Buddy Holly Early life Charles Hardin Holley was born in Lubbock, Texas to Lawrence Odell and Ella Pauline (Drake) Holley on Labor Day, 1936. The Holleys were a musical family, and as a boy Holley learned to play piano, guitar, and violin. His singing won him a talent contest at age five. Holly was always called Buddy by his family. In 1949, he made a recording of Hank Snow's "My Two Timin' Woman" on a wire recorder "borrowed" by a friend who worked in a music shop, his first known recording. Also that year, he met Bob Montgomery at Hutchinson Junior High School. They shared an interest in music and teamed up as "Buddy and Bob". Initially influenced by bluegrass music, they sang harmony duets at local clubs and high school talent shows. Hutchinson Junior High School now has a mural honoring him, and Lubbock High School also honors the late musician. Holly sang in the Lubbock High School Choir. The Crickets Holly saw Elvis Presley sing in Lubbock in 1955 and began to incorporate a rockabilly style into his music, which gradually evolved into rock music. On October 15, he opened on the same bill with Presley in Lubbock, catching the eye of a Nashville talent scout.Holly's transition to rock continued when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets at a local show organized by Eddie Crandall, the manager for Marty Robbins. Following this performance, Decca Records signed him to a contract in February 1956, misspelling his name as "Holly". He adopted it for his professional career. Holly formed his own band, which would later be called the Crickets. It consisted of Holly (lead guitar and vocalist), Niki Sullivan (guitar), Joe B. Mauldin (bass), and Jerry Allison (drums). They went to Nashville for three recording sessions with producer Owen Bradley.However, he chafed under a restrictive atmosphere that allowed him little input.Among the tracks he recorded was an early version of "That'll Be The Day", which took its title from a line that John Wayne's character says repeatedly in the 1956 film, The Searchers. (This initial version of the song played more slowly and about half an octave higher than the later hit version.) Decca chose to release two singles, "Blue Days, Black Nights" and "Modern Don Juan", which failed to make an impression. On January 22, 1957, Decca informed Holly that his contract would not be renewed,insisting however that he could not record the same songs for anyone else for five years.