Not Fade Away (song)

"Not Fade Away" is a song credited to Buddy Holly (originally under his first and middle names, Charles Hardin) and Norman Petty (although Petty's co-writing credit is likely to have been a formality^[3]) and first recorded by Holly and his band, the Crickets.^[2]

"Not Fade Away"
Single by the Crickets
from the album The "Chirping" Crickets
A-side	"Oh, Boy!"
Released	October 27, 1957 (1957-10-27)
Recorded	Clovis, New Mexico, August 1957[1]
Genre	Rock and roll rockabilly
Length	2:21
Label	Brunswick[1]
Songwriter(s)	Charles Hardin a.k.a. Buddy Holly Norman Petty (credited)
Producer(s)	Norman Petty[1][2]
The Crickets singles chronology
"That'll Be the Day" (1957) "Not Fade Away" (1957) "Maybe Baby" (1958)

Original song

Holly and the Crickets recorded the song in Clovis, New Mexico, on May 27, 1957, the same day the song "Everyday" was recorded.^[1] The rhythmic pattern of "Not Fade Away" is a variant of the Bo Diddley beat, with the second stress occurring on the second rather than third beat of the first measure, which was an update of the "hambone" rhythm, or patted juba from West Africa. Jerry Allison, the drummer for the Crickets, pounded out the beat on a cardboard box.^[3] Allison, Holly's best friend, wrote some of the lyrics, though his name never appeared in the songwriting credits. Joe Mauldin played the double bass on this recording. It is likely that the backing vocalists were Holly, Allison, and Niki Sullivan, but this is not known for certain.^[1]

"Not Fade Away" was originally released as the B-side of the hit single "Oh, Boy!" and was included on the album The "Chirping" Crickets (1957). The Crickets' recording never charted as a single. In 2004, this song was ranked number 107 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Personnel

Buddy Holly and the Crickets

• Buddy Holly – lead vocals, lead guitar, backing vocals
• Jerry Allison – drums, card-box percussion
• Joe B. Mauldin – contrabass
• Niki Sullivan – rhythm guitar, backing vocals

The Rolling Stones version

"Not Fade Away"
US picture sleeve
Single by the Rolling Stones
B-side	"Little by Little" (UK) "I Wanna Be Your Man" (US)
Released	February 21, 1964 (1964-02-21) (UK) March 6, 1964 (1964-03-06) (US)
Recorded	January 10, 1964
Studio	Olympic, London
Genre	Rock and roll, blues rock
Length	1:50
Label	Decca (UK) London (US)
Songwriter(s)	Charles Hardin a.k.a. Buddy Holly Norman Petty
Producer(s)	Andrew Loog Oldham
Rolling Stones UK singles chronology
"I Wanna Be Your Man" (1963) "Not Fade Away" (1964) "It's All Over Now" (1964)
Rolling Stones US singles chronology
"Not Fade Away" (1964) "Tell Me" (1964)

In 1964, the Rolling Stones' cover of "Not Fade Away" was a major hit in the United Kingdom. It was the A-side of the band's first US single.^[4]

The Rolling Stones' version of "Not Fade Away" was one of their first hits. Recorded in January 1964 and released by Decca Records on February 21, 1964, with "Little by Little" as the B-side, it was their first Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number three.^[5] London Records released the song in the US on March 6, 1964, as the band's first single there, with "I Wanna Be Your Man" as the B-side.^[6] The single reached number 48 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.^[7] It also reached number 44 on the Cash Box pop singles chart in the U.S. and number 33 in Australia based on the Kent Music Report.^[8] "Not Fade Away" was not on the UK version of their debut album, The Rolling Stones, but was the opening track of the US version, released a month later as England's Newest Hitmakers. Cash Box described it as "a wild, freewheeling full-sounding pounder that can take off in no time flat."^[9] It was a mainstay of the band's concerts in their early years, usually opening the shows. It was revived as the opening song in the band's Voodoo Lounge Tour, in 1994 and 1995.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon,^[10] except where noted:

• Mick Jagger – double tracked lead vocal, hand claps, tambourine, maracas^{[note 1]}
• Keith Richards – twelve-string acoustic guitar, lead guitar
• Brian Jones – harmonica
• Bill Wyman – bass
• Charlie Watts – drums

Charts

Chart (1964)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8]	33
Canada (CHUM Chart)[15]	22
Ireland (IRMA)[16]	5
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[17]	17
UK Singles (OCC)[18]	3
US Billboard Hot 100[19]	48
US Cash Box Top 100[20]	44
US Record World Top 100[21]	58

Other cover versions

• The song is closely associated with the Grateful Dead as one of their signature tunes—one which the band transformed from Holly's 1950s boy/girl romanticism to one reflecting the 1960s’ more spiritual universal love. Their 1971 recording of the song is included on the eponymous second live album. The Dead first performed it on June 19, 1968 at the Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, California, and subsequently performed it more than 600 more times before the group disbanded in 1995, following the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia. The surviving members (except Tom Constanten and Donna Jean Godchaux) reunited and played the song for the last time all together as Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead it was the last song of the second set (VC before the encores) on the last night of Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead^[22] Versions of the song are included on the Skull and Roses AKA Grateful Dead (1971) and Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966 albums. The song continued to be played by later iterations of the band, including The Other Ones, The Dead, and most recently Dead & Company.^[23]
• Rush recorded a version of "Not Fade Away" as their debut single in 1973, which peaked at number 88 in Canada.^{[citation needed]} The single was released on the band's own Moon Records label, and is considered a rare collector's item. "Not Fade Away" and the B-side "You Can't Fight It" were reissued on the 2025 compilation album Rush 50.
• Tanya Tucker included a funky, rock-and-roll version of "Not Fade Away" on her album, TNT (1978). Tucker's cover of this song peaked at number 70 on the U.S. Billboard pop singles chart in 1979.^[24]
• Florence and the Machine recorded a version of the song in 2010.^[25]
• Stevie Nicks contributed a cover of "Not Fade Away" for the tribute album, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly released in September 2011.
• John Scofield included the song in his 2022 solo album.^[26]

Explanatory notes

1. In a July 1964 issue of Rolling Stones Monthly, the Stones' manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham stated that American producer Phil Spector played maracas on the track.^[11] Wyman later disputed this account, suggesting Oldham created the story to increase the song's publicity.^[12] While Spector was present at some of the band's sessions, including on 28 January and 4 February 1964,^[13] they recorded "Not Fade Away" on 10 January 1964.^[13][14] Both Margotin & Guesdon and authors Andy Babiuk & Greg Prevost write Jagger contributed maracas.^[13][14]