Rave on! (1958) – Buddy Holly

You know any song that starts with “A-weh-uh-heh-uh-ell” (a drawn-out “well”) has to be pretty darn good. There are few more jumpy and exciting starts in the rock annals than Buddy’s lead utterance into Rave On! He really put his vocal hiccups and stutters to amazing use here, as he did on so many of his other songs. Holly is instantly recognisable as the artist.

It’s been a long time since Buddy’s music has graced these pages, but he’s back – and with a real rocker. Few people wouldn’t have heard this legendary track. It has become one of Buddy’s most enduring songs decades after its release. I think some of his best singing is on this record, delivered with such giddy enthusiasm and youthful energy, which we’ll touch on a bit more later.

Whenever I hear Buddy, there’s a tinge of sadness. He was taken from us in the prime of his early adulthood and musical success, along with other burgeoning talents Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), in that 1959 plane crash – “the day the music died,” as it was most famously referred to in Don McLean’s song American Pie. Such was Buddy’s immense natural talent and songwriting prowess at such a tender age that, had he continued, it’s really hard to put a limit on how big he might have become. He was also, by all accounts, an affable young man who oozed charm.

From the moment I first heard him, I felt akin. I felt related, like he was an older brother. I even thought I resembled him. Buddy played the music that I loved – the music I grew up on: country western, rock ‘n’ roll, and rhythm and blues…He was the archetype. Everything I wasn’t and wanted to be. I saw him only but once, and that was a few days before he was gone. 
–  excerpt from Bob Dylan’s 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature speech

As I alluded to earlier, Holly had these idiosyncratic vocals and spontaneous sounds which showed his playful and inventive approach to music, contributing to his lasting influence on rock and roll. He uses vocal embellishments and elongated syllables (“you-ah-hoo,” “goodni-hi-ight,” “I love you-hoo”), so you could never confuse his delivery with anyone else. It was also simply great fun to listen to, because you could sense that he was having fun too.

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Most of the following was abridged from the Wikipedia article below:

Rave On! is a song written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman and Norman Petty in 1958. It was first recorded by West for Atlantic Records…Buddy Holly recorded the song later the same year, and his version became a hit, one of six of his recordings that charted in 1958. 

The song charted at No. 37 in the US and No. 2 in the UK. So Rave On didn’t break into the U.S. top tier like “That’ll Be the Day” (No. 1) or “Peggy Sue” (No. 3).
Holly’s rendition of “Rave On” is ranked number 154 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2004 list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

[Verse 1]
A-weh-uh-heh-uh-ell
The little things you say and do
Make me want to be with you-ah-hoo

[Chorus 1]
A-Rave on, it’s a crazy feeling and-a
I know it’s got me reeling
When you say, I love you-hoo, rave on

[Verse 2]
The way you dance a-and hold me tight
The way you kiss and say goodni-hi-ight

[Chorus 1]
A-Rave on, it’s a crazy feeling and-a
I know it’s got me reeling
When you say, I love you-hoo, rave on (du-ba-de-du-ba-de-dum)

[Chorus 2]
A-well rave on, a-it’s a crazy feeling and
I know, it’s got me reeling
I’m so glad, that you’re revealing
Your love for me
Rave on, rave on and tell me
Tell me, not to be lonely
Tell me, you love me only
Rave on to me

[Chorus 2]
A-well rave on, a-it’s a crazy feeling and
I know, it’s got me reeling
I’m so glad, that you’re revealing
Your love for me
Rave on, rave on and tell me
Tell me, not to be lonely
Tell me, you love me only
Rave on to me

References:
1. Rave On Buddy Holly – Wikipedia