Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When the world of music lost Buddy Holly in a plane crash that took three of the brightest stars in American culture, he was only 22. Given good health he probably would have still been with us today and no doubt enjoying a little stage time or at least sitting in a corner and being a true inspiration and mentor to a whole generation of musicians to whom the 1950s is as alien and remote as playing outside all day and not coming home till it gets dark.

In Buddy Holly and The Cricketers, now celebrating 21 years as a touring act showcasing some of the songs that kick started a whole new culture, that memory is kept alive in a country that was not privileged to have the authentic article knock on its door and ask to entertain the populace.

With Dean Elliott as the tall, wiry, good humoured musician and surrounded by a group of very talented musicians who certainly know their stuff, the evening goes by in a whirl of competing thoughts that argue in the music lover’s mind. Music of any age should be preserved at all costs, no matter the genre, it is vital to understand where we have got to because of our love of certain songs. It also has to be played well, perfectly and with a smile somewhere in the room for it to still be meaningful to those who fall in love with it.

Thankfully Buddy Holly and The Cricketers fulfil the criteria with aplomb and not content with playing the most famous of Buddy Holly’s music, such as Peggy Sue, That’ll Be The Day, Rave On, Oh Boy! and It Doesn’t Matter Anymore but also some of the other tracks that made the period between the end of World War Two and the coming of the British music invasion of America such a great time for many music fans. In particular the band did a stirring version of Richie Valen’s La Bamba which, alongside Buddy’s music, encapsulated the period perfectly.

Buddy Holly would have been 77 now and probably, undoubtedly would have been even more thought of and revered but for a split second of sheer tragedy. In Buddy Holly and The Cricketers, the music, the man, is kept alive and gives a hell of a show.

Ian D. Hall