yeah buddy package

Jim Reports, "The original 2000 release of "Yeah, Buddy! (black and white cover) did very well for us Runaway kids, and helped us to gain our first international fans. Seems nobody had tried interpreting Holly tunes using bluegrass instrumentation to flavor country/rock rhythm tracks. We let the banjo be heard. But while we were tracking YB! I knew that my studio was soon to graduate from an 8 track tape format to 24 tracks of digital. Each song on the original YB! existed on 2 seperate reels, the 2nd reel containing a stereo submix of the music on the 1st reel (this is how the Beatles made Sg. Pepper). Scott and I mixed the first YB! with 8 tracks tied behind our backs. Zoom forward in time to 2010 when Scott and I painstakingly reunited all the performances onto 24 track digital (George Martin did this with the recent Beatles release "Love") and I set out to make the new Anniversary Edition as deep and wide and clear and profound as I knew how. Only took 16 months! I wish I was still working on it, but I'm really proud of the final record. I told Larry Holley that I planned to dust this thing off every 10 years to re-sing and revisit these wonderful songs and he said, "I don't believe you can make it better." He should know. He gave his kid brother Buddy 10 bucks to buy a banjo in 1954!

Concerning the original tracking of YB!, one might want to click on "The Jack Len Tape" below. You'll read a rather amazing story that involves a rare recording of John Lennon and Mick Jagger that found its way into Jim's studio - with perfect timing. Mick and John lovingly stumble through all the Buddy tunes they can think of. Good story. It's a published article and everything!

Jim again: "In 2004, after being convinced that the original YB! was a good idea, we noticed that we had left out a couple of decent tunes on the first disc. Obscure and simple little ditties like "Peggy Sue", "Rave On", "Oh, Boy", "True Love Ways" and "Not Fade Away", to name a few. And, we had 24 tracks by then! Enter "Oh, Boy!".

ohboypckge

The original “Yeah, Buddy!” took a slight bluegrass/country approach, conceived and inspired in the slickrock country of Utah. Jim, Salli and Ernie were taking in the sights at Canyonlands National Park one fall day when each scenic overlook became a spontaneous jam session, and each session yielded a few more Holly songs that sounded great with Ernie’s banjo. Buddy’s early musical influences were, after all, Hank Williams, Flatt and Scruggs and Bill Monroe, and he played both banjo and mandolin. Peggy Sue said Buddy had a ‘country soul’. Runaway made a record of Holly songs with bluegrass overtones. To the surprise of some that musical marriage worked, and “YB!” did too. "That's why we couldn’t resist doing it again with "Oh, Boy!", he said.

“Oh, Boy! (another yeah, buddy)” spotlighted Jim's Bo Diddley-influenced Buddy tribute tune ‘Caprock’. “Oh, Boy!” was less influenced by bluegrass, and contained powerful, contemporary arrangements with a folk-rock and roots-Americana flair. Big drums, multiple harmonies, all sorts of acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, pedal steels, dobros and flutes swirl around in a joyful party atmosphere. A most flavorful West Texas gumbo! A celebration of Buddy Holly and those innovative ‘50s cats who built rock & roll from the ground up. “Oh, Boy!” and "Yeah, Buddy! Anniversary Edition" are not nostalgic romps in the past. There are no poodle skirts in sight. They're pure, modern-day, 21st century, love song-filled, smile-inducing musical extravaganzas of joy and rock & roll passion. These records beg to be played loud, and the neighbors won’t mind.

See more:
Yeah, Buddy! CD
Yeah, Buddy! video
About Yeah, Buddy!
Oh, Boy! CD
Lance Monthly Interview
Jack Len Tape
The Colorado Springs Independant article
Lubbock Magazine article
The Villager article

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Raven Recording
P.O. Box 2333
Englewood, Colorado 80150 USA

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send email             phone Jim at 303-720-5789

Now available on CD, recently re-mastered Runaway projects from the 80s; including Cadillac Dreams, Headed West, Kansas Skies, and 0. Each of these lengthy albums (from 64 to 96 minutes) is available for $15. Only by mail.