It's So Easy!/ Lonesome Tears

Wow! Here it is... A beautiful, Near Mint original pressing of this rare Buddy Holly single (credited to The Crickets). This is the first such copy I've run across since my collecting passion took over in 1970. You simply have to blame Brunswick for the fact that this key Buddy Holly-penned rocker failed to register on the U.S. Pop charts in 1958. Part of the failure, I suppose, was because Brunswick was contractually stuck using the "Crickets" name for singles like this, while Coral got to use "Buddy Holly," which had become better known since "Peggy Sue" was a hit. I'm sure the split personality between labels was a generally bad idea for the artist's career.

With the original 45, you get another dynamite, self-penned rocker on the B side — one I've never heard in all these years of collecting Buddy Holly.

Another thing you get is the knowledge that the song's title has an exclamation mark at the end. You never see that on reissues, compilations, or even in Joel Whitburn's essential Top Pop Singles reference book, where he lists the title as just "It's So Easy" in the "Classic Non-Hit Songs" section under Buddy Holly. Linda Ronstadt, who arguably made the song famous, does not exclaim the title in her 1977 hit cover. Neither does Goldmine in their 45 records price guide. And yet... The exclamation point is so right!

Note: This copy comes in a vintage Brunswick Records factory sleeve. The B side label is pristine, and the A side is very close, held back by a couple of small color-flecks on the inside of the hole (see scan). The vinyl is graded a strong Excellent, as it shows a bit more wear than a Near Mint record would. I'm grading the audio Near Mint because it's so gorgeous, distortion-free, and mostly noise-free; however, the "Near" part reflects a handful of spots on both sides where light surface noise briefly intrudes, mainly near the beginning.