Maybe Baby (song)

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"Maybe Baby"
Single by the Crickets
from the album The "Chirping" Crickets
B-side"Tell Me How"
Released1958
Recorded29 September 1957, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
GenreRock and roll
Length2:01
LabelBrunswick 9-55053
Songwriter(s)Buddy Holly and Norman Petty
Producer(s)Norman Petty[1]
The Crickets singles chronology
"Oh, Boy!"
(1957) 		"Maybe Baby"
(1958) 		"Think It Over"
(1958)

"Maybe Baby" is a rock-and-roll song written by Buddy Holly and the producer Norman Petty, and recorded by Holly and the Crickets in 1957. The single, released in January 1958 and credited to the Crickets, was a Top 40 hit in the U.S., the UK, and Canada.[2]

The song appeared in the 1973 George Lucas film American Graffiti and was on the MCA Records soundtrack album 41 Original Hits from the Soundtrack of American Graffiti, which was certified triple platinum by the RIAA and which peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

The song was performed by Paul McCartney in the eponymous 2000 British comedy film.

Background

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Billboard advertisement, February 24 1958
1957 sheet music cover, Nor Va Jak Music, New York

"Maybe Baby", originally recorded by Holly and the Crickets in 1957,[3] reached number 17 on the US charts and number 4 on the UK chart; Holly toured in the UK that year (see Buddy Holly discography). The single also reached number 8 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 9 on the Canadian charts.[2] The rather simple lyrics are augmented by a twangy percussive accompaniment, characteristic of rockabilly,[1] which is especially effective in the 8-bar instrumental introduction and the short conclusion.

"Maybe Baby" was recorded at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on September 29, 1957, while Buddy Holly and The Crickets were on a tour (and played that same night, at Oklahoma City Municipal Auditorium with the Show Of Stars '57). Jerry Allison from The Crickets personally remembers that the song, along with three others, was recorded at Tinker Air Force Base. Graham Pugh, a Buddy Holly researcher from the Oklahoma City area, also has seen airplane tickets documenting the fact that Buddy Holly and The Crickets landed at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City on September 28, 1957.[4][5]

Personnel

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Other recordings

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The song has been recorded by Paul McCartney in a version co-produced by Jeff Lynne as the title track of the 2000 British comedy film, by Esquerita in 1959, Don McLean, Connie Francis, Waylon Jennings and The Crickets, Bobby Vee, Jimmy Gilmer, Jackie DeShannon, Skeeter Davis, The Hollies, Brian May, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tommy Allsup, Susie Allanson (#7, Billboard US Country chart, 1978), Mike Berry, and Hank Marvin. [6]

Gary Busey performed the song in the 1978 biopic The Buddy Holly Story.

The song was featured on the True Love Ways album as by Buddy Holly with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2018.

References

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  1. ^ a b Norman Petty interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
  2. ^ a b "Song artist 253 - Buddy Holly". Tsort.info. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Buddy Holly - The Complete Works - 1957-2". Buddyholly.pagesperso-orange.fr. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. ^ "For Buddy Holly, Tinker was studio". Oklahoman.com. 27 October 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Home page of Tinker Air Force Base". Tinker.af.mil. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  6. ^ Maybe Baby. Second Hand Songs. Retrieved 11 June 2025.

Sources

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  • Amburn, Ellis (1996). Buddy Holly: A Biography. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-14557-6.
  • Bustard, Anne (2005). Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4223-9302-4.
  • Dawson, Jim; Leigh, Spencer (1996). Memories of Buddy Holly. Big Nickel Publications. ISBN 978-0-936433-20-2.
  • Goldrosen, John; Beecher, John (1996). Remembering Buddy: The Definitive Biography. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80715-7.
  • Goldrosen, John (1975). Buddy Holly: His Life and Music. Popular Press. ISBN 0-85947-018-0