Has any musician been exploited/misrepresented as badly as Buddy Holly?

metropolis_4

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I read an interesting interview from around the time The Buddy Holly Story was released where the directors/producers of the movie flat out said “Whatever we put up there on the screen will be the truth”, and then go on to explain that people will believe whatever they put in the movie is fact. They said they didn't care about historical accuracy, their goal was just to make a movie that made lots of money, so they created the story they thought would sell the best and said people would buy it as truth because people will believe whatever they show them.

I'm playing a stage show about Buddy Holly that was written in the mid-1990's and I was fascinated to see that most of the content in the show is based on "facts" that came from the movie, not reality. 80% of the show is made up fiction that has no basis in history.

It made me realize the producers of The Buddy Holly Story were right. People believed what they put up on the screen. And at the time that movie came out there were no other good written sources of information about Buddy Holly, and his recordings were not widely available. So the only source of information the public had about him was what they saw in the movie.

And they believed it.

To the point that a show written 20 years later is based off "facts" that came from the movie and not reality. Even though the real people involved had worked so hard over those years to get the true story out, and there were so many more written sources of information, the story that the public knows is still the fiction from the movie.

Now I'm playing in a production of this show almost 30 years later, and I'm the only one involved in the production who knows this is not the true story.

Almost 70 years after these events, the fictional characters and events have replaced the real ones in the public's concept of history and are now what are commonly accepted as the truth. While the real people and real events have all but been lost to history.

The person the public today knows as "Buddy Holly" is a fictional character created by Hollywood to make money
 
History, or the lack of awareness thereof … is epidemic.

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I haven't seen that movie, but like 15 years ago I did see a Buddy Holly stage show, I'd imagine it might be the same one you are doing now.

I like Buddy Holly's music, but I guess I don't know much about his life, and if that play wasn't rooted in much reality, probably even less than I think
 
I haven't seen that movie, but like 15 years ago I did see a Buddy Holly stage show, I'd imagine it might be the same one you are doing now.

I like Buddy Holly's music, but I guess I don't know much about his life, and if that play wasn't rooted in much reality, probably even less than I think

I bet it’s the same one. Yeah, most of it is pure fiction. Especially everything around the Crickets and their “breakup”.

It is nice that the play writers remembered that Norman Petty and Dion and the Belmonts existed, but people like Bob Montgomery, Sonny Curtis, and Waylon Jennings still got forgotten
 
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I read an interesting interview from around the time The Buddy Holly Story was released where the directors/producers of the movie flat out said “Whatever we put up there on the screen will be the truth”, and then go on to explain that people will believe whatever they put in the movie is fact. They said they didn't care about historical accuracy, their goal was just to make a movie that made lots of money, so they created the story they thought would sell the best and said people would buy it as truth because people will believe whatever they show them.

I'm playing a stage show about Buddy Holly that was written in the mid-1990's and I was fascinated to see that most of the content in the show is based on "facts" that came from the movie, not reality. 80% of the show is made up fiction that has no basis in history.

It made me realize the producers of The Buddy Holly Story were right. People believed what they put up on the screen. And at the time that movie came out there were no other good written sources of information about Buddy Holly, and his recordings were not widely available. So the only source of information the public had about him was what they saw in the movie.

And they believed it.

To the point that a show written 20 years later is based off "facts" that came from the movie and not reality. Even though the real people involved had worked so hard over those years to get the true story out, and there were so many more written sources of information, the story that the public knows is still the fiction from the movie.

Now I'm playing in a production of this show almost 30 years later, and I'm the only one involved in the production who knows this is not the true story.

Almost 70 years after these events, the fictional characters and events have replaced the real ones in the public's concept of history and are now what are commonly accepted as the truth. While the real people and real events have all but been lost to history.

The person the public today knows as "Buddy Holly" is a fictional character created by Hollywood to make money

You just described American Media and Hollywood in a nutshell my friend.
 

Has any musician been exploited/misrepresented as badly as Buddy Holly?​

Michael Jackson? :idk

Basically every black artist before the 1970s or so.

I feel like the difference is that everything I’ve seen about either recently has been an attempt to get closer to the truth and eliminate some of the misconceptions/misrepresentations that existed before.

With the show I’m watching today there is no attempt to do that. Instead it’s still pushing the same fiction that was invented 40 years ago because it sells
 
This is going to sound harsh. And it isn't meant to. But I think the big thing about Buddy Holly is that no one really cares? I think the older generation that he came up in probably still loves him. But people in my age bracket think of a Gary Busey movie when we were 8 or a Weezer song :idk I don't think the compulsion to dig deeper exists for this particular artist.
 
This is going to sound harsh. And it isn't meant to. But I think the big thing about Buddy Holly is that no one really cares? I think the older generation that he came up in probably still loves him. But people in my age bracket think of a Gary Busey movie when we were 8 or a Weezer song :idk I don't think the compulsion to dig deeper exists for this particular artist.

Oh it's true unfortunately. I had to learn a few of his songs when I was in that oldies band. Great songwriter BTW, but before my time.
 
This is going to sound harsh. And it isn't meant to. But I think the big thing about Buddy Holly is that no one really cares? I think the older generation that he came up in probably still loves him. But people in my age bracket think of a Gary Busey movie when we were 8 or a Weezer song :idk I don't think the compulsion to dig deeper exists for this particular artist.

Totally agree with this. I don’t even know what information exists in regards to Buddy back then that would differ from the Hollywood version of him because I never took an interest in his music that much to know more than a surface level “Oh, that’s Buddy Holly”
 
This is going to sound harsh. And it isn't meant to. But I think the big thing about Buddy Holly is that no one really cares? I think the older generation that he came up in probably still loves him. But people in my age bracket think of a Gary Busey movie when we were 8 or a Weezer song :idk I don't think the compulsion to dig deeper exists for this particular artist.

It's not harsh, you're 100% right.

I've always loved history and digging deep into origins, so I tend to do that with everything I'm interested in. I've spent a lot of time researching the history of the electric guitar and the music from the '40s-'50s where it got it's start. When I found out I was going to be playing this show I brushed off my Buddy Holly knowledge and started digging deeper just for my own personal enjoyment.

But I think there are very few people as interested in all the details of the history of things like this as I am. Most people don't care. I've also always had a love and fascination with mid-century decades I was never alive for.

It's always hard finding people who are interested in chatting about things like this, so I occasionally throw up a post like this in a forum just to see if I happen to find someone else interested in discussing the topic :geek:
 
It's not harsh, you're 100% right.

I've always loved history and digging deep into origins, so I tend to do that with everything I'm interested in. I've spent a lot of time researching the history of the electric guitar and the music from the '40s-'50s where it got it's start. When I found out I was going to be playing this show I brushed off my Buddy Holly knowledge and started digging deeper just for my own personal enjoyment.

But I think there are very few people as interested in all the details of the history of things like this as I am. Most people don't care. I've also always had a love and fascination with mid-century decades I was never alive for.

It's always hard finding people who are interested in chatting about things like this, so I occasionally throw up a post like this in a forum just to see if I happen to find someone else interested in discussing the topic :geek:
I certainly dig the historian aspect of things. Despite sucking at it, in general; myself :rofl
 
Anyone interested in the history of American music owes themselves a drive from Memphis (after seeing all the musical sights) to Clarkesdale MS and taking in that musical culture there. It’ll change your outlook on american music and culture in general. It was a great trip for me.
 
Anyone interested in the history of American music owes themselves a drive from Memphis (after seeing all the musical sights) to Clarkesdale MS and taking in that musical culture there. It’ll change your outlook on american music and culture in general. It was a great trip for me.

I bet that was an awesome trip! I'd love to spend more time in that area some day
 
I bet that was an awesome trip! I'd love to spend more time in that area some day
Check out the Shack Up inn in Clarkesdale if you go. I didnt stay there but I stopped by. You can rent a “shack” tin roof and all for the night. Of course its all with modern clean amenities like any hotel, but the theme of the place is really cool. Very hoboish/bottle tree kinda vibe.
 
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