An advantage that the young Buddy had that Elvis lacked was a trusted sibling.
The youngest of four children, Buddy found in his eldest brother, Larry, a confidant he would cling to for the rest of his life.
When his other brother, Travis, came home from the war in 1945, he taught Buddy how to play the guitar. Around the same time, about 900 miles to the east, Elvis Presley received a guitar for his eleventh birthday and began learning how to play it with help from his uncle and church pastor. A natural affinity for the instrument allowed Buddy’s guitar playing to progress at a rate that amazed his family.
Hank Williams, Sr., was Buddy’s first musical idol. According to Amburn, though, when Buddy first heard Fats Domino sing on the radio, he saw his future. “It was as if the heavens had opened,” Amburn explained. “But it was more than just the music. From that moment on, Buddy identified closely with blacks.” Meanwhile, an adolescent Elvis was experiencing a similar epiphany in Memphis, where his family had moved in 1948.
Who was first Buddy Holly or Elvis?
Although a year younger, Buddy Holly got started in professional music before Elvis. Around 1951, when Buddy was 15 years old, he started jamming with another Lubbock musician, Jack Neal.
Source: Ghanafuo.com
