Sonny Curtis

Overview

Curtis was born in Meadow, Texas, United States. He played on some of Buddy Holly's earlier 1956 Decca sessions, including the minor hit 'Blue Days Black Nights' and a song he wrote, 'Rock Around With Ollie Vee'. In 1955 and 1956 he, along with Buddy Holly, opened concerts for rising new star Elvis Presley. Although he had gone on the road with other musicians by the time Buddy Holly put together the Crickets in 1957, Curtis joined the Crickets after Holly's death in 1959, and soon took over the lead vocalist role in addition to lead guitar. As the credits show, he was part of the band for the 1960 album In Style with the Crickets for which they recorded the original versions of two of Curtis's best known songs, "I Fought the Law" and "More Than I Can Say" (co-written with drummer Jerry Allison). Along with Cricket Jerry Allison he participated in Eddie Cochran's last recording sessions, including the song 'Three Steps to Heaven'. In 1964 he released the single "A Beatle I Want to Be". He has continued to record and perform intermittently as part of the band over six decades, most recently in their album The Crickets and their Buddies (2004), where they reprised most of their hits with help from many noted fellow musicians. Curtis did leave the band several times to pursue his solo career but even during those periods made occasional guest appearances, in performance and on record, with the Crickets. His song "The Real Buddy Holly Story" was written in response to the inaccuracies in the movie The Buddy Holly Story.

Curtis wrote the theme song of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Love is All Around", which he also recorded. He also wrote "Walk Right Back", which was a 1960 hit for the Everly Brothers and later in 1978 for Anne Murray; (Sonny and the Crickets also were the supporting backup band for the Everly Brothers for a tour of England in 1960) and "More Than I Can Say", recorded after the Crickets' original by Bobby Vee, then Leo Sayer.

"I Fought the Law" was later covered in the studio or in concert by many artists including The Bobby Fuller Four, the Clash, Dead Kennedys, Bryan Adams, John Cougar Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Social Distortion, Mike Ness, Hank Williams Jr, Waylon Jennings, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils, Green Day, the Ramones, the Grateful Dead, Stray Cats, Mary's Danish, Mano Negra, the Big Dirty Band, Lolita No. 18, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Attaque 77, Die Toten Hosen, Status Quo, Nanci Griffith, and the Men They Couldn't Hang. For the 2003 film, Intermission, Colin Farrell recorded a version of the song, singing it in the guise of his character in the film. Sonny Curtis also co-wrote the 1987 Country Song of the Year, "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" recorded by the late Keith Whitley. Other songs he has written include "The Straight Life" (recorded by Glen Campbell, and later by Bobby Goldsboro) and "A Fool Never Learns" (recorded by Andy Williams). In 1991, Sonny Curtis was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Anne Murray also recorded the Sonny Curtis songs "I Like Your Music" and "You Made My Life a Song" on her 1972 LP Annie.

In 2007, Curtis was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, as a member of the Crickets.

In 2012, Curtis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Crickets by a special committee, aimed at correcting the mistake of not including the Crickets with Buddy Holly when he was first inducted in 1986.

Singles