Major Label Douchebaggery From The ’50s

Fifty-one years ago this past Wednesday, a plane carrying rock legends Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Ritchie Valens crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa killing all three musicians and the pilot. Not only did we lose three incredible artists, but we also lost a shrewd businessman in the form of Buddy Holly. The record labels held all the power in those early days of rock and roll, so it took a bit of inventiveness for artists to get what they wanted.

Buddy Holly – The Phone Call

The video above contains a recording Holly made of a conversation with Decca Records executive Paul Cohen in which Buddy tried to get the rights to release recordings he made for the label. Decca doesn’t have much interest in releasing Holly’s music but has even less interest in letting Holly release his material elsewhere. Despite Cohen’s douchebaggery Buddy remains cool, calm and extremely respectful. Eventually, Holly did get his music released by putting it out under “The Crickets” moniker and went on to achieve fame and commercial success before that fateful night in Iowa. Listening to stuff like this makes us feel better about major labels getting their asses handed to them these days. [Hypebot via The Daily Swarm]