20 Golden Greats (Buddy Holly & The Crickets album)

20 Golden Greats
Greatest hits album by Buddy Holly & the Crickets
Released	February 17, 1978 (1978-02-17) [1]
Recorded	1956–1958
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	45:16
Label	EMI
Producer	Norman Petty
Compiler	John Beecher
Buddy Holly chronology
Buddy Holly: A Rock & Roll Collection (1972) 20 Golden Greats (1978) The Complete Buddy Holly (1979)
The Crickets chronology
A Long Way From Lubbock (1974) 20 Golden Greats (1978) The Complete Crickets (1984)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

20 Golden Greats (also known as Buddy Holly Lives) is a greatest hits album by Buddy Holly & the Crickets first released in the United Kingdom by EMI on February 17, 1978. ^[1] The songs on the UK release were licensed to EMI by MCA Records, who released the album in North America. The album is now out of print.

The album became an instant success in the UK, being certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry two months after the album's release ^[1] and topping the UK Albums Chart for three weeks. It was also Buddy Holly's first number 1 album on the chart. ^[3] The album was somewhat less successful in the United States peaking at number 55 on the Billboard 200, ^[4] but ended up crossing over to the Country Albums chart, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1983. ^[5] In 2003, it was ranked number 92 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, ^[6] maintaining the ranking in the 2012 update and dropping to number 166 in the 2020 reboot of the list. ^{[7] [8]}

Track listing

Side 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original album	Length
1.	"That'll Be the Day"	Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly, Norman Petty	The "Chirping" Crickets	2:16
2.	"Peggy Sue"	Allison, Holly, Petty	Buddy Holly	2:35
3.	"Words of Love"	Holly	Buddy Holly	2:01
4.	"Everyday"	Charles Hardin, Petty	Buddy Holly	2:12
5.	"Not Fade Away"	Petty, Hardin	The "Chirping" Crickets	2:25
6.	"Oh, Boy!"	Petty, Sonny West, Bill Tilghman	The "Chirping" Crickets	2:11
7.	"Maybe Baby"	Petty, Holly	The "Chirping" Crickets	2:06
8.	"Listen to Me"	Hardin, Petty	Buddy Holly	2:26
9.	"Heartbeat"	Bob Montgomery, Petty	The Buddy Holly Story	2:13
10.	"Think It Over"	Holly, Petty	The Buddy Holly Story	1:51

Side 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original album	Length
1.	"It Doesn't Matter Anymore"	Paul Anka	The Buddy Holly Story	2:16
2.	"It's So Easy"	Holly, Petty	The Buddy Holly Story	2:14
3.	"Well... All Right"	Holly, Allison, Petty, Joe B. Mauldin	The Buddy Holly Story Volume II	2:18
4.	"Rave On"	West, Tilghman, Petty	Buddy Holly	1:53
5.	"Raining in My Heart"	Felice and Boudleaux Bryant	The Buddy Holly Story	2:52
6.	"True Love Ways"	Petty, Holly	The Buddy Holly Story Volume II	2:51
7.	"Peggy Sue Got Married"	Holly	The Buddy Holly Story Volume II	2:10
8.	"Bo Diddley"	Ellas McDaniel	Reminiscing	2:24
9.	"Brown Eyed Handsome Man"	Chuck Berry	Reminiscing	2:07
10.	"Wishing"	Holly, Montgomery	Holly In The Hills	2:08

Charts and certifications

Chart (1978)	Peak position
Canadian 100 Albums [9]	31
Canadian Country Albums [10]	17
UK Albums Chart [3]	1
US Billboard 200 [4]	55
US Country Albums [11]	20

Organization	Level	Date
BPI  – U.K. [1]	Silver	April 4, 1978
	Gold
	Platinum
RIAA  – U.S. [5]	Gold	November 14, 1983

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United Kingdom	February 17, 1978	EMI	LP	EMTV 8
North America	1978	MCA	LP	MCA-3040
			Cassette	MCAC-3040
			8-track	MCAT-3040
United Kingdom	February, 1989	MCA	CD	DMCTV 1

References

1. "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry . Archived from the original (ASPX) on January 15, 2013.
2. allmusic review
3. Warwick, Neil; Jon Kutner, Tony Brown (2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles & Albums, Third Edition. London: Omnibus Press. pp. 31, 516. ISBN   1-84449-058-0.
4. Whitburn, Joel (2001). Top Pop Albums 1955-2001 . Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research Inc. p.  386. ISBN   0-89820-147-0.
5. "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database" (PHP). Recording Industry Association of America .
6. "Rolling Stone – the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003)".
7. "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone . September 22, 2020.
8. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone . May 31, 2009.
9. "100 Albums". RPM . 30 (3): 31. October 13, 1978. ISSN   0315-5994. Archived from the original (PHP) on October 23, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
10. "Country 25 Albums". RPM . 30 (9). November 25, 1978. ISSN   0315-5994. Archived from the original (PHP) on October 23, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
11. "Buddy Holly: Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved June 19, 2011.

External links

• 20 Golden Greats at Discogs (list of releases)