From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu May 9, 2002  2:21 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Sonny Curtis
 
SONNY CURTIS (By Shaun Mather)

Born 9 May 1937, Meadow, Texas

Singer-songwriter Sonny Curtis has maintained a long career in music, thanks
to an enchanting voice, a fabulous laid back humour and a knack for writing
songs that became classics before his ink was even dry. His career started
on local radio, playing fiddle on the Buddy And Bob show with Buddy Holly
and future country procucer Bob Montgomery. His first recordings were I'll
Miss My Heart and Because You Love Me in June of 1955 at Nesman
Recording Studios at Wichita Falls, TX that featured Buddy, JI & Don Guess.
When Holly's Three Tunes went to Nashville to record their first singles they
cut one of Curtis'songs, Rock Around with Ollie Vee.
With Buddy's career not really taking off, Sonny was talked into the
lucrative job of touring in Slim Whitman's band. In his own right he made
his solo debut in 1958 with the single Wrong Again for the Dot label.
Following Holly's death in 1959 he became the lead singer and guitarist
with the Crickets but was drafted a year later. Whilst in the service he
wrote the world-side smash Walk Right Back for the Everly Brothers.
The Crickets enjoyed considerable success and one of their Curtis
written songs, I Fought the Law, has been covered with great success
by everyone from the Bobby Fuller Four to the Clash to Lou Reed. One of
his songs that he still performs today is the theme song for The Mary Tyler
Moore Show, Love Is All Around (# 29 country, 1980). Also in 1980, Elektra
put out The Real Buddy Holly Story, which Sonny had written to put the
facts straight following the inaccuracies of the Gary Busey Hollywood film.
In the early '80s, Curtis, Jerry Allison and Joe B. Mauldin reformed the
Crickets and performed as part of the Waylon Jennings show. He had a
# 15 country hit with Good Ole' Girls for Elektra in 1981, followed by
Married Women, and Now I've Got a Heart of Gold. He has since written
for the likes of Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs and continues to play
with the Crickets, mainly in Europe. In 1991 he was inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame by the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Recommended listening:
Crickets - Still In Style - Bear Family