This Week in Texas Music History, we check in with the “other Buddy” of West Texas rock ‘n’ roll.
On April 7, 1957, rockabilly Buddy Knox debuted on the Ed Sullivan Show. Knox’s path to center stage seemed almost fated. Buddy was born just outside Happy, Texas during the Great Depression and was a football player at Happy High. He performed as a cheerleader and rodeo clown during his time at West Texas College in Canyon. Still, he was trying to play it safe, pursuing a master’s degree in accounting when Elvis Presley showed up in Amarillo in 1955 and gave Buddy Knox other ideas.
This rock ‘n roll thing, Elvis told Buddy backstage, was “fixin’ to happen.” And Knox, coincidentally, had a rock ‘n’ roll band, the Orchids, named for the bright color of their stage outfits. Another acquaintance “fixin’ to happen”—a young Roy Orbison—pointed the Orchids toward Norman Petty’s recording studios in Clovis, New Mexico. There, Buddy Knox and the Rhythm Orchids recorded their track “Party Doll” in 1956.
The number one hit song was Knox’s ticket to Ed Sullivan and the big time, and the Rhythm Orchids helped pave the way for West Texas rockabilly alongside Buddy Holly and the Crickets, fellow alumni of Petty’s New Mexico studios. Knox’s trajectory was blunted, though, when he was called up to the U.S. Army Reserves the same week “Party Doll” hit number one. He tried to make the most of it, recording a song under the name “Lieutenant Buddy Knox” and performing his second Ed Sullivan appearance in uniform. He was even able to spend more time with Elvis while they were both stationed at Fort Hood.
He may not have quite hit the heights of his peers Presley and Orbison and Holly, but Knox always seemed to find his way as an artist. In 1970, he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, set up the Sunny Hill record label, and opened a night club called the Purple Steer. He maintained a healthy profile on rockabilly revival tours around the world for the rest of his days.
