But there is one piece of music-making equipment above all others that holds a special place in his heart – a magnificent vintage amplifier. To be precise, it is a 1958 Magnatone Custom 280, which Keith acquired in 2010.

Why did he want it? Why does he still love it so much? Well, the answers are simple and endearing. The 1958 Mag was the same kind of amp that Buddy Holly used to make his now famous home recordings at his Brevoort apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York.

1958 was a very important year for Buddy. He had parted company with the Crickets and moved, with his new wife Maria Elena, more than 1,600 miles across America from his home town of Lubbock, Texas to seek fresh opportunities in the Big Apple. It was a huge, brave step.

Buddy’s time in New York was incredibly prolific. The Brevoort apartment was situated in the bohemian district of Greenwich Village, a vibrant and exciting place to be. There were coffee houses, poetry readings, folk and jazz performances. He and Maria Elena were visited by friends like Phil Everly and Waylon Jennings, and Buddy was energised and constantly working on new songs.

He began recording demos of the songs onto his Ampex 401A reel-to-reel tape machine and amplifying his guitar using the ’58 Mag, famous in guitar circles for producing a fantastic vibrato – a classic twangy sound. As Magnatone themselves described it in their 1957 catalogue, the beast was ‘the ultimate in modern amplifiers – the Custom 280 has a sound as Big As All Outdoors – the vastness of the sky combined with Magnatone’s Big “V” Electronic True Vibrato …’ What a description!

But don’t just take their word for it – you can hear Buddy using the amp on 14 of those home demos from January 1959 that have been released commercially over the years. And the work is incredible. Songs like ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’, ‘Learning the Game’, ‘Crying, Waiting, Hoping’ and spooky, intimate recordings that show us a whole other side of Buddy, recorded late at night while Maria Elena slept in the other room.

So, it is not surprising that Keith Urban would be entranced by this amazing sound. After all, he has been a Buddy Holly fan for all his life! Growing up near Brisbane, Australia, Keith was already an accomplished guitar player, and as a member of a children’s group called Kids Country (complete with matching t-shirts!) he was a regular on the popular Aussie TV show Reg Lindsay’s Country Homestead.

Luckily for us, one of those pre-teen appearances has survived to delight YouTube users the world over. And what is the song they are performing? Well, it’s Buddy Holly’s ‘It’s So Easy’! And yes, as he always has done, 11-year-old Keith makes it look just that!

Bob Harris