Jerry Allison

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Jerry Ivan Allison (born August 31, 1939, in Hillsboro, Texas) is an American musician, best known for being the drummer for The Crickets.^[1] He was also a prolific composer.^[2]

Allison was an inventive, visionary drummer who tried out new patterns, new percussion instruments, or came up with whatever inventive beat that fit best with the guitar and vocal mood set up by Buddy Holly. In the early days at the Lubbock Youth Center, Holly's vocal and guitar were backed only by Allison's drumming, allowing for some of Holly's best guitar work.

Over time, Allison's rhythm backup ranged from slapping hands-on-knees or hand-clapping the beat to a modal plainness of cymbal drumming.^[3] His snappy cracks at the snare drum gave power to the tough, vengeful songs released under the name The Crickets. Later songs, released under Buddy Holly's own name, were softer in tone and filled with innocence and longing. On these, Allison played only tom-toms in keeping with the vulnerable sound of the vocals.^[4]

Norman Petty, the manager, often manipulated song-writing credits and Allison, although credited with another recording to which he contributed little,helped to compose the music for some of the famous songs, notably That'll Be the Day and Peggy Sue^[5] His work on The Crickets recordings gave the records much of their distinctiveness and has influenced subsequent generations of Rock'n'Roll drummers.^[6] (Allison later married Peggy Sue Gerron, the namesake of the latter song). That'll be the Day was originally recorded by Holly before he started working with Petty, so the latter's appearance on the songwriting credits for the later version by The Crickets illustrates the point about manipulation of the credits. Jerry Allison has referred in several published interviews to his role in composing "Not Fade Away", whose credits show Norman Petty/Charles Hardin - the latter a pseudonym for Buddy Holly.

Although Allison did not sing on The Crickets records made with Buddy Holly—despite misleading credits for the band's recordings as "vocal group with instrumental accompaniment"^{[citation needed]}—in 1958 he did release the single "Real Wild Child"—more than likely having heard Johnny O'Keefe play the original during The Crickets brief visit to Australia that year—which he recorded under the pseudonym Ivan, with Buddy Holly on guitar and backing vocals. It was a minor chart entry in 1958 and the first studio recording of the song that would become a rock standard. Allison also sang on a few later releases by the Crickets, both singles and album tracks.

His work on The Crickets recordings gave the records much of their distinctiveness and has influenced subsequent generations of Rock'n'Roll drummers.^[7]

Allison also worked as a session musician. For example, he played on the studio recording of The Everly Brothers' "Till I Kissed You" in 1959.^[8]

[edit] Career after Holly

After Buddy Holly's death in 1959. Allison continued his musical career. He retained control of the band's name, and has toured and recorded with a regularly-changing group as The Crickets - see the reference "been more Crickets than a dog's got fleas" in the band's Three Piece track from the 1980s. The most consistent members of this band have been bassist Joe B. Mauldin who was in Buddy Holly's Crickets, and guitarist-singer Sonny Curtis who played with Holly before The Crickets were formed in 1957, and rejoined shortly after Holly's death. Others who have been in and out of the band include Glen D. Hardin, also associated with Elvis Presley's last live band; Albert Lee, also once part of Emmy Lou Harris's Hot Band; and assorted lead vocalists including Earl Sinks, David Box, Jerry Naylor, and Gordon Payne.

The band's last recordings for the Coral label included several singles which were incorporated in the 1960 album "In Style with The Crickets." The rock classic "I Fought the Law" written by Sonny Curtis, first appeared here, and tracks from singles released after Holly's death included their version of Holly's "Love's Made a Fool of You", a chart entry for them in the UK in late 1959, and the Allison/Curtis composition "More than I Can Say" which was later recorded by Leo Sayer and other artists.

Jerry Allison switched the band's contract to Liberty Records in 1960, after they had supported The Everly Brothers on a UK tour. He moved his base to Los Angeles, where an old Texas friend Snuff Garrett was installed as a senior producer at Liberty. Allison, with Sonny Curtis and another former Holly sideman, Tommy Allsup, became effectively members of the core the Liberty house band, working with Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette and others. In this period they also played as backing musicians on classic tracks by Eddie Cochran and, according to some reports, Conway Twitty. Both Jerry Allison and Sonny Curtis were drafted at different times in this period, limiting any possibility of continuity in the make-up of The Crickets. Sonny Curtis also began to establish a significant solo career as a songwriter and singer/guitarist.

In the late 1970s, the band toured for a period with Waylon Jennings, another one-time Buddy Holly sideman. In more recent years, The Crickets have put out albums including collaborations with many artists who recognise their influence in early rock 'n' roll. These include Nanci Griffiths, with whom they have also toured, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Johnny Rivers, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Vee and many others.

[edit] References

Category:Texas Tech University alumni