The Crickets
The Crickets & Their Buddies

(Sovereign)

First Appeared in The Music Box, May 2005, Volume 12, #5

Written by John Metzger

Forty-seven years after The Crickets released its groundbreaking and highly influential debut, the legendary band, which still features founding members J.J. Allison and bass player Joe B. Mauldin, reconvened with an all-star cast to update a career-spanning suite of material for a new set titled The Crickets & Their Buddies. Indeed, everyone — from Eric Clapton to John Prine, from J. D. Souther to Nanci Griffith, and from Waylon Jennings to Bobby Vee — lent a hand in crafting the endeavor, which draws from The Crickets work both with and without Buddy Holly. The end result, however, is more of a tasteful, reverential tribute to the past than it is a bold, new beginning.

For the record, much of The Crickets & Their Buddies is enjoyable, and only two of its 15 tracks — Vince Neil’s cringe-inducing romp through I Fought the Law and The Crickets’ newly penned and ridiculously corny autobiographical tune The Real Buddy Holly Story — are truly dreadful. The problem, though, is that the bulk of the collection hardly could be called innovative or imaginative, and too frequently, the songs are polished to the point where they lack the youthful, free-spirited exuberance of the original renditions. In other words, The Crickets & Their Buddies offers a fond reminiscence, but it is a far cry from an essential experience. ½

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Ratings

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2005 The Music Box