She's the One? No: YOU'RE THE ONE.


One of my favourite lesser-known Buddy Holly songs that wasn’t officially released in his lifetime is the short and sweet, Beatles-DNA-infused ‘You’re The One’.



While I was pretty well-versed in Holly’s back catalogue before I played him in Buddy Holly and The Cricketers, this particular song had escaped my notice until it was put forward to enter our set for a short tour of Northern Ireland in 2007. Like a lot of the demos he recorded and didn't put out, it eventually surfaced in the early Sixties, daubed with some (in this instance clumsy) overdubs by his old producer Norman Petty to create the impression of a full band recording. While we used this as reference for our arrangement in the show, it’s the unadorned demo that has real charm.

It wasn’t until today that I discovered it was written in half an hour in response to a bet set by a radio DJ, who didn’t think Buddy could compose a song that quickly. The fact he came up with this (and then performed it on the show, which is where the demo comes from) is testament to just how talented he was; like many of his songs, the root is simple, but the result is perfect.

Sadly, the song only stayed in the show for a few months, which was a shame, as it was a lot of fun to play. Still, I’m grateful it was brought to my attention. See below for a rickety clip of us playing it in Derry; good times, good times.

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