Niki Sullivan

Niki Sullivan -You Better Get A Move On

Bear Family – BAF 14030
It’s All Over – Three Steps To Heaven – I Told Everybody – Waitin’ – Take ‘9’ – Treat’em Gently – It Really Doesn’t Matter Now – Creepin’ In – I Stand Alone – Say Hey Little Lover – You Better Get A Move On – It Really Doesn’t Matter Now

Niki Sullivan is one of the great forgotten heroes of rock ‘n’ rock history, and of Buddy Holly’s story in particular. Due to unfortunate circumstances, he doesn’t appear on some of Holly’s most famous tracks (the anecdote about why he isn’t heard on “Peggy Sue” is definitely worth reading in the booklet accompanying the album). Similarly, due to a scheduling conflict, Sullivan missed an interview with the author of a future biography about Buddy Holly. As a result, he wasn’t mentioned in the book, and thus, since it served as the basis for the script for The Buddy Holly Story, he also didn’t appear in the movie.
Yet Sullivan helped shape the Crickets’ sound and co-wrote many of the tracks, albeit uncredited.
In 1957, due to tensions within the group, Sullivan left the Crickets. However, he remained in the music business and recorded two tracks in March 1958 at a small Lubbock studio, which were sold to Dot Records. These two tracks open this magnificent 10-inch album. It’s All Over, previously available on That’ll Flat Git It Vol. 5 (BCD15711), is a very good mid-tempo rock ‘n’ roll on which Holly’s influence is evident, while Three Steps To Heaven (a composition like all the tracks on this album) is a slow tempo with a bluesy guitar.
The following eight songs come from a 1959 session, after Sullivan signed a songwriter contract. Six of these songs appear here for the first time. In addition to being a very good songwriter, Sullivan proves to be a more than convincing singer. His voice includes influences such as Billy Fury, and since we’re talking about British rockers, some of his compositions wouldn’t be out of place on Cliff Richard’s records.
Among these tracks are the beautiful and touching “Waitin‘” (with a celesta reinforcing the connection with Holly), two instrumentals, one menacing (Take 9), and a boogie woogie with a groovy bass, reverb, and barrelhouse piano (Creepin’ In), and Treat ‘Em Gently and its introduction borrowed from Chuck Berry’s Too Much Monkey Business. But, and we always come back to it, the most interesting and successful track is It Really Doesn’t Matter Now, which could have been recorded by Holly herself.
Niki Sullivan would cover the song a few years later in 1965 with his new band, Soul Inc. The sound was completely different from the melodic rock ‘n’ roll of the previous sessions. Sullivan attempted to blend into the sound of the time, in the style of the Rolling Stones, the Standells, or the Nashville Teens. While You Better Get A Move On is particularly successful and aggressive, the new version of It Really Doesn’t Matter Now seems a bit forced and caricatured.
We can never thank the German label enough for paying tribute to this man in the shadows, who helped spread rock ‘n’ roll across the planet.
Limited to 500 copies.
Available here.