The first album I purchased when I got a turntable in the 21st century was Buddy Holly's "The Complete Buddy Holly." Six vinyl albums that start off at the very beginning of Buddy with the influence of Country and Rockabilly to the recordings he did in New York City, right before his plane accident. For me, Holly was the essence of modernity. When I listen to him, I don't connect to a given moment or even place. There was something futuristic about his vision and songs that I don't think was thought out to a great degree. He just had that essential genius approach to music. Also, the Crickets were an amazing band, so he had that fantastic backing to wander the music landscape of his time.
"The Complete Buddy Holly" is a museum piece, and unlikely a package one is going to listen to in one sitting. Well, you can, but I think mentally it may be healthier to take it bit-by-bit. There are even interviews with the great man on the last disc. I may have miscounted, but I think there are 119 songs in this box set. That's a lot of work from a young man who died way too young. If Buddy lived, I suspect that he would be making exciting music until he was an old man. There were reports that he frequent the jazz clubs in New York during the 1950s, and god knows what sort of influence would have shown up in his music of the 1960s if he lived.
Strangely, I see Holly as the less-eccentric brother of Moondog. Both had a sense of minimalism in their work, that's driven by rhythm. Also, Holly was interested in the recording process, and I think he would have used the recording studio as a separate instrument, in a similar fashion as Eno (but not...). He was an artist that explored the cultural landscape, and his death took away a talent that I feel was much needed in our world. "The Complete Buddy Holly" is a collection that I keep going back to, due that it's endless and nothing but beauty left on its grooves.
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