Modern Don Juan/ You Are My One Desire

Here's a beautiful promo copy of Buddy Holly's second single release, following the equally unsuccessful Decca single, "Blue Days, Black Nights." As it turns out, Decca had contracted with Holly after seeing him as a warm-up act for Bill Haley & the Comets a few months earlier, but they apparently didn't really believe in his potential. With little promotion, none of the tunes he recorded for Decca got much airplay, and sold even fewer copies. One of those tunes was a little ditty called "That'll Be The Day." After the two singles failed, Decca released Holly from his contract and he went on to sign with Brunswick with his band's name ("Crickets") to get around a restriction Decca placed on him when letting his contract expire. He also wanted to record as Buddy Holly, though, so he also signed with Coral Records and released his "Buddy Holly" singles there.

"Modern Don Juan" is a delightful early rockabilly number and a must-have rarity for Holly fans. After the guitar rave-up in the instrumental bridge, Holly sings the verse in a style that will soon become his trademark: With a kind of grin in his voice and a proto-hiccup on display. The songs Holly recorded for Decca were packaged up and released by Decca in 1958 on the album That'll Be The Day.

Note: This single is from a large collection we've purchased whose records typically have mint or near-mint audio and near-mint vinyl. The labels are near mint as well, but the owner had a habit of writing a date in small print on the B side label. The audio on this promo copy is pristine!