Bob Montgomery (May 12, 1937 – December 4, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and publisher.

Career

Montgomery was born in

Lampasas, Texas Lampasas ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lampasas County, Texas, United States. Its population was 7,291 at the 2020 census. Lampasas is part of the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood metropolitan area, Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood Kil ...

southwest of

Waco Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 population of 146,608, making i ...

. He was a songwriting partner and best friend of

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

and they performed together as the duo "Buddy and Bob" while teenagers in high school. Initially they played a variety of

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

, which evolved into rockabilly sounds. Montgomery met Holly at Hutchinson Junior High School in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, in 1949. They started playing together at school assemblies and on local radio shows. Montgomery sang lead and Holly harmonized. They soon had a weekly

Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...

radio show on station

KDAV KDAV (1590 kHz edition) was an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Lubbock, Texas. The KDAV 1590 KHZ edition broadcast license was held by Monte and Gentry Todd Spearman through licensee High Plains Radio Network, LLC. ...

in Lubbock. On October 14, 1955,

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band formed in 1947 and continuing until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

played a concert at Fair Park Auditorium and Montgomery, Holly, and bassist Larry Welborn were on the bill. Eddie Crandall,

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

' manager, spoke to Pappy Dave Stone, the owner of KDAV and told him that he was interested in working with Holly as a solo performer. Holly's career began after demo recordings of his music were made and sent to

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

. Montgomery co-wrote some of Holly's songs including "

Heartbeat Heartbeat, heart beat or heartbeats may refer to: Science and technology * Heartbeat (biology), one cardiac cycle of the heart * Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system ** Heartbea ...

", "Wishing", and "

Love's Made a Fool of You "Love's Made a Fool of You" is a song co-written and originally performed by Buddy Holly. It was later re-recorded by Sonny Curtis and the Crickets, with the lead vocal by Earl Sinks, and famously covered by the Bobby Fuller Four. Buddy Holly ...

". He wrote the pop standard "

Misty Blue "Misty Blue" is a song written by Bob Montgomery that has been recorded and made commercially successful by several music artists. Although Montgomery wrote the song for a different artist in mind, it was brought first to the attention of Wilma ...

" and for

Patsy Cline Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. One of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century, she was known as one of the first country music artists to successfully Cross ...

, "Back in Baby's Arms". His son Kevin recorded a version of the latter which appeared on his album ''True''. Montgomery produced

Bobby Goldsboro Robert Charles Goldsboro (born January 18, 1941) is an American pop and country singer and songwriter. He had a string of pop and country hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature No. 1 hit "Honey", which sold over 1 million copies i ...

's 1968 number 1 hit "

Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

" and his follow up 1973 number 9 UK hit, “ Summer (The First Time)”. Montgomery died on December 4, 2014, in

Lee's Summit, Missouri Lee's Summit is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri and a suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area. It resides in Jackson County (predominantly) as well as Cass County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 101,108, making it the 6th ...

next to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

, at the age of 77.

Discography

Singles

* "Taste of the Blues" b/w "Because I Love You", Brunswick, 9-55157, November 1959

Albums

* ''

Holly in the Hills ''Holly in the Hills'' is a compilation album by American rock and roll singer Buddy Holly, including songs featuring Bob Montgomery originally released under "Buddy & Bob". The album was released as an LP record in both mono and stereo format ...

'', Buddy Holly & Bob Montgomery,

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

, January 1965

References

External links

45cat Bob Montgomery
1937 births 2014 deaths People from Lampasas, Texas American country rock singers American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Record producers from Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas Bluegrass musicians from Texas American rockabilly musicians Neurological disease deaths in Missouri Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United States Country musicians from Texas {{US-singer-stub