[Zeke]

I have studied the history of rock 'n roll as a hobby. Buddy Holley wrote his songs, many artists did not. His guitar work included a lot of innovation that others copied. And his singing was obviously different than Elvis' or other contemporaries. IOW, he was a leader, not a follower. He had a lot of talent, could play many instruments and was very aggressive about his career.

There were plenty of sappy artists at the time including Rick Nelson and Pat Boone. It took something to stand out and be successful at that.

Buddy Guy was/is stuck in the blues genre. Nothing wrong with that, but blues was not what kids were buying by the millions of copies in the late 50's.