Remembering Buddy

The authors trace the career of Buddy Holly, the West Texas rock 'n' roller in great detailhis youth in Lubbock, early performances, the formation of his group the Crickets, the fame that followed the hit song ""That'll Be the Day'' (based on a line spoken by John Wayne in The Searchers) and the plane crash that killed him in 1959. Holly's ``hold on his fans is to be explained by his very humanity,'' the authors maintain, and, appropriately, they take pains to separate fact from legend. The book concludes with a look at the current ``Holly Renaissance.'' A superb collection of 160 illustrations (photos, maps, clippings, ads, etc.) is spoiled in part because they are reproduced in miniature to fit within the pages' outer margins. Nevertheless, this is indeed the ``definitive biography,'' based on years of obsessive research, including 22,000 miles on the road logged by Goldrosen while interviewing friends and acquaintances of Holly. Complete discography. (September)