From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Nov 17, 2002  7:14 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Terry Noland
 
TERRY NOLAND (By Jean-Marc Pezet)

Born Terry Noland Church, 17 November 1938, Lubbock, Texas

A Buddy Holly contemporary, Terry was raised in Lubbock and attended the
same school (Buddy was a grade ahead). The Noland and Holley families
also attended the same Church, but Terry became more aware of Holly after
Buddy, Bob and Larry started playing on the radio.
Terry got a guitar at the age of 8 and, with his twin brother Jerry, played
church socials and talent shows. After hearing Buddy on the radio, Terry
decided to form a band with his friend Larry Welborn on lead guitar. They
hired Joe B. Mauldin to play bass (they reportedly taught him how to play!)
and another kid, Brownie Higgs on drums.
They were heavily influenced by both Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly (who
had already cut his first Nashville session at this time and had "Blue Days
Black Nights" out on Decca). The group cut some demos in Dallas, but they
split soon after (as The Four Teens, they would later have "Spark Plugs"/"Go
Little Go Cat" on Challenge in 1958, sans Noland and Mauldin). Terry decided
to go to Norman Petty's studio to cut some other demos as a solo act,
notably "Hypnotized". Petty showed interest in the song and placed him
with Brunswick.
Terry's first recording session at Petty's studio took place on February 13
and 14, 1957 (Buddy Holly recorded his first session there on February 24-25)
and his first single "Ten Little Women" b/w "Hypnotized" was issued on
Brunswick on May 25, 1957, the same day as Buddy's "That'll Be The Day".
"Hypnotized" was already out on the market with The Drifters' cover and "Ten
Little Women" had been covered by Sam Butera. Unfortunately for Terry,
both covers did better on the charts than his original versions.
The second single featured "Patty Baby" and fared better with local chart
action, earning Terry the right to perform on the Alan Freed Show, along
with Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers and The Crickets in January 1958.
While in New York, he recorded enough material to fill an album. He cut
his last session for Brunswick in Nashville in August 1958, but the novelty
"There Was a Fungus Among Us" didn't meet with any success and Brunswick
failed to renew his contract. It was at this time that Buddy invited him to New
York to work on some material, but sadly it never materialized before Buddy's
tragic death.
Terry briefly reassociated with Petty for his last commercial single on Apt.
He then moved to California with the intention of re-entering the music
business, but quit after a while, starving to death. He took day jobs, went
to night school and became an aircraft design engineer before moving to
Oklahoma City were he successfully ran a property development business
for years.
Terry may not have had much success but he can be proud to have been right
there with the best of the West Texas rockabillies, Buddy Holly, Sonny Curtis,
Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen.

Recommended listening:
"Hypnotized" Bear Family BCD 15428