It's So Easy [UPDATED with Hot Tuna clip]

Buddy Holly wrote "It's So Easy" in the summer of 1958, recording it at the Clovis, New Mexico, studio of Norman Petty, who took partial writing credit. (Petty, btw, has been credited with introducing Holly to the optometrist who supplied the famous eye glasses.) It was released that August and did not chart. It was the last release in Holly's lifetime. The recording features Tommy Allsup, who was not an original Cricket, on lead guitar. Allsup lost a coin flip to Ritchie Valens for the last seat on the doomed flight from Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 3, 1959 -- the day the music died. Don't miss Allsup's story at the bottom of the post.

Although it was not one of Holly's most memorable numbers -- in fact, it was a B-side -- Linda Ronstadt recorded a cover in 1977 that reached number 5 on the Hot 100 (with the great Waddy Wachtel on guitar and backup vocal.) After that, many covers followed.

Wikipedia says that Holly lip synced the song on American Bandstand, but I cannot find a clip.

Waddy plays on this cut, too, but he doesn't sing (for good reason):

Hot Tuna, audio only (h/t David Rosenfeld)

 

Comments

[David Rosenfeld]

A small tidbit: "It's so Easy" was recorded by Hot Tuna (primarily Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassady formerly of Jefferson Airplane) on their album Hoppkorv released in October 1976, a year before Rondstadt released her version. Don't know if that was the inspiration for Rondstadt's recording.

[Steve L.]

Thanks, David. I have added an audio clip.

[Chuck Hardin]

It's amazing when you think about it that a rockabilly artist from Lubbock, Texas had such a seminal influence as illustrated here by the breadth of talent covering "It's So Easy."

[anon]

The Beatles liked Elvis, Holly, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Little Richard etc. because that was the music they grew up loving: just as Lubet is showing us his nostalgia here in these pages.

The Baby Boomers, in their youth, initiated a flowering of creativity unlike perhaps any other era, certainly nothing like that has been seen since.

That fact is given too little attention, in this era of angry old Boomers who have forgotten everything that they supposedly stood for in their youth, cling to power into their eighties, and now just sound like a bunch of party hacks: like Kennedy said, holding onto the tail in front of them in their circus parade, though he was speaking of the Republicans of the time.

Despite the undeniable creativity of the era of the Baby Boomers youth, however, there was always a great big dose of conformity in these folks. That big crowd at Woodstock included a whole bunch of folks who were just going along. This persists today.

If Holly was cool, then it was cool to do Holly. Cultural influence is a funny thing. It means different things to different people.

Today, in the world the BOomers have created, we have plenty of their nostalgic creations: Marvel from the 60s, residences at Vegas for sixty plus year old once weres, etc.

But, what of the environment they have created for creativity?

I'd love to hear the claim by Pelosi, Schumer, Biden etc. that their youthful attitudes and tolerant attitudes of those of their party have created the sort of environment that existed in the 60s and that fostered teh sort of music, movies and such that Lubet looks back on so lovingly.