Words by India Farnham | Production images by Hamish Gill
Alan Janes’ Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story begins in the late ‘50s inside the recording studio of Texan country radio station KDAV. Think smooth, uncomplicated country tracks, tailored suits and a crooning radio host with slicked back hair inexplicably called Hipockets Duncan. Buddy Holly has been spotted by Hipockets at a gig and invited on to perform a 15-minute country set. There’s only one problem: Buddy doesn’t want to be a country musician. Or take his glasses off. Or answer the phone to his mum. These things simply don’t align with his vision. What he wants to do is get rocking…
Buddy Holly, the pioneering Texan rock’n’roll musician behind ‘50s classics such as That’ll Be the Day and Peggy Sue, died at just 22 years old in a tragic plane crash: ‘The Day the Music Died’.
The world never got to witness how Buddy Holly’s style and lyricism could have developed, or to hear how his voice, and signature hiccupping singing-style, could have matured.
Instead, descriptions of the great Buddy Holly often come appended with a hefty list of the musicians his short career inspired, the musicians through which Buddy ‘lives on’.
Amongst the names on this star-studded lineup are musical royalty including The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, and the Beatles, who reportedly named their band partly in homage to Holly’s, the Crickets.
It’s a legacy so vast, and so significant, that it threatens, in moments, to overshadow the man himself. Yes, Buddy was an exceptional musician, a creative force and a pioneer of early rock’n’roll. But what was his story?
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story is a brief biography of Buddy told through, and alongside, his notable live performances and recordings. From the Decca Recording Studios in Nashville, to the Apollo Theatre in New York, to his last, fateful performance at the Surf Ballroom in Iowa, Buddy’s live music is recreated faithfully with a full cast of uber-talented actor-musicians, most notably Stephen Alexander-Kerr as Jerry Allison on drums and general knee-slapping. The music, Buddy’s one true love, is center stage, with whole scenes becoming quasi-tribute-concerts. The audience respond by swaying, head bobbing, singing along in their seats, or jumping out of them to have a boogie, all of which is actively encouraged and usually rather foreign to us well-mannered Brits.
Gorgeously accurate costuming, including some very shiny shoes (how do they get them that shiny?! I need to know) and some clever lookalike casting mean the whole affair is rather immersive (I mean it – try to speak without a Texan-twang in the interval, it’s not easy). So immersive, in fact, that by the time the final performance comes around, where Buddy is flanked by musical stars The Big Bopper – a name which is a cultural artefact in and of itself – and the endlessly soulful Ritchie Valens, you’d have almost forgotten you’re at theatre if it wasn’t for the slightly forced audience participation segments. La Mamba is an absolute highlight; Miguel Angel plays Ritchie Valens triumphantly.
And at the center of it all is of course Buddy, played by the brilliant AJ Jenks. An unassuming, normal teenage boy (‘How many times have I told you Buddy, Elvis Presley you ain’t! You’ve got about as much sex appeal as a telegraph pole, boy’), Buddy transforms behind the microphone. It could be confidence, it could be relatability, it could be rhythm, I don’t know. Buddy had something special and his theatrical recreation does too. You won’t be able to take your eyes off him.
But it’s in the brief moments off-stage, when Buddy is just himself, the regular, run-of-the-mill Texan teenager, where I feel the tragedy of his untimely passing most acutely. Behind Buddy’s talent was an openness, an acceptance, which made him stand out: ‘Hell, Buddy your kind of music’s got a coloured feel to it.’/ ‘So? I take that as a compliment’. Whilst other characters in Janes’ Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story feel somewhat exaggerated, Buddy himself is afforded some contradictions which make him feel real. He’s determined and yet polite, focused and yet open-minded. He’s probably a lot like someone you know. Someone you should encourage. Who knows what they could achieve.
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story is a portal back to the golden age of rock’n’roll with a sprinkling of narrative alongside it. Don’t go for the plot. Go for the buzz in the air, the nostalgic magic, the chance to see one of the greats come back to life. Go for the music.
Buddy, you’d be 89 this year. I hope you’re still toe-tapping up there.
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story is showing at Theatre Royal Bath until 17 January.