The Crickets formed in January 1957, in Lubbock, Texas. An early incarnation of the band – then known as Buddy and the Two Tones – was unsuccessful but by the time they hooked up with producer Norman Petty, the young rock quartet was on the threshold of rock stardom. Featuring singer and guitarist Buddy Holly, guitarist Nikki Sullivan, bassist Joe B. Maudlin, and drummer Jerry Allison, the group needed a band name since Buddy Holly had already recorded under his own name for a different label. Settling on the group name the Crickets, the quartet recorded an album under their own name (1957’s The ‘Chirping’ Crickets) as well as recording an album under Buddy Holly’s name (1958’s Buddy Holly). Guitarist Nikki Sullivan left the group halfway through the recording of both albums and the Crickets continued as a trio. They released a string of hit singles - "That'll Be the Day" (Number 1),“Not Fade Away” (Number 10), “Maybe Baby” (Number 17), “Think It Over” (Number 27) and “It's So Easy” - before Buddy Holly moved to New York in late 1958, breaking ties with producer Norman Petty and the Crickets. While there was talk of Buddy getting back together with the Crickets after his Winter 1959 tour, tragedy struck when Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. The Crickets – now featuring Joe B. Maudlin, Jerry Allison, Tommy Allsup, and original pre-fame guitarist Sonny Curtis – had already begun tentative recordings before Buddy’s death and chose to continue with new vocalist Earl Sinks. This new configuration of the group released the album In Style with the Crickets (1960), which featured the classic Sonny Curtis-penned "I Fought the Law,” later covered by Bobby Fuller and The Clash. Two years later, the group backed up pop singer Bobby Vee – who was heavily influenced by Buddy Holly - on the 1962 album Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets. In 1963, a reconfigured Crickets – Allison, Curtis, and Maudlin joined by Glen D. Hardin (piano) and Jerry Naylor (guitar) – released the album Something Old, Something New, Something Blue, Something Else, which featured the UK hit "Don't Ever Change.” Maudlin had left the Crickets by the time they released the 1964 album California Sun / She Loves You and Naylor departed by their 1970 album Rockin’ 50’s Rock ‘n’ Roll. The group began splintering as they changed musical direction and became a country rock-oriented band by the mid 1970s. After the release of 1975’s A Long Way from Lubbock, the group split up. Jerry Alison and Joe B. Maudlin reunited for 1989’s T-Shirt album, which featured the Paul McCartney-penned title track. Allison, Maudlin, Curtis, and Hardin reunited for Double Exposure (1993), Too Much Monday Morning (1996), and The Crickets and Their Buddies (2004). Glen D. Hardin had bowed out of the band by the time of the release of their final album, About Time Too! (2005). Guitarist Nikki Sullivan died in 2004. Joe B. Maudlin died in 2015. Both Earl Sinks and Tommy Allsup passed away in 2017. Jerry Naylor died in 2019. Jerry Allison, the last surviving member of the 1957-1958 line-up of the Crickets and the only member to appear on every Crickets album, died on August 22, 2022.
