Reminiscing

Saxophonist King Curtis wrote Reminiscing in the summer of 1958 and recorded it that October with Buddy Holly and the Crickets (George Atwood on bass and Bo Clarke on drums) at Norman Petty's recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico. This was just five months before Holly's tragic death in February of 1959. The Buddy Holly recording was released in 1962. In the UK it went as high as number 17. (It did not break into the Billboard Hot 100 in the US). The song is a two-verse lament that starts off: "I'm just sitting here reminiscing, wondering who you've been kissing, baby, oh, oh baby." A Buddy Holly retrospective album called Reminiscing was released in England in March of 1963 with this song on the opening track. Many consider the duet of Curtis' sax and Holly's vocals to be the best performance of their respective careers.

The Beatles, who greatly admired Buddy Holly, immediately put Reminiscing in their performance set after it was released, and they sang the song during their final residencies in Hamburg. The recording, The Beatles Live! At the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962, is the only surviving record of their cover of this Buddy Holly song. (It is track 12 of disc 1; 1 minute and 41 seconds long.)