Review:

El Toro pursues its superb work of reissue of Buddy Holly's complete recordings. Three cd's have been necessary to gather every sides Buddy played on in 1957.
The amount of work is impressive both from Holly and 50 years later from the label. 1957 was the year of That Be The Day, Words Of Love, Peggy Sue, Maybe Baby and many more In addition to those classics you'll find demos (a rough one of Words Of Love), early versions (an interesting take of Maybe Baby in its early stage of conception), alternative takes (Peggy Sue, with 4 takes you can assist at the creation of Mona), every known live appearances (That'll Be The Day and Peggy Sue on the Ed Sullivan Show).
The undubbed versions are also present giving back those jewels their original splendour. Hardcore fans would be pleased to find a couple of interviews and promotional recordings for DJ's with new lyrics adapted to the radio stations.
A touching moment is to hear Buddy's phone call to Paul Cohen of Decca records about his contract. The rest of the sides are made of artists Holly and the Crickets backed, mainly hillbilly boppers but also pop and country tunes and even a Cha cha.
As anecdotic as they could sound they are none the less essential to understand the evolution of the band and reveal a relatively unknown side of the boys. I'm waiting for the 1958 package eagerly.
Fred Turgis - Jumpin from 6 to 6

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