[4] Allison's first professional recording was "Who's Gonna Be the Next One Honey", released as a 45-rpm disc (now very rare) by a local group, Hal Goodson and the Raiders.

[8] Allison did not sing on the Crickets' records made with Holly—despite the misleading crediting of the band as "vocal group with instrumental accompaniment"[citation needed]—but in 1958 he released the single "Real Wild Child" (having heard Johnny O'Keefe play the original during the Crickets' brief visit to Australia that year), which he recorded under the pseudonym Ivan, with Holly playing guitar and singing backing vocals.

[4] He moved his base to Los Angeles, where an old Texas friend, Snuff Garrett, was a senior producer at Liberty.

Allison, Curtis and another former Holly sideman, Tommy Allsup, effectively became the core Liberty house band, working with Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette and others.

In more recent years, the Crickets have released albums, including collaborations with artists who recognize their influence in early rock and roll: Nanci Griffith (with whom they have also toured), Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Johnny Rivers, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Vee, and others.

[12] The Crickets played a farewell concert in 2016 at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, where Holly had appeared on the night of his death.

[4] After Allison's marriage to Peggy Sue Gerron ended, he married his second wife, Joanie Sveum; they remained together until his death.