Formation
Holly had been making demo recordings with local musician friends since 1954. Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison, and Larry Welborn participated in these sessions. In 1956 Holly's band (then known informally as Buddy and the Two Tones (meaning Buddy Holly with Sonny Curtis and Don Guess), posthumous releases refer to The Three Tunes) recorded an album's worth of rockabilly numbers in Nashville, Tennessee for Decca; the records were no more than mildly successful, and the band didn't hit pay dirt until 1957, when producer and recording engineer Norman Petty hosted Holly's sessions in Clovis, New Mexico.
Holly had already recorded for another label under his own name, so to avoid legal problems he needed a new name for his group. As the Crickets recalled in John Goldrosen's book The Buddy Holly Story, they were inspired by other groups named after birds. They were then considering insects-centered names, apparently unaware of the Bronx R&B vocal group The Crickets, who recorded for Jay-Dee. It is worth noting that they almost chose the name "Beetles". Years later, The Beatles chose their band name partly in homage to The Crickets.
The Crickets were lead guitarist and vocalist Buddy Holly, drummer Jerry Allison, bassist Joe B. Mauldin, and rhythm guitarist Niki Sullivan. Sullivan dropped out after a little more than one year to resume his education. The Crickets, now a trio, continued to make stage and TV appearances, and recorded more songs, many composed by the band members themselves.
Read more about this topic: The Crickets
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