The Picks

John Pickering - born March 8, 1933 in Murchinson, TX
Bill Pickering - born April 5, 1927/Died Jan.25,1985
Bob Lapham - born in 1934


One month before the "That’ll Be The Day" charted, Norman Petty and Buddy Holly asked "The Picks" (Bill Pickering, John Pickering, and Bob Lapham) to overdub a Buddy’s "Oh Boy! The Pickering Brothers (nicknamed "The Picks") were well known by both. John asked Texas Tech friend Bob Lapham to sing baritone, and on 7/13/57, the Picks made short work of the "Oh Boy" overdub, with Bill and John arranging the harmony vocals. It would soon be The Crickets second hit.

On October 12, 13, and 14, 1957, while Buddy and the instrumental Crickets were in San Diego and Fresno, California, the Picks returned to Petty's 7th Street Clovis Studio and overdubbed 8 additional songs. Notable among these 8 songs are "Maybe Baby" and "Tell Me How".

The 9 Pick's-overdubbed 1957 songs were included in the first and only group-sound album released while Buddy Holly was alive: "The 'Chirping' Crickets" album (Brunswick BL54038; 11/27/57). As with all the other "Holly/Crickets" releases, the artists were listed as "The Crickets - vocal group with orchestra." The Picks were not credited for the above songs, nor were the Tolletts for their two album songs.

The Crickets were voted "Best Vocal Group of 1957" in both the USA and Great Britain. Except for Buddy on all and Niki on 3, the in-person recipients did not sing on any of the songs. Until a reissue of the "Chirping" album in 1987, the Picks remained uncredited and unknown by some historians, most USA fans and almost all the media. Exceptions were fan clubs such as the "Buddy Holly Memorial Society" in the U.S.A., as well as devout Holly fans in England.

Bill and John Pickering finally regrouped in 1969 as "The Pickering Brothers" of Houston, Texas. After 12 years John and Bill Pickering had the opportunity to record again. Their first effort was a hit on Pete Drakes' “Stop Records” out of Nashville, Tennessee. There were successive hits beginning with "Proud Mary" (#1 in major markets), then "Words", followed by others. Due to the lack of "Crickets" credits, the Buddy Holly connection had virtually no bearing on the Pick's nor Pickering Brothers' careers.

In October, 1974, at age 47, Bill Pickering suffered a near-fatal ruptured brain aneurysm. This effectively ended recordings by the Pickering Brothers as a duet. For 18 months, Bill Pickering was blind and partially paralyzed. His vision returned in 1976, but for the next 10 years, he worked very hard to regain his tenor voice.

Unfortunately, the 1978 "Buddy Holly Story" movie perpetuated myths by showing the instrumental Crickets singing, and the belated 1987 reissue credits for the Picks came thirty years after the fact and 3 years after their new overdubs in 1984. A new Pick records album called "Buddy Holly and the Picks" (PA 1111) had already been released in 1986. Here’s how that came about:

After Bill Pickering's sudden illness in 1974, John Pickering kept singing at Houston, Texas, releasing the country-oriented "The Picks 25th Anniversary" cassette (1982) for fan clubs while his brother Bill recuperated at their mother Beth's home in Lubbock. The Picks were then reunited with Bob Lapham in 1982 at the annual Buddy Holly convention in Lubbock, Texas.


In 1984, after hearing from Maria Elena Holly that Buddy had planned to record with them again, the original Picks (with a recovered Bill Pickering) overdubbed additional Holly solos. Original masters were sent from storage vaults. Then, tragically, Bill Pickering died six months later on January 25, 1985, after a short illness. Bill’s last request was that The Picks new recordings be released.

12 more of the new overdubs were released for the first time in 1992 in a 24-song album called "Buddy Holly and the Picks: 'The Voices of the Crickets'". 1000 copies were available to fans on LP, CD & cassette. Besides the 12 new harmony releases, it also contained all 9 of the earlier latter-day overdubs, 2 "Pickering Brothers" songs, and a Holly tribute song by John Pickering, the producer/arranger.

John Pickering resides in Houston and works as a geologist, Bob Lapham is the entertainment editor of the Abilene (TX) Reporter-News.

In November 2007 "The Picks" were inducted into the 2007 New Mexico Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Albuquerque, NM.


VISIT THE PICKS WEBSITE