Buddy Holly ... 50 Years Since The Day The Music Died

Buddy Holly died 50 years ago in a plane wreck shortly after takeoff after a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa. It is known as "The Day the Music Died." Holly was a rock 'n' roll pioneer. In the few short years that he recorded, he laid down some of the greatest tracks in rock 'n' roll history, like "That'll Be the Day," "It's So Easy," "Maybe Baby," Oh, Boy," "Not Fade Away," and "Peggy Sue."

Like Chuck Berry, Holly was a great songwriter, a great guitar player, and a really wonderful vocalist. Holly was also a great showman. He hit the scene just after Elvis, and was in some ways a "nice" version of Elvis. But Buddy was different than Elvis, and there were so many versions of so many folks who wanted to be like Elvis that it ain't that great of a comparison. I'm not so glad I brought it up.

Killed in the plane crash with Holly were Richie Valens, J.P. Richardson ("The Big Boppper"), and pilot Roger Peterson. Richie Valens released two great songs, "La Bamba" and "Donna." The Big Bopper did "Chantilly Lace," a nice song.

Waylon Jennings was the Crickets bass player at the time. He gave his seat up on the plane to The Big Bopper, who had the flu. Tommy Alsup, the Crickets guitar player at the time, lost a coin flip with Richie Valens for the last spot on the four-person plane. Jennings and Alup then had to take a bus to the next stop on the tour, which was Moorhead, Minnesota.

The plane was a Beechcraft Bonanza, model 35, serial # D-1019, and the wing number was N3794N. It was manufactured October 1947. The folks at www.buddyhollyonline.com are clear, very clear, to point out that the plane's name was NOT Miss American Pie.

One of my favorite parts of the entertainment business, and by "the business" I mean "the industry," is that the February 3 show WENT ON AS SCHEDULED. According to buddyhollyonline dot come, "Frankie Sardo and Dion & The Belmonts continued until the end of the tour. Bobby Vee & The Shadows performed on the Feb. 3rd date, Jimmy Clanton, Fabian & Frankie Avalon were substituted as headliners, The Crickets finished the tour with Ronnie Smith as lead vocalist."

The images are from buddyhollyonline.com. The first is Buddy playing at Rhinelander, Wisconsin, in 1958. The second is Buddy on a double-date with Phil Everly. How cool is that?

thankyouverymuch,
OldCleat

Elvis Birthday Bash

Elvis Presley would have been 74 years old today. Wow. Elvis will be forever young. I see more Elvis in the media now than I did when he was alive. And I hear more Elvis on the radio. This is all good. I think American needs more Elvis. The hard thing to remember, since Elvis seems to still be with us, is that he was born into another America, the Depression-era America, in 1935. There was massive unemployment, investment in businesses collapsed, home building all but ended, and housing and land prices dropped. But that was the Great Depression. Hey. Wait. What's the difference? Anyway, that's Elvis age 2 on the top with his ma and pa, and the house in Tupelo where he was born on the top right.