Jerry Naylor would have been famous. He could have been and probably should have been. Jerry Naylor was there when rock 'n roll was born, sweating out those devil rhythms in Texas honky-tonks and rubbing shoulders with boys like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly — all who would become men of legend. He saw a musical revolution fueled by youth and a fusion of country, blues, hillbilly, gospel, African American spirituals and bluegrass music. In 1964, he even had a national number one hit recording, "Last Kiss," with a group called the Cavaliers.

Yet none but the most avid of vinyl aficionados remember him.

Naylor started singing in rockabilly groups at the ripe ol' age of 15, and threw gas on the fire of teenage rebellion throughout the 1950s. But we don't list him in that roll-call of rock 'n roll greats because, at only 21, he accepted a job that would forever loom large over him. His talent and achievements are forever overshadowed by what, in that moment, must have seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime.

Jerry Naylor book signing and performance
Wednesday, October 10th
BookPeople
7pm

Images from Jerry Naylor's website

Jerry Naylor joined the Crickets in the fall of 1960, replacing the iconic Buddy Holly a little more than a year after the now-legendary plane crash that killed Holly — along with Richie Valens and Jiles "the Big Bopper" Richardson — outside Clear Lake, Iowa.

If Superman, Spiderman, Jesus or all four Beatles had tried filling Buddy Holly's shoes, we probably wouldn't remember them now, either. The shadow of his death was too dark. The Crickets, with Jerry Naylor as lead singer, never recaptured their previous glory in the U.S. Many claimed that 1959 was the year rock 'n roll died, and with so many greats on that plane, maybe it did. It's now represented in pop culture as a dream-like golden age, something that can't be relived or recaptured.

Jerry Naylor and the Crickets chugged along through the earlier sixties, chasing that dream, but never really caught it. They had some marginal success in England, but who didn't? The English were still desperate for anything better than skiffle at that point.

After a while, Naylor went solo, eventually fading into obscurity. But now he's back, and this time with a book, so he can finally cash in on all that Buddy Holly's looming legacy may have kept from him. Titled The Rockabilly Legends: They Called It Rockabilly Long Before They Called It Rock and Roll, it's the ultimate fly-on-the-wall look at those early years of rock 'n roll. The hardback, coffee table-ready book tells the classic stories of legendary performers, but with the insider details that make it special and set this book apart from others like it. There's also a DVD to accompany the more than 250 pages of amazing photographs, anecdotes and quotes.

Naylor will be at BookPeople on Wednesday night signing books, telling tales of the late greats, and performing. Hot damn.