The Picks - Post-Buddy Holly

Post-Buddy Holly

After Buddy’s tragic plane crash, the Picks quietly settled down outside the celebrity lifestyle and Bob Lapham became a successful newspaper editor. John and Bill (The Pickering Brothers) regrouped at Houston in 1969–1970 and released Nashville-recorded turntable hits for Pete Drake's Stop Records. Some of the six national Pickering Brothers' releases were "Proud Mary", "Words", "Going Down to the River" and their own version of "Oh, Boy!". Some of the Buddy Holly and The Picks albums also contain the Picks' versions of "Words" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" from those sessions at Nashville, as well as Houston-recorded Buddy Holly Tributes written by John Pickering, entitled "Buddy Holly Not Fade Away" and "Forever 22". They represent great respect for the late, great Buddy Holly, the incomparable real star of all his recordings. In 1971, the Pickering Brothers were managed and produced on the Daffan Record label in Houston by Songwriter Hall-of-Famer Ted Daffan, writer of "Born To Lose", Worried Mind", and many other monster hit songs. Unfortunately, the Pickering Brothers' career as a duet came to an abrupt stop on October 8, 1973 when Bill Pickering suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm. John Pickering, however, continued as a solo artist, releasing on Pick Records "The Picks 25th Anniversary" cassette tape for fan clubs. At first comatose, blind, and unable to sing for a long time afterwards, Bill Pickering survived, regained his vision, and recovered his high tenor voice prior to 1984.