True Love Ways

"True Love Ways"
Single by Buddy Holly
from the album The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2
B-side	"That Makes It Tough"
Released	June 29, 1960 (1960-06-29)
Recorded	October 21, 1958, Pythian Temple studio, New York
Genre	Pop
Length	2:47
Label	Coral 9-62210
Writer(s)	Buddy Holly, Norman Petty
Buddy Holly singles chronology
"Peggy Sue Got Married" (1959) "True Love Ways" (1960) "Reminiscing" (1962)

"True Love Ways" is a song co-written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty and recorded with the Dick Jacobs Orchestra in October 1958, four months before the singer's death. Some argue that this song is the most played "first song" at weddings. It was first released on the posthumous The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2 (Coral 57326/757326, March 1960). The song became a 1960 hit in Britain, reaching #25 on the pop singles chart.^[1]

In the extended version of the song, listeners can hear Holly preparing to sing. The audio starts with Norman Petty's wife (who also played on Buddy Holly's song "Everyday") saying "Yeah, we're rolling." A piano player and a tenor saxophone player start to play some notes, and Holly mutters "Okay," and clears his throat. The producer yells "Quiet, boys!" to everyone else in the room, and at the very end of the talkback, the producer says "Pitch, Ernie" to signal the piano player to give Holly his starting note, a B-flat.

Along with "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and "Raining in My Heart", this song was recorded on what would be his last recording session before his death on February 3, 1959.

The session took place at the Pythian Temple on October 21, 1958.^[2] The personnel: Al Caiola on guitar, Sanford Block on bass, Ernie Hayes on piano, Doris Johnson on harp, Abraham Richman on sax, Clifford Leeman on drums, Sylvan Shulman, Leo Kruczek, Leonard Posner, Irving Spice, Ray Free, Herbert Bourne, Julius Held and Paul Winter on violins, David Schwartz and Howard Kay on violas, Maurice Brown and Maurice Bialkin on cellos.

Buddy Holly wrote "True Love Ways" for his wife, Maria Elena Holly, as a wedding gift. On April 29, 2011, she unveiled the never before seen "True Love Ways" photo of their wedding kiss, now displayed at P.J. Clarke's above Table 53, the very table where they became engaged while on their first date, on June 20, 1958.^[3]

Single releases

• USA: "True Love Ways" b/w "That Makes It Tough" (Coral C62210, June 29, 1960).^[4]
• UK: "True Love Ways" b/w "Moondreams" (Coral Q72397, 20 May 1960).

Mickey Gilley version

"True Love Ways"
Single by Mickey Gilley
from the album That's All That Matters to Me
B-side	"That's All That Matters to Me"
Released	1980
Genre	Country
Length	2:54
Label	Epic
Producer(s)	Jim Ed Norman
Mickey Gilley singles chronology
"A Little Gettin' Used To" (1979) "True Love Ways" (1980) "Stand by Me" (1980)

Mickey Gilley, country singer, released a successful cover version in 1980 (during the height of his popularity). Gilley's version reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart in July 1980.^[5]

Chart performance

Cliff Richard version

British pop singer Cliff Richard released a cover version in 1983. The recording is of a live performance at the Royal Albert Hall in 1982 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Richard's version reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1983 and was a hit in several other countries.^[6]

Chart performance

Other notable versions

1960 UK sheet music cover, Southern Music Ltd., London.

• Bobby Vee recorded the song on his 1963 album I Remember Buddy Holly.^[13]
• Frank Ifield recorded it in the UK as the B-side of his October 1964, hit "Summer Is Over", on Columbia DB 7355.
• Peter and Gordon's 1965 Capitol remake hit #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached #2 in the UK and #4 in Ireland, released in April 1965 on Columbia DB 7524.^[14]
• Dick Rivers, a French singer, recorded an adaptation (in French) as "Ne pleure pas" (1965)
• Gary Busey made a cover version of this song in the biographic film The Buddy Holly Story (1978) and its album.
• Ricky Nelson's version is recorded in winter 1978/1979, but was left unreleased from the album Rockabilly Renaissance. It was released in May 1986 after Nelson's death on the album Memphis sessions.
• Joan Jett in the film Light of Day (1987) performed the song.
• Johnny Mathis on the 1989 album In the Still of the Night.
• David Essex and Catherine Zeta-Jones made a duet on his 1994 album.
• The Mavericks covered the song on their 1996 tribute album, Not Fade Away (Remembering Buddy Holly).
• Aaron Watson recorded a version of the song on his 2006 album, San Angelo.
• My Morning Jacket covered the song for the tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly, released in June 2011.
• Jimmy Jones released the song as part of a 45 single.
• Skeeter Davis recorded the song in 1967.
• Martina McBride recorded the song in 2005.
• Jackson Browne recorded a cover version for his September 2011 tribute album, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly.
• A series of commercials for the product Panda Cheese, from the Egyptian company Arab Dairy, uses the Buddy Holly & The Picks version of the song as the theme tune of its unpredictable and destructive panda mascot. The commercials featuring the song became an instant hit in the internet and now an internet meme.^[15]

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Cliff Richard singles discography 1950s "Move It" "High Class Baby" (1958) "Livin' Lovin' Doll" "Mean Streak" "Living Doll" "Travellin' Light" (1959) 1960s "Please Don't Tease" "I Love You" (1960) "A Girl Like You" "When the Girl in Your Arms..." (1961) "The Young Ones" "I'm Looking Out the Window" "It'll Be Me" "The Next Time" / "Bachelor Boy" (1962) "Summer Holiday" "Lucky Lips" "It's All in the Game" (1963) "The Twelfth of Never" (1964) "The Minute You're Gone" (1965) "Blue Turns to Grey" "Visions" (1966) "All My Love" (1967) "Congratulations" (1968) "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" (1968) "Marianne" (1968) 1970s "Power to All Our Friends" (1973) "Miss You Nights" "Devil Woman" (1976) "We Don't Talk Anymore" (1979) 1980s "Suddenly" (1980) "True Love Ways" (1983) "Donna" (1984 US) "Ocean Deep" (1984) "Two to the Power of Love" (1984) "Living Doll" (1986) "All I Ask of You" (1986) "Mistletoe and Wine" (1988) "I Just Don't Have the Heart" "Whenever God Shines His Light" (1989) 1990s "Stronger Than That" (1990) "From a Distance" (1990) "Saviour's Day" (1990) "We Should Be Together" (1991) "All I Have to Do Is Dream" (live) (1994) "The Millennium Prayer" (1999) 2000s "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"/"What a Wonderful World" (medley) (2001) "When I Need You" (2007) "Thank You for a Lifetime" (2008) "Singing the Blues" (2009) Book:Cliff Richard