abstract
| - %22Peggy Sue%22 is a rock and roll song written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty, and originally performed, recorded and released as a single by Holly in early July of 1957. The Crickets are not mentioned on the single (Coral 9-61885) but both Joe B. Mauldin (string bass) and Jerry Allison (drums) are on the recording. The song was also released on Buddy Holly's eponymous 1958 album. The song is ranked #194 on the Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.The song was originally called %22Cindy Lou%22, and was named for Buddy's niece, the daughter of his sister Pat Holley Kaiter. The title was later changed to %22Peggy Sue%22 in reference to Crickets drummer Jerry Allison's girlfriend (and future wife), Peggy Sue Gerron, with whom he had recently had a temporary breakup.Appropriately, Allison played a prominent role in the production of the song, playing paradiddles on the drums throughout the song, the drums' sound rhythmically fading in and out as a result of real-time engineering techniques by the producer, Norm Petty. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum placed the song on its list of the %22songs that shaped rock and roll%22.The song went to #3 on the Billboard Top 100 chart in 1957. The song is currently ranked as the 106th greatest song of all time, as well as the third best song of 1957, by Acclaimed Music. In 1999, National Public Radio (NPR) included %22Peggy Sue%22 on the NPR 100, a list of %22The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century%22. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
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