 "Great biography" | 2009-08-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A21WQ9E0JNQMZH |
Interviews with family, friends, colleagues, and music industry leaders of 1950s make this as close to an autobiography as we're ever going to get from Buddy Holly, especially as it was produced only 20 or so years after his death. It's been 50 years since this talented 22 year old left us tragically, and still we ponder the unanswerable question "what if?"
This documentary sets the facts straight even if the details will always be open to interpretation, if only because each person's perception is their reality. One person will remember an event as evidence Buddy was brash and stubborn, while for another it proved he was sweet and polite; truth is in the eye of the beholder.
The lyrics to one of Buddy's final songs, That Makes It Tough, have become haunting in retrospect. "Memories will follow me forever, though I know my dreams cannot come true." And that's the impression of Buddy that I was left with by the people interviewed: an ambitious and talented "good ol' boy" from Lubbock, focused on his dreams, worthly of being remembered as fully human and not just a musical legend. |
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| "A splendid collection of contemporary interviews and vintage photos and film" | 2009-07-20 |
| - Reviewed By robertwmoore |
As Paul McCartney expresses it at the beginning of this fine documentary, he was dissatisfied with the version of the Buddy Holly story as told in the movie by that name, and hoped in this film to tell THE REAL BUDDY HOLLY STORY. He therefore set out to interview as many of the people who were either friends or family or fellow musicians and who are still alive. If you have read John Goldrosen's highly regarded biography THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY there will be little here that is unfamiliar, but it is always great to see film footage, some of it very raw, that can, of course, never be contained inside a book. The documentary manages a pretty balanced view of Buddy's life, though it politely skips over some of the more controversial aspects of his life, such as the somewhat acrimonious breakup of the Crickets near the end of Buddy's life and the complexities created by Buddy marrying a Hispanic female at a time when such a thing was pretty unusual. The film also ignores or minimizes other aspects of Buddy's life. For instance, there is some mention of his religious convictions, but no indication of how deep those were. In fact, Buddy remained a devout Baptist throughout his short life and even tithed to the church (giving 10% of your income to your local church). At the end of his life he was forming plans to record a collection of religious songs. Items like this are usually left out of accounts of Buddy's bio.
Still, this film has a lot of great footage and some wonderful interviews with a lot of great people, not just people who knew and performed with Buddy, but some who were deeply influenced by him, like Keith Richards. McCartney is a solid if not terribly penetrating interviewer (his position in the rock world would prevent his asking any uncomfortable questions, such as probing for details about the reputed fight between Buddy and a bandmate before appearing on Ed Sullivan).
The one thing that I've always regretted was just how little quality film footage there is of Buddy Holly performing. We've a lot a photographs and a satisfying number of studio recordings, but few recordings of Buddy performing live. Even one of the sequences found in this film shows Buddy lip synching rather than performing live. The film does include a great deal of rather raw footage, where we get visuals of Holly performing with either inadequate or no audio.
There may someday be a better documentary film about Buddy Holly, but it is unlikely that we will ever see one with as much first-rate original interview footage. And no film is likely to do a better job of documenting just how central Buddy Holly was to the development of rock music in the early sixties, when bands like the Beatles, following the example of Holly, started writing their own songs instead of doing covers of those written by others. It has often been stated that of all the deaths of performers in the history of music in the rock era, it was Holly's that most impoverished our culture. Only 22 at the time of his death, Holly could well have taken our music in completely new directions. We'll never know what he might have done, but what he actually accomplished was extraordinary. |
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| "Remembering Buddy Hollly" | 2009-03-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A15L35X8R56O3W |
| Great, wanted share with my children. Did it around the time the music died. Thank you for making it available. |
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 "The "Real Story"? Well...Alright" | 2009-02-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2K9EVDZTVG5DG |
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. |
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| "excellent" | 2009-02-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1XLKXWH8NGNWI |
| Movie provides so many small details often missed about Buddy and his life with interviews with friends and family and artists who give him all the credit he deserves. Fantastic old and rare footage of Buddy and the Crickets as well. Just wonderful for any fan of rock and roll and particularly Buddy Holly. |
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| "For Those Who Want To Learn More About One Of The All-Time Rock Greats" | 2009-01-29 |
| - Reviewed By ccthemovieman |
Nobody respects and reveres those old American rock pioneers like the British. I share their sentiments. One of those Brits is Paul McCartney. The former Beatle was not happy with the 1978 movie portrayal of Buddy Holly so he made this documentary. Frankly, I don't see what was so bad about the Gary Busey '78 film about Holly but if McCartney says there were too many flaws in it, I believe him.
I'm glad to see the ex-Beatle provide us with more insight and performances of the man from Lubbock, Texas. Of real interest was some footage of Buddy, Elvis and Johnny Cash. This is supposedly the earliest clips ever made of Presley and, man, you can see why the girls went crazy over him.
Among the interesting comments in this DVD was by McCartney who commented that fellow Beatle John Lennon never wore his glasses on stage until he saw Holly with his dark-rimmed glasses. Hey, if it was cool enough for Buddy, Lennon said, it's "good enough for me" and he wore glasses while performing from then on.
That's the one of the many influences Holly had on future music greats, as we hear in this documentary. Fellow Holly band member Sonny Curtis really impressed me with his voice and guitar playing. "The Crickets," Buddy's band, had a lot of talent.
Since this tribute was made over 20 years ago, it's interesting to see how young everyone looks, from McCartney to the Everly Brothers and even Keith Richards! The main thing, though, is that we get a real feel for who Buddy Holly was, where he grew up, the atmosphere, the people and managers who surrounded him (including a very pretty ex-girlfriend) and to hear how driven he was to succeed and do the kind of music he wanted to do. It all makes me sad, recalling how we lost of the greatest rock singers/writers of all time at the tender age of 22.
To be sure, there are dry spots in this documentary, which is why I didn't give it five stars. However, I'm thankful to McCartney for this "labor of love." Anybody who keeps these '50 greats names alive today is appreciated. |
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