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This great Buddy Holly song is presented with the full lyrics and chords, so you can play or sing along with me and learn how to perform this great tune. A song sheet can also be viewed or downloaded from my songbook blog here: jezquaylesongb...
Rock 'n' roll songs like this can be pretty easy to play: just three, easy chords (G, C and D in this case) ...or four chords, if you count the occasional G7 (you don't need to play this chord). As with many Buddy Holly songs, some of the chord changes are pretty quick though.
Although this is considered a Buddy Holly song, it was actually written by Sonny West and released as a single by him on Atlantic Records in February 1958. The title of the song and its hook were inspired by a line from Carl Perkins' 1956 song 'Dixie Fried', in which Carl sings ''Rave on, children I'm with you!', 'Rave on cats!' he cried'. Holly recorded his version of the song later that same year. It was one of six Buddy Holly recordings that charted in 1958.
I think this may have been the first Buddy Holly song I heard when I was a young kid in the mid 1970s -- it got me hooked on Holly!
Available records suggest that Al Caiola played lead guitar on 'Rave On', Donald Arnone played rhythm guitar, and Buddy Holly chose not to play guitar but to concentrate on his singing. These are the published sources from which I learned this:
- ‘The Words and Music of Buddy Holly: His Songs and Interviews’ by Bill Griggs (page 34). Bill Griggs was the founder of the Buddy Holly Memorial Society.
- ‘Buddy Holly: The Complete Works’ by Marc Alesina - this can be viewed online at: buddyholly.pag... (accessed 16th April 2021)
- ‘Buddy Holly: Learning the Game’ by Spencer Leigh - This book includes excerpts from an interview with Sonny West (writer of ‘Rave On’) who states “It has a syncopated rhythm that is different from the way I did it. The way they did it sold the song and Buddy was not playing the guitar, he was only singing” (page 81)
- 'Not Fade Away: The Life and Music of Buddy Holly' by John Gribbin (p. 111)
I think I heard it mentioned in a TV documentary too, but that’ll take me longer to identify.