The Crickets were the backing band formed by singer/songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s.
The Crickets chose their name while listning to a playback of "I'm gonna Love you too." A cricket was chirping in a garage that contained a speaker used for an echo effect, and could be heard at the end of the song. Holly's manager and owner of the studio decided to keep the chirping.
The band personnel were drummer Jerry Allison, bassist Joe B. Mauldin , and rhythm guitarist Niki Sullivan . Sullivan dropped out within a year. He wasn't comfortable with the amount of traveling and to a lesser extent, he didn't fit in with Jerry and Joe. For the same reason, Jerry and Joe were not backing Holly after he moved to NYC. But after about 4 months, a reunion was planned to start after Holly's winter tour through the northern mid-west was completed. It was on that tour that Holly was killed in a plane crash.
The Crickets (Jerry and Joe) continued to record on their own with guitarist Sonny Curtis and vocalist Earl Sinks .
Remnants was released in 1973 with band members Allison, Mauldin, Albert Lee, Rik Grech , Steve Krikorian (later known as Tonio K), Carol Montgomery, and Nick VanMaarth .
In 1988, The Crickets (Allison, Mauldin, and Gordon Payne ) received a good amount of airplay with their single "T-Shirt," produced by lifelong Holly fan and former Beatle, Paul McCartney.
Discography
- In Style With the Crickets (1960)
- Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets (1962)
- Something Old, Something New (1963)
- California Sun (1964)
- Rock Reflections (1971)
- Remnants (1973)
- Bubblegum, Pop, Ballads & Boogie (1973)
- Long Way from Lubbock (1975)
- Back in Style (1975)
- T Shirt (1989)
- Cover to Cover (1995)
- The Original (1996)
- Rockin (2000)
- Crickets & Their Buddies (2004)