Author:
Chase (rolling eyes)
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Date Posted: Sun February 03, 2008 10:04:52
In reply to:
Hollybrother
's message, "Buddy-Ed Sullivan Show" on Sun February 03, 2008 02:14:42
Oh, please.
This is one of those stories (first told by Jerry Allison in Goldrosen's bio) that, because it comes from somebody who was there and can't be either corroborated or debunked by contemporary, independent documentation, falls into the category of (at best) "unproven" along with the myths of Norman Petty trying to sabotage Buddy's career and finances after Buddy moved to New York, or Buddy wanting to divorce Maria Elena to marry Peggy Sue.
It seems, sadly, that the reminisces of the major players in the Buddy Holly story are largely worthless because there are too many biases, grudges, axes to grind coloring their memories, and/or they tell stories that simply do not accord with known facts.
Bill has established, with documentary proof, that Norman Petty was not the ogre toward Buddy in the fall and winter of 1958 that Maria Elena and the Crickets would have us believe.
As for Ed Sullivan, yes, he could feud with others, most famously with comedian Jackie Mason. But he invited Buddy and the Crickets onto his show not once, not twice, but three times, if Alllison's own account is true. And if you take that account as gospel, you need to also accept that after the second appearance, Sullivan invited him back for a third! Buddy supposedly turned Sullivan down--not Sullivan turning Buddy down--because, as Allison would quote him, "we don't need him."
The fact is that Ed Sullivan, talentless himself, had a very deep respect for talent and sought to showcase it on television. Everyone knows how Ed featured Elvis Presley several times, giving him exposure to the vast audience (much larger than that watching the Dorsey Brothers show). Much less known is that Sullivan's people went to Harlem, having heard word of a new talent performing in clubs there, and actually "discovered" and showcased Bo Diddley before the nation.
Ed's attitude toward rock 'n' roll was highly favorable in contrast to so many others of the day--Arthur Godfrey and Steve Allen, to name just a few. (Allen's having Elvis sing "Hound Dog" to a real hound dog, or reading "Be-Bop-a-Lula" lyrics as if they were a Shakespearian sonnet, may seem funny today, but they reflected Allen's deep antipathy toward rock 'n' roll.
Bottom line? Until proven beyond doubt, I believe this story is just more axe-grinding.
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