Fought The Law", and later on The Mary Tyler Moore theme song "Love Is All Around"). Probably the best video archival record of Buddy Holly out there and more than worth the price for any "true" Buddy afficianado. If all you have ever seen or heard about Buddy Holly comes from the movie, what I euphemistically call "The Gary Busey Story", and please see my review of the VHS version of that one, do yourself a huge favor and get yourself a copy of this documentary before you "Rave On" to the rest of us about the wonderfulness of the movie and Gary Busey's performance of a film that, by the producer's own admission, was never designed to be a factual account of Buddy Holly's life anyway. Jerry Allison himself said it should be called "The Buddy Hollywood Story". I heartily concur! McCartney, who owns the rights to Holly's music, does him the true justice that the movie sadly denied him. As Sonny Curtis so eloquently stated in his song "The Real Buddy Holly Story", written by him shortly after the movie came out, "The levy isn't dry, and the music didn't die, 'cause Buddy Holly lives every time we play rock and roll."
Amen Sonny!

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking but glorious
Review: Great music documentary. Paul McCartney produced this heartfelt tribute as an antidote to the more lurid Gary Busey docudrama that came out the year before. McCartney goes on the road to re-tell the story of the geeky kid from Lubbock, Texas who helped refine rockabilly into rock'n'roll, and who set the template for the singer-as-songwriter model later taken up by the Beatles. Holly's story is both astounding and underwhelming -- extensive footage of his shabby hometown helps underscore how humble his background was and how tenuous his success, and -- as Keith Richards points out -- how amazing it was that Holly organized a band capable of elevating themselves out of the C&W world they came from. It turns out there's very little footage of Holly performing live -- this short film apparently includes all of it -- but it's fascinating to see his transformation from a nervous kid into a savvy showman, just prior to his untimely death. In a series of charming, low-key interviews with Holly's old bandmates and contemporaries such as the Everly Brothers, the early world of rock and roll is wonderfully evoked, and the tenuous passing of the torch from a soft pop-destined America to a rock-hungry Britain is convincingly portrayed. (Plus, check out that all-too-brief guitar break on "That'll Be The Day"... was Buddy Holly the founding member of the Buzzcocks?!? Who knew?)

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking but glorious
Review: Great music documentary. Paul McCartney produced this heartfelt tribute as an antidote to the more lurid Gary Busey docudrama that came out the year before. McCartney goes on the road to re-tell the story of the geeky kid from Lubbock, Texas who helped refine rockabilly into rock'n'roll, and who set the template for the singer-as-songwriter model later taken up by the Beatles. Holly's story is both astounding and underwhelming -- extensive footage of his shabby hometown helps underscore how humble his background was and how tenuous his success, and -- as Keith Richards points out -- how amazing it was that Holly organized a band capable of elevating themselves out of the C&W world they came from. It turns out there's very little footage of Holly performing live -- this short film apparently includes all of it -- but it's fascinating to see his transformation from a nervous kid into a savvy showman, just prior to his untimely death. In a series of charming, low-key interviews with Holly's old bandmates and contemporaries such as the Everly Brothers, the early world of rock and roll is wonderfully evoked, and the tenuous passing of the torch from a soft pop-destined America to a rock-hungry Britain is convincingly portrayed. (Plus, check out that all-too-brief guitar break on "That'll Be The Day"... was Buddy Holly the founding member of the Buzzcocks?!? Who knew?)

Rating:
Summary: Where's The DVD?
Review: I can't say enough about this video. Much has already been said in these reviews. I have one comment. BRING ON THE DVD VERSION!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: disappointed
Review: I got the VHS of the Real Buddy Holly Story and it wasn't closed-captioned. So I got the DVD in hopes it would have subtitles...it didn't...I wasted my money on something I should not have brought. Wish this website was honest when it said no closet-captioned instead of saying it is.

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Summary: A Must-have for Holly-philes old and young! Aug 2, 2002
Review: I'm grateful to Paul McCartney for making this video for 2 reasons. First, with all due respect to Gary Busey who is a great actor in his own right, that movie wasn't Buddy. It's impossible to play a Legend who was and still is larger than life. Second, The Real Buddy Holly Story explains in part why he was as great as he was - he had the perfect setting for his genius to flourish, with a down-to-earth, supportive and loving family & good childhood friends of long duration who shared his interests & worked with him without (it seems) harboring any rivalry or animosity over his growing fame. He seems to have had an innate belief in his own ability to be a great musician, and the dogged determination to let nothing deter him. Most of all, this video helped me to appreciate the simple, basic honesty of Buddy Holly's music and the circumstances under which it was produced. It has a timeless quality that is a far cry from what passes for R&R nowadays! I was 16 years old when The Music came to a crashing halt in a frozen Iowa cornfield. Now, 43 years later, I will watch this movie over and over, each time finding something in it I hadn't noticed before.

Rating:
Summary: THIS is the video/movie to watch about Buddy Holly
Review: Kudos to Paul McCartney for making sure the true story of the greatest rocker of all got told. The movie "The Buddy Holly Story" isn't his story; this is. Here Buddy Holly is portrayed by Charles Hardin Holley (Buddy's legal name).

It is slow moving at times, but the film footage of Buddy himself is worth it! He was quite a performer and quite a man. One gets a little taste of how much rock and roll lost when the plane went down.

So, if you want the REAL story about Buddy Holly, get this movie!

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Summary: Hot Dog Buddy Buddy
Review: The best thing Paul McCartney ever did!

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Summary: Buddy Holly IS GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: There is no other way for me to put it. Buddy Holly will always be the biggest inspiration in my life. I'm still young and wasn't able to witness his death. In some way however, listening to his music and watching these films will always have the deepest affect on me. Paul McCartney's honest tribute to a man that helped pave the way for his own identity was as honorable as a documentary could be.

Everything about the film made perfect sense. Gary Busey was extraordinary performing Holly's material, but that's about it. Like the titled stated, this is the real story of one of Rock and Roll's most original artists. It also captures just how far of a genius he was. Holly was a kid from Lubbock, a boy with a dream and a guitar. His influenced spread from Texas to England and with the hearts of Rock and Roll fans all around the world.

Buddy Holly's death on February 3rd 1959 marked not only the day the music died, but the end of an era to Rock's Godfathers. The 1960's would prevail and we were left listening to Holly's music performed by various British artists. I always thought of it as kind of the Robin Hood transmission towards music. No matter how far the music takes us, it was the honesty in his songs and the simplicity in the music that, in his own words, will not fade away.

Rating:
Summary: Worth Viewing Many Times
Review: Watching Buddy Holly perform such songs as Peggy Sue, That'll be the Day, and Oh Boy is worth the price of the video alone. It is also interesting to learn about his career from its roots in Lubbock, Texas, until its untimely end on February 3, 1959. A revealing interview with Tommy Allsup, a band member on the Winter Dance Party, is provided. Interviews with his Crickets' band members are also very interesting and informative.