Level: 2
Tuning: Dropped D

Buddy Holly's first draft of the song was named after his niece "Cindy Lou," but when they recorded the song in 1957, drummer Jerry Allison convinced Buddy to use Jerry's girlfriend's name instead. Buddy was the sole guitar player on the track, and rhythm guitarist Nikki Sullivan said "Buddy couldn't switch from rhythm to lead fast enough (on his Strat) without breaking rhythm... so we stopped and redid it with me pushing the switch on Buddy's guitar." The song has a unique sound, partly due to Buddy's singing and Allison's paradiddle-driven drum track. It went to #3 on the charts and is in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Except for the bridge, which includes a sharp 5 chord (Bb in this key-of D arrangement), "Peggy Sue" is a 12-bar blues, doubled up to 24 bars. The Travis-style fingerpicking in this version has the thumb playing a fast, alternating bass pattern throughout most of the tune. If you're not familiar with Dropped D tuning, notice the new way of playing a G chord.