Thursday, February 2, 2017

58 Years Ago The Music Died - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Big Bopper Perish in Iowa Plane Crash

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED -Documentary

Only two known video clips of Buddy Holly/Crickets performing but here is some nice behind the scenes video of Holly and friends. It opens with Vi Petty, wife of producer Norman Petty, who performed the celeste part on 'Everyday' , originally, and again here, post Holly \

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Fun scene from oscar -nominated Buddy Holly Story movie starring Gary Busey as Holly. Apollo Theater crowd doesn't expect to see a white audience at this all-black theater. There was also a black group named the Crickets in the early 50s the crowd may have expected. Artists were seen much more than heard in the 1950s.

LET'S GO RIGHT NOW TO LUBBOCK and HEAR BUDDY HOLLY'S FAVORITE RADIO STATION, KDAV, STILL ON THE AIR TODAY. Every fifth song, or so, today, the 55th Anniversary, is a Buddy Holly , Richie Valens or Big bopper song... http://KDAV.com - click LISTEN LIVE

58 Years Ago The Music Died - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Big Bopper Perish in Iowa Plane Crash....

Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens

BUDDY HOLLY CENTER in Lubbock, Buddy's hometown, along with statue of Buddy, below, fairly recent contributions made possible from loving fans around the world and city folk. Giant Glasses were the work donation of a fan . Stories @ http://facebook.oldiescountry

55 Years Ago The Music Died - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Big Bopper perish in Iowa Plane Crash

Feb 3, 1959:

The day the music died

On this day in 1959, rising American rock stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed when their chartered Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashes in Iowa a few minutes after takeoff from Mason City on a flight headed for Moorehead, Minnesota. Investigators blamed the crash on bad weather and pilot error. Holly and his band, the Crickets, had just scored a No. 1 hit with "That'll Be the Day."

After mechanical difficulties with the tour bus, Holly had chartered a plane for his band to fly between stops on the Winter Dance Party Tour. However, Richardson, who had the flu, convinced Holly's band member Waylon Jennings to give up his seat, and Ritchie Valens won a coin toss for another seat on the plane.*(see EDITOR'S NOTE BELOW)

Holly, born Charles Holley in Lubbock, Texas, and just 22 when he died, began singing country music with high school friends before switching to rock and roll after opening for various performers, including Elvis Presley. By the mid-1950s, Holly and his band had a regular radio show and toured internationally, playing hits like "Peggy Sue," "Oh, Boy!," "Maybe Baby" and "Early in the Morning." Holly wrote all his own songs, many of which were released after his death and influenced such artists as Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney.

Another crash victim, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, 28, started out as a disk jockey in Texas and later began writing songs. Richardson's most famous recording was the rockabilly "Chantilly Lace," which made the Top 10. He developed a stage show based on his radio persona, "The Big Bopper."

The third crash victim was Ritchie Valens, born Richard Valenzuela in a suburb of Los Angeles, who was only 17 when the plane went down but had already scored hits with "Come On, Let's Go," "Donna" and "La Bamba," an upbeat number based on a traditional Mexican wedding song (though Valens barely spoke Spanish). In 1987, Valens' life was portrayed in the movie La Bamba, and the title song, performed by Los Lobos, became a No. 1 hit. Valens was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Singer Don McLean memorialized Holly, Valens and Richardson in the 1972 No. 1 hit "American Pie," which refers to February 3, 1959 as "the day the music died."

BUDDY HOLLY MP3S

* According to first hand knowledge , Dion, now 74, who was on the tour, told us just last month his version of the story.He says that he gave up his seat to Buddy Holly due to the 'extreme' cost ($36) which his mother needed more than he did....

Three stars, tribute to the three, was written by Tommy Dee . It was recorded here by Eddie Cochran, another rising rock and roll star who would also perish the following year, in a car accident.

TOMMY DEE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THREE STARS TRIBUTE

Program for the concert the night of February 3, 1959 which Buddy , Richie and Big Bopper would never make.Only Dion and a young Bobby Vee, who filled in for Buddy, would perform as top billed acts

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