Buddy Holly and The Crickets in 1957 (top to bottom: Allison, Holly and Mauldin)

Nashville lost one of its Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame members over the weekend when Joe B. Mauldin of The Crickets passed away on Saturday morning, Feb. 7.

Mauldin was 74 years old and had been battling cancer. In addition to being a 2012 inductee into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, he and his fellow Crickets were also installed in the Music City Walk of Fame in 2007 and in the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2008.

Joe B. Mauldin was the bass player in The Crickets. The group was the accompaniment for the legendary Buddy Holly in the 1950s, then went on to have a five-decade career on its own.

Born Joseph Benson Mauldin Jr. on July 8, 1940, he grew up in West Texas alongside Holly and the other members of the group. He joined The Crickets in 1957. Holly, Mauldin, drummer J.I. Allison and rhythm guitarist Nikki Sullivan scored their first hit as The Cricket with “That’’ll Be the Day” later that year. For the next two years, the group released a steady stream of hits. The records were sometimes billed as “Buddy Holly” and sometimes as “The Crickets.” Among the most successful were “Peggy Sue” (1957), “Oh Boy” (1957), “Maybe Baby” (1958), “Rave On” (1958) and “Think It Over” (1958).

Even songs that were not initially hits became immortal in the pop-music pantheon – “Everyday” (1957), “It’s So Easy” (1958), “Love’s Made a Fool of You” (1958), “Not Fade Away” (1957) and “Well All Right” (1958), to name a few. Mauldin co-wrote the group’s “Last Night,” “Well All Right” and “I’m Gonna Love You Too.” Holly died on Feb. 3, 1959 in a plane crash that also claimed the lives of The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) and Richie Valens. Singer, songwriter and guitarist Sonny Curtis, who had been a member of the band before its hit-making days, rejoined the group.

Following Holly’s death, The Crickets toured as the opening act for The Everly Brothers and also backed the duo in concert. The band began issuing LPs on its own in 1960.

Mauldin served in the U.S. Army in 1964-66, then became an engineer at the famed Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. Allison and Curtis kept The Crickets name alive, and Mauldin periodically performed with them. There were numerous personnel changes over the years — Earl Sinks, Jerry Naylor, Glen D. Hardin, David Box and Gordon Payne were members at various times — but by 1976, Allison and Mauldin were the group constants.

The group appeared at the Buddy Holly Week festival in England in 1977 and toured as the opening act for country superstar Waylon Jennings in the 1970s. Mauldin, Allison and Curtis all relocated to Nashville during the 1980s.

Paul McCartney produced the group in 1988 (The Beatles had named themselves in honor of The Crickets). Nanci Griffith took the group on the road with her in the 1990s and appeared with The Crickets on her 1997 album Blue Roses From the Moon.

Griffith and Jennings both appeared on the 2004 CD The Crickets and Their Buddies, as did Eric Clapton, Phil Everly, Bobby Vee, Rodney Crowell, Graham Nash, John Prine and Johnny Rivers.

Mauldin also performed on the Crickets albums Double Exposure (2003), Still in Style (1992), T-Shirt (1988), Back in Style (1975), Bobby Vee Meets The Crickets (1962), Something Old Something New (1963) and In Style with The Crickets (1960).

In addition, he played bass on records by Dale Hawkins, Jimmy Bowen and Mike Berry. Mauldin continued to tour with The Crickets until 2013, when the band retired.

Joe B. Mauldin is survived by his wife Jane and daughters Melody Stephenson and Jennifer Mauldin.

Bill Littleton

Veteran country music journalist Bill Littleton passed away last weekend in his home state of South Carolina. He was 75 years old.

Littleton died on Saturday, Jan. 17, at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. He was a native of Greenwood, S.C. who spent 47 years in Nashville.

He is probably best known as the Nashville bureau chief of Performance magazine for more than 20 years. Littleton was also an actor, a singer-songwriter and a writer of fiction. He had character roles in such films as I Walk the Line (1970), co-starring Gregory Peck and Tuesday Weld; Payday (1973), starring Rip Torn; and Deadhead Miles (1973), co-starring Alan Arkan and Charles Durning.

Bill Littleton recorded several of his songs, occasionally performed in clubs and posted both audio and videos of his music online over the years. He notably accompanied Tom T. Hall on the journey that resulted in Hall’s 1971 LP In Search of a Song. Littleton wrote the album’s liner notes and his many snapshots of the trip were featured on its back jacket.

At the time of his death, Bill Littleton was residing in Boiling Springs, SC. He was predeceased by his parents, his sister and his wife, Connie Fuller Littleton. He is survived by sister Linda Griebno and several nieces and nephews. Celebration of life services are being planned for Boiling Springs as well as Nashville.

AJ Masters. Photo: Dak Alley

Nashville songwriter and artist AJ Masters died Monday (Jan. 12) after complications from prostate cancer.

Masters was born in New York and raised in California. His first cut as a songwriter came in 1978 with Mickey Jones’ “I’m No Cowboy.”

Masters was signed with independent label Bermuda Dunes Records in the mid-1980s, and released the album Back Home. Within three years, he had 10 charted singles. He was also nominated for New Male Vocalist by the ACM. Among his singles were “They Don’t Play None of Mine,” “Lonely Together,” “In It Again,” “Back Home,” “I Don’t Mean Maybe,” and “Love Keep Your Distance.”

Masters earned a BMI Millionaire Award for the 1990s song “Change My Mind” (recorded by The Oak Ridge Boys and John Berry), and a multi-platinum honor for “Love Ain’t Like That” (recorded by Faith Hill). He also penned Randy Travis’ “An Old Pair of Shoes.” During the 1990s, he played guitar for Charlie Rich.

He wrote songs for Diamond Rio, Charlie Rich, Jr., Gene Watson, Ray Scott, Steve Azar, Georgia Middleman, and others, and earned a lifetime membership with NSAI.

A celebration of life will be held Sunday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. at Fontanel Mansion (4225 Whites Creek Pike). Family requests that any attendees who have worked with Masters, and who want to perform a song in his honor at the celebration, are welcome to perform.

As the celebration of life is being arranged, industry members can send any photos they have of A.J. to krista@thefarmmusic.com, to be used in the celebration of life event.

Ed Penney

Veteran Nashville songwriter and producer Ed Penney died peacefully at home on Dec. 29 at age 89.

Penney is best known as the producer and co-writer of 1980’s “Somebody’s Knockin’” by Terri Gibbs. It earned her the 1981 CMA Horizon Award and a Grammy nomination.

Penney also co-wrote and produced the singer’s singles “Ashes to Ashes” (1982) and “Some Days it Rains All Night Long” (1982). In addition, he produced the Gibbs follow-up hits “Rich Man” (1981), “I Wanna Be Around” (1981), “Mis’ry River” (1982) and “Baby I’m Gone” (1983).

Born in Cambridge, MA in 1925, Ed Penney served in the U.S. Marines in the Pacific Theater during World War II. In the 1950s, he became a personality on Boston radio, hosting the popular program  “Penney Serenade.” During this period, Variety named him one of the 10 most influential disc jockeys in America.

In 1960, he launched Ed Penney & Associates as a public relations firm representing entertainers, sports figures, music publishers and movie companies.

Ed Penney moved to Nashville in 1971 to pursue his passion for songwriting. During the next two years, his songs were recorded by Jim Ed Brown, Brian Collins, Anne Murray, Barbi Benton and others. Jerry Wallace released Penney’s “The Song Nobody Sings” as a single in 1973.

He had his first songwriting hit when Barbara Mandrell recorded his “That’s What Friends Are For” in 1976. Dottie West released his “That’s All I Wanted to Know” as a single in 1977, and a year later Moe Bandy’s version of “Two Lonely People” became Penney’s first top-10 hit as a writer.

Following his string of successes with Terri Gibbs in the 1980s, Penney retired from music. Even so, his songs continued to be recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis, Lee Greenwood, Judy Lindsey and even rapper DMX.

Burl Ives, Eddy Arnold, Beth Williams, Hank Williams Jr. and Glen Campbell are among the other artists who have recorded his songs. Ed Penney served on the boards of the Recording Academy, the NSAI and The Songwriter Guild.

During his retirement from music, Penney owned and operated Dad’s Old Bookstore in Green Hills. Opened in 1984, this business indulged his interest in rare books and autographs for many years.

He is survived by his wife Patricia and by children Linda Floyd, Edward Penney, Wayne Penney, Diane Penney, Elaine Eskew, Kathleen Penney and Kevin Penney as well as 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Visitation was scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 3 at 9:15 to 10:00 a.m. at Christ the King Church, 3001 Belmont Blvd. Eulogies were set for 10-10:30 a.m., with his celebratory mass at 10:30 a.m. Internment is in Harpeth Hills Memorial Garden, 9090 Highway 100. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.