This DVD is very good in that as others have commented it gets behind what really did happen in Lubbock and Clovis in those early years with contributions from many who worked with Buddy Holly from the start and as his career took off. The contributions of Jerry Allison, Sonny West and Tommy Allsup in particular shine for their comprehensiveness and honesty but the sheer range of all interviewed including the lady who was the original inspiration for Peggy Sue and many instructive comments on Norman Petty's studio and recording techniques is what impresses. In addition it is all very well edited together plus a good narration by Paul Gambaccini as scripted by Barry Barnes. Also the ultimate tragedy of the ill organised 1959 Winter Tour in the mid west and how it really was for the performers, is covered in much more detail than I have ever seen before, including the immediate after effect of Buddy's death as felt by all those who are still alive. If anything the whole story in its two hours captures brilliantly how everything happened so quickly and then was over leaving a big void that in truth only became fully recognised much later.
Many have commented that the three live performances from the Ed Sullivan show included are well known and there is little new live material here. The sad truth seems to be that there is little if much else to capture. From the US all other film recordings I have seen are amateur recordings without sound and one assumes there is nothing from the Australian Tour. UK television who during their UK tour televised the group's appearance on the Sunday Night at London Palladium (the UK's closest equivalent to Ed Sullivan) was guilty of a dire short term view with the endless reusing of tapes meaning this and many other historic early rock and roll shows televised in the UK were permanently lost for ever. However that is offset by many home movie images of life in Texas, New Mexico and the Winter Tour that bring to life the story being told.
Yet at the end having watched this DVD a few times now and while agreeing it is easily the best film biography to date on Buddy Holly, the claim in the title that it is the definitive story is hard to accept. This is because of the lack of appearances by any close members of the Holley or Petty families, other contemporaries mentioned in the film who are still alive (Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Dion and the Belmonts), or Buddy's widow Maria Elena, and little coverage of the business dealings that plagued Holly as he sought to break free of Clovis and led to the need for him to accept the fatal Winter tour to survive financially in 1959. Many of these matters are referred to briefly in passing but without their inclusion for me they deny this DVD being the full story from all I have read on Buddy Holly's life.
Spitzenrezensionen aus anderen Ländern
Siriam
Very good but not quite as definitive as claimed
Rezension aus dem Vereinigten Königreich vom 26. November 2009The Country Grumpkin
Still not fading away... Buddy and The Crickets on DVD
Rezension aus dem Vereinigten Königreich vom 24. Februar 2009
alan walter
Great insights into Buddy's world
Rezension aus Kanada am 24. September 2009