#371: The Crickets - The "Chirping" Crickets (1957)

Zack: It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these at this point, so please forgive me if I don’t quite remember what I’m supposed to do. If memory serves, I believe I normally say some random fact I looked up on Wikipedia, give a #hotmusictake, then make some terrible pun and call it a day. Starting with phase one, I think it’s relatively common knowledge that The Crickets were essentially just a Buddy Holly vehicle. But it’s actually a bit more ridiculous than that. By the time he was 19, Holly was already a blossoming rock star stemming from his tours opening for Elvis Freaking Presley (actual name, check the birth certificate). The Crickets were created because Holly’s manager figured that radio stations would be willing to play more Buddy Holly music if they got to say a different name each time. So, basically, The Crickets were a vehicle for the public to overdose of a guy who was just exiting his teenage years. Chirping Crickets has a lot of virtues, but I think my favorite was (we’re now in phase 2) that it was only 28 minutes long. As a culture, we need more 30-minute albums. Thirty-minute albums are never disappointing. It’s just too easy to produce 30 minutes of quality music. And the Crickets really nailed the 30-minute album formula here. Chirping Crickets isn’t particularly incredible, instead hovering right in that solid formative rock and roll zone where the music is solid but not particularly adrenaline inducing. But it’s very well contained, and ends up being something you can hop around to (conclude phase 3).

Favorite Tracks: That’ll Be the Day; Last Night; Oh, Boy!

Emily: How appropriate that we're reviewing this review on October 26, 2015 - Back to the Future Day! Today officially marks the day where all of the Back to the Future trilogy takes place in the "past." Though we don't have hoverboards yet, the Cubs could go to the World Series, so at least part of their predictions came true. I don't actually prefer the "future" part of Back to the Future 2 - the far superior movie is the first one, where Marty McFly goes back to the '50s to make sure that his parents get together so the timeline to his life stays intact. Along the way, he "introduces" rock and roll to the world (aka a high school dance) in 1955. The '50s were a simpler time, where a time-traveler from 1985 could show the musical world what they were missing. Never mind that, by that time, Buddy Holly was already opening for Elvis and was just a couple years away from becoming a rock and roll star in his own right. The Crickets were essentially a Buddy Holly star vehicle, and their debut album here showcases the new style of rock and roll he brought to soda shops and sock hops around the country. The songs are short and simple, switching between up-tempo dance songs and slower ballads with accompanying harmonies. This album may seem out of place in today's hoverboardless world, but it's definitely worth a listen for going Back in Time.

Favorite Tracks: Oh, Boy!; That'll Be the Day; It's Too Late

#291: Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956)

Emily: I'm kind of surprised it took us nearly 300 albums to get to Elvis, because when you think (okay, when I think) of rock and roll in the '50s, Elvis is who immediately comes to mind. Just think about it: in a soda shop, with girls in poodle skirts - Elvis has to be playing on the jukebox. His music really defined the era by taking rock and roll to the mainstream. From this self-titled debut album, it's easy to see why it caught on. The songs are breezy and catchy, with blues rhythms that take out the emotion and replace them with upbeat rockabilly. It's a simple formula to get heads turning and toes tapping. This formula didn't start with Elvis, but he definitely honed it in his early career. And in all walks of pop-music life, it's been imitated ever since.
Favorite Tracks: Blue Suede Shoes; Blue Moon; Tutti Frutti

Zack: I listened to this album while organizing my loose change into those little sleeve things since apparently my local bank exists in a parallel universe where there aren’t coin counting machines, perhaps one where this album was just released. The task was mindless in just the right way that I was able to still focus on the album completely, which is good since my first real exposure to Elvis was through his ongoing beef with Eminem. It was very brisk and had a certain classic feel to it. All of the songs were sort of…simple. All the songs are about either seducing a girl, being in love with a girl, or having your heart broken by a girl (which I’m now referring to as the songwriter life cycle). Obviously Elvis didn’t invent the music he’s so strongly associated with from scratch and it isn’t fair to just say that this is a starting point in popular rock and roll, but what’s notable about Elvis Presley the album and the artist more generally is how sturdy a foundation was left for everyone that followed. I liked Elvis’s debut as an album, but I really appreciated it more as a blueprint for everything else that came after.

Favorite Songs: Blue Suede Shoes; I Love You Because; Tutti Frutti