Bob Montgomery

Bob Montgomery was songwriting partner and best friend of Buddy Holly, performing together as the duo 'Buddy and Bob'.

In 1949 Bob Montgomery met Buddy Holly at Hutchison Jr. High. Billed as 'Buddy and Bob', they played junior high assemblies and local radio shows. Classmates included Jerry Allison, who later became one of the original Crickets.

Buddy and Bob became Lubbock's leading performers. Between 1950 and 1952, they performed at local clubs and high school talent shows, with Bob usually singing lead. When Buddy occasionally would sing lead, you'd hear a less country sound.

By the time Buddy and Bob entered high school, they were widening their audience, performing music they dubbed 'Western and Bop'. Local radio stations also gave impetus to Buddy and Bob's career. KDAV, the nation's first all-country radio station, held a weekly show where Buddy and Bob's popularity grew so much they were given their own half-hour program each Sunday. Their repertoire remained basically country with Bob Montgomery still singing lead.

At every opportunity, the boys would cut demonstration records. Generally, they invited local musicians, including Larry Welborn on bass and Sonny Curtis on guitar, to join them. They sent their 'demos' to record companies, hoping they'd be offered a recording contract.

"We thought if you got a record contract," Montgomery remembers, "you were automatically rich. We had seen the country artists come through here in their Cadillacs with Tennessee license plates and we thought all you had to do was get on a record and you had it made." In addition to airing the 'Sunday Party', KDAV also sponsored live country and early rock 'n' roll concerts in Lubbock. The station often chose the 'western and bop' duo to open the shows, which headlined stars like Ferlin Husky, Marty Robbins, Porter Wagoner...even Elvis.

One of these performances played a crucial role in the advancement of Buddy's career. On October 14, 1955, Bill Haley and the Comets starred in a show at the Fair Park Auditorium." Eddie Crandall, Marty Robbins' manager, spoke to Pappy Dave Stone, the owner of KDAV, and asked for some of Holley's demos after hearing his performance earlier on the same bill.

The records ended up in the hands of Paul Cohen, head of Decca Records' Specialty Division. And from those hands came the contract offer. In January of 1956, Buddy recieved it...made out to BUDDY HOLLY. Bob Montgomery was not included; Buddy didn't want to sign. Montgomery himself talked Buddy into taking advantage of his opportunity. He even travelled to Buddy's first Nashville session...but he never played or sang.

Bob penned hits for Holly such as 'Heartbeat', 'Love's Made A Fool Of You', which has had numerous recordings over the years by different artists such as the Bobby Fuller Four and Fairport Convention. He also wrote 'Wishing' which was later covered by Kevin Montgomery, duetting with Mary Chapin-Carpenter on the 'Not Fade Away' Album, on which Bob shared production duties.

Bob was persuaded to come out of retirement in 1979 for a one-off performance in London to celebrate Buddy Holly's birthday. The show featured an all-star lineup including The Crickets, Don Everly, Paul McCartney & Wings and Albert Lee.

Bob also wrote for other artists, perhaps most memorably 'Back in Baby's Arms' for Patsy Cline and went on to become a solo artist and a noted record producer and publisher in Nashville. Another standard penned by Bob is 'Misty Blue' which in addition to being covered by numerous established artists down the years has enjoyed belated UK chart success in 2002, when the song was covered by amillionsons as 'Misti Blu' and given the full dancefloor remix treatment!

Bob's son Kevin Montgomery is a successful Nashville recording artist with a string of successful CDs to his name. Find out more at www.kevinmontgomery.com