Jerry Allison dies: Crickets drummer who co-wrote Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” was 82

Jerry Ellison, the first rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly drummer who, as a member of The Crickets with Buddy Holly, wrote historic songs like “Peggy Sue” and “That’ll Be the Day”, is dead. He was 82 years old.

According to a post on Buddy Hall’s Facebook page, “Jay was a musician ahead of his time and his energy, ideas and exceptional skills have undoubtedly helped both the Crickets and rock ‘n’ roll succeed.

Allison, writes one reviewer, knew how to achieve an incredible variety of drum sounds, given the limitations of the equipment of the time, sometimes working with just one snare, cymbal, and kick (if that).

For example, his work on “Peggy Sue” includes a paradiddle, a percussive rudiment that combines single beats with precisely spaced double beats. It also included the title; “Peggy Sue” was originally named “Cindy Lou” in honor of Holly’s granddaughter. Allison changed her name in favor of her lover and later wife, Peggy Sue Geron.

On other tracks, Ellison’s creative input ranged from clapping or clapping to the modal flatness of drums or just playing a tom tom.

These skills were crucial to the formation of the band. Before cricket, teens Holly (vocals and guitar) and Allison (drums) honed their duo skills at the Lubbock Youth Center in Lubbock, Texas, where they grew up.

While “Peggy Sue” hit number 3 on the Billboard charts in 1957, “That’ll Be The Day”, which Alison wrote alongside Holly, hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that same year. .

After Hall was tragically killed in a plane crash in 1959, Ellison became a driving force in cricket. The band had various formations and later collaborated with artists such as Nancy Griffith, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Johnny Rivers and Waylon Jennings.

Ellison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of the Crickets.