Paul McCartney recorded a version of Buddy Holly’s ‘Peggy Sue’ on the final day of the One Hand Clapping sessions at Abbey Road Studios in August 1974.
It was written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison and Norman Petty, and released by Buddy Holly and The Crickets in July 1957. It was originally titled ‘Cindy Lou’ after Holly’s niece, but Allison suggested it be changed to ‘Peggy Sue’, the name of his then-girlfriend and future wife.
The Beatles were all fans of Holly’s music, and recorded his song ‘Words Of Love’ in 1964 for Beatles For Sale. But the connection goes further back still: The Quarrymen had recorded ‘That’ll Be The Day’ in 1958 in a small Liverpool studio.
In their early days The Beatles performed a number of Holly’s songs live, including ‘That’ll Be The Day’, ‘Peggy Sue’, ‘Everyday’, ‘It’s So Easy’, ‘Maybe Baby’, ‘Think It Over’, ‘Raining In My Heart’, and ‘Crying, Waiting, Hoping’. Their name was also partly inspired by The Crickets. If that wasn’t proof enough of their love for Holly, Paul McCartney later bought his songwriting catalogue.
McCartney recorded ‘Peggy Sue’ on the final day of Wings’ One Hand Clapping sessions at Abbey Road, on 30 August 1974. A nine-minute sequence, filmed and recorded in the back yard of EMI, contained versions of ‘Blackpool’, ‘Twenty Flight Rock’, ‘Peggy Sue’, ‘I’m Gonna Love You Too’, and ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’. Some additional performances included ‘Blackbird’, ‘Country Dreamer’, ‘Freight Train’, ‘Cumberland Gap’ and ‘Rock Island Line’.
The 1974 recording remained officially unreleased until the One Hand Clapping album in June 2024. It was one of six songs on a bonus 7″ single included with copies sold via McCartney’s website.
John Lennon also recorded a version of ‘Peggy Sue’ during the October 1974 sessions for the Rock ‘N’ Roll album. An alternative version from the sessions was also included on the 1998 box set John Lennon Anthology.
I have been doing that since I started. Buddy Holly did it and, in fact, I used to sing every song that Buddy Holly put out.