Editing Buddy Holly (section)

===International tours and split (1958)===
On January 8, 1958, Holly and the Crickets joined ''America's Greatest Teenage Recording Stars'' tour.{{sfn|Moore|2011|p=128}} On January 25, Holly recorded "[[Rave On]]"; the next day, he made his second appearance on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', singing "Oh, Boy!"{{sfn|Moore|2011|p=128}} Holly departed to perform in [[Honolulu]], Hawaii, on January 27, and then started a week-long tour of Australia billed as the ''Big Show'' with [[Paul Anka]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] and [[Jodie Sands]].{{sfn|Norman|2011|p=189}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lo |first=Ping |date=October 29, 2008 |title=The night I saw Buddy Holly and the Crickets... for free |url=http://abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/10/29/2404761.htm |access-date=March 27, 2020 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref> In March, the band toured the United Kingdom, playing 50 shows in 25 days.<ref name="Buddy Holly UK Tour">{{Cite web|url=http://www.americanrocknrolluktours.co.uk/tour/buddy-holly-and-the-crickets-march-1958/|title=Buddy Holly & The Crickets – March 1958 « American Rock n Roll The UK Tours}}</ref> The same month, his debut solo album, ''[[Buddy Holly (album)|Buddy Holly]]'', was released. Upon their return to the United States, Holly and the Crickets joined Alan Freed's ''Big Beat Show'' tour for 41 dates. In April, Decca released ''[[That'll Be the Day (album)|That'll Be the Day]]'', featuring the songs recorded with Bradley during his early Nashville sessions.{{sfn|Schinder|Schwartz|2007|p=90}}

A new recording session in Clovis was arranged in May; Holly hired [[Tommy Allsup]] to play lead guitar. The session produced the recordings of "[[It's So Easy! (The Crickets song)|It's So Easy]]" and "[[Heartbeat (Buddy Holly song)|Heartbeat]]". Holly was impressed by Allsup and invited him to join the Crickets. In June, Holly traveled alone to New York for a solo recording session. Without the Crickets, he chose to be backed by a jazz and R&B band, recording "Now We're One" and [[Bobby Darin]]'s "[[Early in the Morning (Bobby Darin song)|Early in the Morning]]".{{sfn|Schinder|Schwartz|2007|p=91}}

During a visit to the offices of [[Peermusic|Peer-Southern]], Holly met [[María Elena Santiago]]. He asked her out on their first meeting and proposed marriage to her on their first date. The wedding took place on August 15. Norman Petty had tried to dissuade Holly from marriage; he felt that it would disappoint Holly's public and damage his career.

Holly and Santiago frequented many of New York's music venues, including the [[Village Gate]], Blue Note, [[Village Vanguard]], and Johnny Johnson's. Santiago later said that Holly was keen to learn fingerstyle flamenco guitar and that he would often visit her aunt's home to play the piano there. Holly planned collaborations between soul singers and rock and roll. He wanted to make an album with [[Ray Charles]] and [[Mahalia Jackson]]. Holly also had ambitions to work in film and registered for acting classes with Lee Strasberg's [[Actors Studio]].{{sfn|Norman|2011|p=281}}

Santiago accompanied Holly on tours. To hide her marriage to Holly, she was presented as the Crickets' secretary. She took care of the laundry and equipment set-up and collected the concert revenues. Santiago kept the money for the band instead of its habitual transfer to Petty in New Mexico.{{sfn|Norman|2011|p=274}} She and her aunt Provi Garcia, an executive in the Latin American music department at Peer-Southern, convinced Holly that Petty was paying the band's royalties from Coral-Brunswick into his own company's account. Holly planned to retrieve his royalties from Petty and later to fire him as manager and producer. At the recommendation of the Everly Brothers, Holly hired lawyer Harold Orenstein to negotiate his royalties.{{sfn|Norman|2011|p=280}} The problems with Petty were triggered after he was unable to pay Holly. At the time, New York promoter Manny Greenfield reclaimed a large part of Holly's earnings; Greenfield had booked Holly for shows during previous tours. The two had a verbal agreement; Greenfield would obtain 5% of the booking earnings. Greenfield later felt he was also acting as Holly's manager and deserved a higher payment, which Holly refused. Greenfield then sued Holly. Under New York law, because Holly's royalties originated in New York and were directed out of the state, the payments were frozen until the dispute was settled.{{sfn|Laing|p=153|2010}}

In September, Holly returned to Clovis for a new recording session, which yielded "Reminiscing" and "Come Back Baby". During the session, he ventured into producing by recording Lubbock DJ [[Waylon Jennings]]. Holly produced the single "Jole Blon" and "When Sin Stops (Love Begins)" for Jennings.{{sfn|Carr, Joseph|Munde, Alan|1997|p=155}} Holly became increasingly interested in the New York music, recording, and publishing scene. Holly and Santiago settled in Apartment 4H of the Brevoort Apartments, at 11 Fifth Avenue in [[Greenwich Village]], where he recorded a series of acoustic songs, including "[[Crying, Waiting, Hoping]]" and "What to Do".{{sfn|Norman|2011|p=274–278}} The inspiration to record the songs is sometimes attributed to the ending of his relationship with McGuire.{{sfn|Lloyd Webber|2015}}

On October 21, 1958, Holly's final studio session was recorded at the [[Pythian Temple (New York City)|Pythian Temple]] on West 70th Street (now a luxury condominium). Known by Holly fans as "the string sessions", Holly recorded four songs for Coral in an innovative collaboration with an 18-piece ensemble composed of former members of the [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]] (including saxophonist [[Boomie Richman]]) under the direction of [[Dick Jacobs]].

The four songs recorded during the {{frac|3|1|2}}-hour session were: 
*"True Love Ways" (written by Buddy Holly), 
*"[[Moondreams (Norman Petty song)|Moondreams]]" (written by [[Norman Petty]]), 
*"[[Raining in My Heart]]" (written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant) and 
*"[[It Doesn't Matter Anymore]]" (written by Paul Anka).{{sfn|Norman|2011|p=276–278}}
These four songs were the only ones Coral ever mixed in stereo, but only "Raining in My Heart" was released that way (in 1959, on an obscure promotional LP titled ''Hitsville''). All four records otherwise received releases in mono. The original stereo mixes were consulted many years later for compilation albums.

Holly ended his association with Petty in December 1958. His band members kept Petty as their manager and split from Holly. The split was amicable and based on logistics: Holly had decided to settle permanently in New York, where the business and publishing offices were, and the Crickets preferred not to leave their home state.