Video From The Buddy Holly Tribute Concert

PBS will premiere “Buddy Holly: Listen To Me/The Ultimate Buddy Party” on Dec. 3 with performances of his songs by Stevie Nicks, Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett, Graham Nash, Raul Malo, Paul Anka, Boz Scaggs and several others at a 75th birthday concert staged last month in Hollywood.

The 60-minute special captures 17 of Holly’s best-known songs along with a couple of obscurities from the Sept. 7 show at the Music Box in Hollywood, where Cobra Starship, Patrick Stump, Shawn Colvin and emcee-singer Peter Asher also gathered to celebrate Holly’s music. Others in attendance included Holly’s widow, Maria Elena Holly, and Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers, who with his brother, Don, toured with Holly before his death at age 22 in a 1959 plane crash. He would have turned 75 on Sept. 7.

The event also incorporated taped messages from other high-profile Holly fans, including Ringo Starr, Keith Richards, Brian Wilson, Jackson Browne and Monty Python alumnus Eric Idle.

Nicks sang “Not Fade Away” and “It’s So Easy”; Isaak and Michelle Branch dueted on “Heartbeat”; Nash, Scaggs and Asher teamed up for “Rave On”; Stump sang “Oh, Boy!”; and Malo handled the ballad “True Love Ways.” An all-star ensemble, also including guitarists James Burton and Albert Lee and a cameo vocal by Everly, finished the show with “That’ll Be the Day.”

Producers of the special also have plans to release it on DVD next year with additional footage from the show, which was staged in conjunction with the release of the second of two Holly tribute albums this year: "Listen to Me: Buddy Holly," which featured most of the same performers at the Music Box show. The other album, "Rave On Buddy Holly,"  featured another batch of Holly devotees, including Paul McCartney, Nick Lowe, Lou Reed, She & Him, Patti Smith and Cee Lo Green, offering new takes on his music.

·        “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” – Chris Isaak
·        “Everyday” – Patrick Stump
·        “Heartbeat” – Chris Isaak and Michelle Branch
·        “I’m Looking for Someone to Love” – Lyle Lovett with James Burton
·        “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” – Paul Anka
·        “It’s So Easy” – Stevie Nicks
·        “Learning the Game” – Shawn Colvin
·        “Listen to Me” – Raul Malo
·        “Maybe Baby” – Boz Skaggs
·        “Oh, Boy” – Patrick Stump
·        “Not Fade Away” – Stevie Nicks
·        “Peggy Sue” – Cobra Starship (Gabe Saporta and Victoria Asher)
·        “Raining in My Heart” – Graham Nash
·        “Rave On” – Boz Scaggs, Graham Nash and Peter Asher
·        “That’ll Be the Day” – All-Star Cast
·        “True Love Ways” – Raul Malo
·        “Well All Right” – Lyle Lovett