1957 Rock Song Took 7 Years to Become a Hit, Then Became a Classic

Despite his life being tragically cut short at the age of 22, Buddy Holly has long been seen as the father of modern rock and roll, with his 7-year recording career providing a foundational text for the genre for everyone, from The Beatles and Bob Dylan to Elvis Costello and Elton John.

Holly was so influential, in fact, that a B-side of his, recorded and released by the singer and his band, The Crickets, provided The Rolling Stones with one of their earliest, as well as most important, hits. This happened seven years after its initial release, and five years after he died in 1959.

"Not Fade Away," originally released by the Crickets with the A-side "Oh, Boy!" in October 1957, was a blueprint for the Bo Diddley beat, rooted in blues, latin, and rock music, becoming a foundation for the latter genre. Holly was one of the first to interpolate the beat, later used by everyone from Bruce Springsteen to David Bowie, and George Michael to Guns N' Roses.

The Stones' version gave Holly's track a very 1964 update, with wailing harmonica, electric guitar, and Phil Spector on maracas. "We brought the rhythm up and emphasized it," the song's bassist, Bill Wyman, later recalled (via TrackTalk). "Holly had used that Bo Diddley trademark beat on his version, but because he was only using bass, drums and guitar, the rhythm element is sort of a throwaway. Holly played it lightly. We just got into it more and put the Bo Diddley beat up front."

The band's former manager and producer, Andrew Oldham, even went as far as claiming that, "Although it was a Buddy Holly song, I considered it to be like the first song Mick [Jagger] and Keith [Richards] wrote."

"They picked the concept of applying that Bo Diddley thing to it. The way they arranged it was the beginning of the shaping of them as songwriters. From then on, they wrote," Oldham elaborated.

"Not Fade Away" reached #3 in the UK charts, and while it only achieved a modest #48 on the Billboard charts in the U.S., Rolling Stone would later include the 1964 cover on their list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. While perhaps not the song that marked the Stones' success as an instrumental part of the British Invasion, it marked the formal birth of their signature sound and the Jagger-Richards partnership.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 3:44 PM.