Praying in the Church of Buddy Holly

V1 It was in a plane they died / Get to the gig they tried

The fans all cried and cried and cried

But they live on and on / Always fresh always young

they all went too soon all went too soon

BR1 it might have been the fog that caused the trouble

Lost in a storm and crashed down on the mountainside

But the heroes who are gone became immortal

Living in our hearts and now we want to play our part

Chorus 1] So now we’re praying in the church of Buddy Holly

Genuflecting to the King

Riding on the storm with Jim and Eddie

By Making all our vintage guitars ring

Now we’re pounding on the skins like John and Mooney

Worshiping our dear departed Hank

Trying to make it sound just like the record

And hoping it will take us to the bank

V2 Forever twenty two / Clean cut and a nice suit

Taken far too young Far too young

tragically lost / they paid the final cost

Legends for all time for all time

BR2 Risky out on stage it was quite shocking

10 hours on a greyhound bus

Take the desert road to get to vegas

The decades’ cast a lasting spell on us

CH2 So Now We’re in a purple haze again with Jimi

Laying flowers at the shrine to marc / Walking in the fields of gold with eva

And re-creating Woodstock in the park

Now we’re sacrificing our new merc to Janis

I dedicate my amp to SRV / Got a little band on a cruise liner

To play the hits is just enough for me

MID 8 Yeah we’re We’re praying in the church - wah wah ......

Yeah we’re playing in the church ..... [RPT Chorus1]

Composition Notes: The words started off about all the rock stars that have died young either through a tragic accident, illness or from the effects of some kind of substance. This was provisionally titled "all the dead heroes" because dying young leads to a kind of immortality in the rock world. So I namecheck Elvis, Jim Morrison, Eddie Cochran, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Marc Bolan, Eva Cassidy, Janis Joplin and Stevie Ray Vaughan in the lyric

But then I realised that all of us amateurs and semi-pros glorified the originators of the songs we play almost to the extent of a religion so hence "The Church of Buddy Holly". Quite a few players in covers bands I have met are obsessed with recreating the sound of the original records which of course in most cases is impossible and only leads to frustration. My own view is that if you want to hear the record well just put the record on!

For the solo section the feel goes into swing, modulates a few times and when the chorus returns it's in a completely different key. The feeling this song gives me takes me back to watching the film Woodstock in the 70's when I fell in love the with the guitar stars I saw.

Recorded November 2015