"Oh, Boy!" is a song written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman and Norman Petty. The song was included on the album The "Chirping" Crickets and was also released as the A-side of a single, with "Not Fade Away" as the B-side. The song peaked at number 10 on the US charts, and number 3 on the UK charts in early 1958.
Background
The song was originally recorded as a demo by Sonny West as All My Love at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico in early 1957. Petty presented West's demo to Buddy Holly with the intention of Holly recording the song. On the BBC'sClassic Albums series in 2019, West said, "I had a decision to make whether to say I want to do it myself and I said 'No, I want Buddy to do it', it can't hurt anything and if it didn't work I could go back and do it myself someday." It was subsequently recorded by Buddy Holly and the Crickets between June 29 and July 1, 1957, at Norman Petty Studios with Holly singing lead vocals and the The Picks providing backing vocals. The song is in an A-A-B-A format with a 12-bar blues verse and an 8-bar bridge.
Lyrics Change
West has stated that Holly made a small change to the original lyrics of the song. He told the BBC's Classic Albums series in 2019, "I said 'All my love, all my kissing, you're gonna see what you've been missing'. And with Buddy's verse, 'All my love, all my kissing, you don't know what you've been missing'. I have no idea, maybe it has more punch that way."
Covers
"Oh Boy!" was covered by British glam rock group Mud. It reached number 1 for two weeks on the UK Singles Chart in May 1975. It was the band's third and final UK number one. It was included on their album Mud Rock Volume 2, which reached number 6 in the UK Albums Chart. Other versions include:
Sonny West recorded a demo version in February 1957 as "All My Love" on acetate, released in 2002.
Paul Rich recorded it in 1958.
Bobby Vee recorded the song in 1963.
Jackie DeShannon released a version of the song on her album Breakin' It Up on the Beatles Tour!.
Pavel Bobek & Olympic released a version of the song on Supraphon label in 1964.
The Rivieras released a version of the song on their 1964 album, Let's Have a Party.
The Everly Brothers recorded the song in 1967.
Skeeter Davis released a version of the song in 1967.
This song was featured in Phil Ochs's "Buddy Holly Medley", a cover of several of Holly's songs. It was featured in Ochs's 1974 live album, Gunfight at Carnegie Hall.
The virtual synthpop band Silicon Teens cover the title 1980 on their album Music for Parties, which features rock-and-roll classics as New Wave tracks.
The Shadows recorded the song in 1982.
Wanda Jackson recorded it in 1982.
Sir Douglas Quintet recorded it in 1983.
Los Lobos recorded the song for the film La Bamba in 1987.
